Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Imagine you've just been told that your Centrelink payments will be cut due to a technical change in eligibility. But this can't be right. You're convinced that the changes don't apply to your situation. You've read up on the rules, but it's so technical and hard to understand that you're hopelessly overwhelmed. You call Centrelink but can't get any answers, and your internal request for review goes nowhere. You don't know what to do. Without this extra money you'll struggle to pay your rent, which has already increased twice in the past few years. And, if these payment changes go through, you might have to start cutting down on food and cancelling that excursion for one of your kids.

Stories like this are common across Australia. Every day, the government makes thousands of decisions that impact Australians, and sometimes it gets it wrong. In areas like child support, social security, migration, the NDIS or tax, these decisions can have life-altering consequences. Whether decisions are made in error or by maladministration, it's an absolute cornerstone of our democracy that people have the right to review government decisions that affect them.

Debate interrupted.

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