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

What is fair is that people receive the kind of support that they need and which they are entitled to. The fairness of our system is on the basis that people do receive that to which they are entitled. If people are receiving debt notices or receiving communications from Centrelink or from the department that allege there is a possibility that a debt is owed, I would suggest to them that they need to engage with the department to establish whether that debt actually exists. In many cases, a simple piece of information can actually reveal that that debt doesn't occur.

As I said, the people that we are generally talking about here are people who refuse to engage with the system. What other possible explanation can you have? People need to contact the department and put forward their case. As I said, in the majority of cases, if there is no debt, it's easy to identify and then the debt no longer exists. (Time expired)