Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The government takes its responsibility in administering the welfare system incredibly seriously. It is a hallmark of Australia's system that we have such a safety net, a $180 billion safety net, there for people when they need it most, whether they're unemployed or maybe have a disability—any circumstance that they find themselves in where they're not able to earn money for themselves at that particular time. So that safety net is absolutely critical, and the integrity of that safety net is also important. This is why the Australian government takes this position very, very seriously. We spend $180 billion to support Australia's social safety net each year.

Recovering overpayment is a fundamental part of our welfare system. If someone has a debt, the government is legally obliged to pursue recovery of that debt. This debt recovery process has been a feature of our welfare system for over 30 years. It's not new. It's not something that just started, as has been put here today. It's something that's been going on for a long time. It's part of the integrity of the system. If someone has been overpaid or if someone was in receipt of a payment that they were maybe not entitled to, it is the legal responsibility of the government to ensure that debt is recovered.

The Australian taxpayer expects us to ensure the integrity of the welfare system. Every year, about a month of a taxpayer's salary goes into funding the welfare system. So the first four to five weeks of every year that taxpayers work is funding the social services, welfare safety net that Australians have come to rely on, which is absolutely critical. So there is an expectation upon this government to ensure the integrity of this system. Australians rightly expect that the government is the resolute custodian of these taxpayers' funds and will work diligently to prevent and recover overpayments. Australians rightly expect the government to be a resolute custodian of taxpayer funds and to work diligently to prevent and recover overpayments.

In November last year, changes were made to the way debts were raised as part of the program, and, from that time, debts were no longer raised wholly or partially by using the averaged ATO income data. Income averaging was a core feature of the income compliance program. Averaging was applied where recipients did not engage to explain actual discrepancies identified between income they had reported to Services Australia and income data from the ATO. On one of the days that the committee had a look into this program, I heard evidence from representatives of Services Australia, who explained the process that had actually taken place. Firstly, a notice was sent to the recipient indicating that there may be a discrepancy between the amount that they received and the amount that Services Australia understood to be what they should have received. It wasn't a debt notice. It was simply a letter that went to people to say that there were discrepancies between the amount that the person received and the amount that we would expect, after averaging and after looking at the data, that the person should have received. There was an invitation for that person to engage with Services Australia to explain and provide other evidence to show that maybe the estimation was wrong. So it wasn't the case that debt notices were just sent out. There was an opportunity for people to speak to a human. Senator Pratt, who spoke earlier, said it was just a computer doing these things. It wasn't. There was an opportunity for people to speak to someone over the telephone or even in person or to go to Centrelink and have a chat about the situation.

The government is remedying this situation. Payments have been made and refunds have been paid to people. We will continue to work through this program to ensure that the integrity of our welfare system is intact, so that we can ensure that taxpayers, who expect us to keep the system intact, are confident that this government is behaving responsibly with the taxes that they pay.