A few years before the pandemic, I was at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show with my family, when I took a call from a silent number. It was a debt collector, working on behalf of Centrelink, claiming we owed the federal government money.

The debt collector alleged that we had been overpaid on the childcare subsidy that we received. The subsidy is the way the federal government assists families with childcare fees that often cost as much or more than private high schools. The government assistance also means it gets more parents, particularly women, into work.

Families report they are being pursued by Centrelink over “debts” the agency claims they owe because they were overpaid a subsidy that assists them with childcare fees. Credit: Dionne Gain

We queried the debt. Would Centrelink explain how the debt had been calculated? Had the parameters changed for eligibility? It seemed to us the debt was a mistake. After weeks of frustrating phone calls and emails to Centrelink that went unanswered, we gave up, and paid the money as it was a few hundred dollars.

I was reminded of that experience when I read a social media post last month by a woman called Emma, who I later contacted. For the past year, Emma has been fighting with Centrelink over claims she owes it two debts tallying more than $10,000 for being overpaid on the childcare subsidy. The problem for Emma is that those “debts” allegedly owed to Centrelink are calculated, she says, on a fictitious family income.

Emma’s is one of many families currently having this experience, even as the federal government announced this past week that it was adopting the 56 recommendations of the Royal Commission into the robo-debt scheme, which was originally set up by the Abbott government.

She says that in the first year she was told she owed money, her family’s income was estimated by Centrelink to be double what it actually was.

Australian Tax Office staff confirmed to Emma that her family’s income figure matched their records and was correct, and Centrelink’s was wrong. But when Emma managed to speak to Centrelink – after spending the past year calling the government agency and sending emails – it wouldn’t budge, even after she furnished the agency with her family’s tax records.

Centrelink would only pause the debt it claims she owed, placing it in review. It’s been a year now since that review began, with no outcome. Now, to multiply the toxicity of the situation, she’s been issued a second debt.