Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

We have a disagreement with the Greens on this one. Your amendment would increase the small debt waiver to $440 rather than $250. From the government's point of view, this would result in many cost-effective debts not being recovered, and it would significantly increase the overall costs of the bill to the budget. The existing small debt waiver thresholds are $50 and $200, depending on payment type and whether the person is currently receiving a payment. The $50 and $200 thresholds were set in the 1990s and reflected what the parliament considered to be cost effective at that time, so they haven't been adjusted since. By setting the new threshold at $250, the government believes we can get the balance right, recognising people generally engage with the social security system in good faith and ensuring good, responsible fiscal management to the budget overall. The new threshold of $250 reflects a more up-to-date understanding of what is cost effective to recover and simplifies the existing two-threshold systems. Of course, at this part of the bill, the debt reform and waivers do come with a forward estimates impact of $166.7 million. Importantly, the new amount will be indexed against the CPI each year to maintain its relative value.