By Jessica Micallef
A Sunbury family is urging others to review Centrelink claims after being hit with an almost $60,000 debt.
The family, which does not want want to be identified, has received family assistance payments since 2004.
On April 28, they received three separate letters from Centrelink, demanding payments totalling $57,006.
“To receive these letters was terribly upsetting … my partner had recently lost his job as a graduate teacher,” a family spokeswoman said.
“I was the sole supporter of our family of three children and a mortgage.”
The spokeswoman said the family had repaid almost $2000 to Centrelink in February because the agency claimed they had been overpaid.
“That’s why it didn’t seem right to me when we received the debt letters for over $57,000.”
The woman said she contacted Centrelink immediately but “reached a dead end”.
“I was placed on hold for an hour … only to be told by the lady I spoke to that she was unable to tell me why I had acquired the debt,” she said.
Unable to get answers, the woman reached out to McEwen MP Rob Mitchell, requesting a review.
She said on May 1 the family received written confirmation from Centrelink that the debs had been wiped.
She said Centrelink said the three notices had been automatically issued in error after an estimate of the family income was incorrectly used instead of the actual reported income.
The family has raised their plight hoping it will help others in a similar situation.
“I believe this practice of sending letters of debt without explanation to be unethical and needs to change,” the family spokeswoman said.
