Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Senator O'Neill. Can I just absolutely be clear here: if anybody receives a letter from Centrelink that alleges that there possibly could be a discrepancy between the amount of money that they have notified to the Australian tax office and Centrelink, they should contact Centrelink to determine whether that debt even exists. In the majority of cases when people actually contact Centrelink, and there is no debt, it is very easy for that to be determined. The problem we have here with the cohort of people that you're talking about is that they refuse to engage with Centrelink—they refuse to come forward so that the matter can be dealt with. So I think the Australian public has every reasonable expectation that people who may have a debt owing to the Commonwealth should come forward and have that assessed or reviewed, which is something that this government is quite happy to do and has offered to do with anybody who believes they don't have a debt. We will review it.