Up to 100,000 welfare debts or potential debts miscalculated over two decades, ombudsman finds

‘Unlawfully apportioning’ income could cause incorrect calculations on Centrelink payments but practice unrelated to robodebt, report says

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Up to 100,000 debts or potential debts were incorrectly calculated over two decades by “unlawfully apportioning” welfare recipients’ income, the commonwealth ombudsman has found.

On Wednesday the ombudsman released a report finding that from at least 2003 to December 2020 the department of social services and Services Australia miscalculated debts due to an “incorrect” understanding of social security law.

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