Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Digital Transformation) Share this | Hansard source

Not only is it an important principle within the welfare system but it is actually also the law. The Social Security Act 1991 demands that the government recover debts where people have been paid money from the social security system that they are not entitled to, and we will continue to uphold that principle. The question is how to go about that. There are groups of people who have debts to the Commonwealth and find themselves in special circumstances, and, when that is the case, we take into account the special circumstances in which they find themselves. Where somebody who has been identified as vulnerable has a debt, we work with them to update their income details, and we understand the need to deal with these people sensitively. Debts are not raised unless a person has been contacted and has discussed their individual circumstances with their department. In cases where a debt is raised, my department will work closely with people on an appropriate repayment plan and to organise options for that person to repay the money. There are 700 social workers within the Department of Human Services that can help us do that. Considering the vulnerabilities of some people that owe us debts, I have asked that the trial we had conducted here be put on pause whilst we make sure that, when we go to recover these debts, we are doing it in the most sensitive way possible. That trial will not proceed until I am satisfied that that is the case.

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