Dozens of Centrelink fraud prosecutions dropped due to unlawful welfare debt calculations
by Paul Karp Chief political correspondent from World news | The Guardian on (#6G1FW)
Services Australia and prosecutors are unable to say exactly how many past convictions may be affected
Commonwealth prosecutors have dropped dozens of welfare fraud cases affected by unlawful Centrelink debt calculations, as Services Australia continues the cleanup of tens of thousands of doubtful debts.
But the federal government's welfare agency and prosecutors have been unable to say how many past convictions may be affected, after an embarrassing commonwealth ombudsman report revealed that up to 100,000 debts were incorrectly calculated over two decades by unlawfully apportioning" welfare recipients' income.
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