The decision to raise and recover the debt may not be correct.

There may not be a debt if Centrelink has made mistakes or has incorrectly applied the law.

You can appeal if you do not believe the decision to raise the debt is correct.

Centrelink sometimes calculates debts incorrectly.

You can check:

• Are the calculations correct?
• What was your correct Social Security entitlement?
• Is the period of the debt correct?
• Was a 10% penalty added to the debt? Is this correct?

You can appeal if you believe the amount of the debt is incorrect.

You can appeal.

It may be possible to have the debt “written off” or “waived”.

Contact your local Welfare Rights Centre for independent advice about the debt.

The overpayment letter asks you to repay the debt within 28 days.

You do not need to repay the whole amount within 28 days. 

You do need to contact Centrelink before the due date, to negotiate repayments. 

Centrelink has several ways of collecting debts and it does not need your consent to do so.

Ways Centrelink collects debts:

•  Centrelink can deduct money from your Centrelink payment and from any other income you receive.
• • Centrelink usually deducts 15% of a Centrelink payment.
  • If you have extra income, Centrelink may deduct more.
• If you are not currently on a Centrelink payment, they will negotiate a repayment arrangement with you.
• Centrelink can ‘garnishee’ your wages or bank account or tax return.
• Centrelink can take you to court and the court may make an order about how the debt is to be repaid. 

• Call Centrelink’s debt recovery number, 13 63 30, to negotiate.
  • Debt repayments should not put you in financial hardship.
  • The Financial Statement Form will help you show Centrelink how much you can afford to repay.
• You can appeal.
  • Ask for a Rate of Recovery Review.
  • You may need to complete a Financial Statement Form to show Centrelink why you cannot afford the repayments. You can download this form here.

Usually, you must repay a Centrelink debt, however it is possible that you don’t have to. It may be possible to have the debt “written off” or “waived”.

You must lodge an appeal of the decision to raise the debt and ask for it to be waived or written off.

Contact your local Welfare Rights Centre for independent advice about the debt.

If Centrelink writes-off a debt, you will not have to make repayments for an indefinite or specific period.

The decision to write-off a debt can be reviewed and changed by Centrelink.

Common reasons for write-off:

• You are in severe financial hardship and cannot repay the debt.
• You are not receiving a Social Security payment and it would be too expensive to collect the debt.
• The debt is “irrecoverable at law”
• The debtor cannot be located
• Centrelink raised the debt outside the limitation period (generally 6 years)
• The person who owes the debt has died and there is no estate.

This means you don’t have to repay the debt.

Reasons for “waiver”:

If the debt was caused solely by “administrative error” and received “in good faith”, it can be waived.

• “Administrative error” basically means that Centrelink made a mistake. This could be:
  • Centrelink didn’t adjust your payment, despite you telling them that your situation had changed.
  • Centrelink granted you a payment despite you giving them information which showed you were not eligible.

“In good faith” means that you genuinely believed you were receiving the correct payment and amount during the debt period.

• In other words, you weren’t at all surprised at the amount you were receiving.

Where there are “special circumstances” related to the debt and you did not “knowingly” make a false statement to Centrelink or “knowingly” not comply with Social Security Law, the debt must be waived.

• A “special circumstance”, has to be very unusual, not just difficult.
  • This is assessed on a case-by-case basis.
• “Knowingly” relates to whether you knew that what you told Centrelink was incorrect or if you were aware that you were being overpaid at the time

If Centrelink waive or write-off the debt, any amount you have already repaid to Centrelink will be refunded to you.

No, you are not obliged to go to a prosecution interview.

Tell Centrelink you do not wish to attend.

Choosing not to attend will not affect your payment.

It is best to seek legal advice before attending a prosecution interview.

You have the right to end the interview at any time.

If the debt occurred due to fraud, then you may be prosecuted.

“Fraud” means

• you deliberately gave incorrect information or
• you failed to give information or
• you received a payment you knew you were not entitled to.

If you are prosecuted, you will have to appear in Court to face criminal charges relating to the debt.

Even if you are prosecuted you will likely still have to repay the debt.

The Director of Public Prosecutions decides whether or not to prosecute.

You are not obliged to go to a prosecution interview.

For further information on prosecutions see Prosecutions and you can download the factsheet, 'Prosecution of Social Security Offences' here.

• Factsheet: Debts – what to do if you have a Social Security debt
• Factsheet: Prosecution of Social Security Offences
• Factsheet: Appeals – how to appeal against a Centrelink decision
• On this site: Prosecutions
• On this site: Disagree with Centrelink?
• Contact your local Welfare Rights Centre.