Centrelink demands payment on 147,000 income-apportioned debts
Nearly 147,000 welfare debts were paused for more than six years. They are now being collected despite being calculated unlawfully.
Centrelink is demanding repayment of around 147,000 debts. The debts were calculated using income apportionment, an averaging method.
The Federal Court found this method unlawful. The debts relate to alleged welfare overpayments dating back decades.
Roughly 3 million such debts totalled $4.4 billion. They were raised from the late 1990s to 2020.
The debts were paused in 2023. A court case had exposed the unlawfulness of the income-averaging method.
In December 2025, the government passed a law allowing Centrelink to keep money already repaid. The agency has since gradually resumed collecting and sending payment notices.
Recipients facing decades-old debts must now prove their actual income from the 2010s. They must use old payslips and bank statements.
This is often impossible.
- 147,000
- Debts now being collected
- 3 million
- Total debts created historically
- 4.4 billion
- Total dollar value
- Jodie, two debts totalling 1550 dollars
- Example case
Why it mattersAustralians facing welfare demands may be forced to repay money calculated illegally. They have little way to prove their actual income from years ago.
AustraliaHundreds of thousands of Australians already betrayed by Robodebt now face renewed Centrelink demands on questionable debts; the government's compensation scheme offers only up to $600.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 1 h ago
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