Federal Member for Hunter Joel Fitzgibbon commenced the first day of Parliament for 2017 by championing the concerns of constituents affected by the Centrelink automated debt recovery before the House of Representatives.
Hundreds of Hunter residents are receiving letters from external debt collectors without being granted the opportunity to respond, appeal or have the decision reviewed.
Many of these debt notices are incorrect or date back more than seven years.
"Hundreds of... local constituents are being adversely affected...by the sheer under-resourcing of Centrelink and therefore the inability of the staff to service poeple adequately, and of course this debt recovery process which is unfairly targetting people," said Mr Fitzgibbon.
"The Turnbull Government has to start properly resourcing Centrelink again. The staff cannot continue under the current arrangements, people won't get proper service...and it needs to suspend this debt recovery process until it can be sure that people aren't being unfairly treated," he elaborated.
Joel Fitzgibbon is encouraging Hunter residents to make contact with his office if they have experienced issues with Centrelink, Medicare and NDIS.
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| Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon |
