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50,000 welfare recipients invited to claim compensation
Centrelink unlawfully cancelled nearly 1,000 jobseekers' payments. The compliance scheme restarts despite advocates' concerns the problems remain unfixed.
In brief
Centrelink unlawfully cancelled nearly 1,000 jobseekers' payments. The compliance scheme restarts despite advocates' concerns the problems remain unfixed. Centrelink unlawfully cancelled 964 jobseekers' payments between April 2022 and July 2024. The department has restarted the compliance regime after fixes, inviting…
Nearly 1,000 unlawful cancellations
The Commonwealth Ombudsman found 964 jobseekers had their Centrelink payments cancelled unlawfully between April 2022 and July 2024 under a compliance regime monitoring mutual obligations.
Daniel's three-year payment suspension
Adelaide man Daniel was exempt from mutual obligations but had his payments suspended in 2022 anyway. His payments were later cancelled, leaving him without income support for more than three years.
“I kept ringing them and saying, 'I've got zero points, I've got no requirements, why am I getting these suspensions?' But it just kept happening.”
Homelessness and family reliance
Without income support, Daniel could not secure rental accommodation, experienced periods of homelessness and relied on help from family and friends.He said without his pensioner father's help he did not know what would have happened.
“Without my pensioner dad helping me, I honestly don't know what would have happened. There were times I had nowhere to live.”
Daniel wins back pay after challenge
A week before Daniel's case was due to be heard in October 2025, the department conducted a minister-initiated review, reversed the cancellation decision and paid him about fifty three thousand dollars in back pay.
Scheme restarts with fixes claimed
The compliance regime, partially paused in July 2024, has now restarted. The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations said it fixed issues through IT system changes, system testing, improved communications and additional training for decision-makers.
Advocates remain unconvinced
Anti-poverty centre coordinator Jay Coonan said advocacy groups remain unconvinced the underlying problems have been resolved.
“None. None whatsoever.”
50,000 invited to claim compensation
The department's 2025-26 annual report showed eight hundred seventy thousand dollars has been paid to more than six hundred people.
Actual impact may be far larger
Advocacy groups argue the number of people affected by unlawful cancellations may be substantially higher, with estimates ranging from more than one hundred thousand people to as many as three hundred thousand.
What matters most
Centrelink unlawfully cancelled 964 jobseekers' payments between April 2022 and July 2024. The department has restarted the compliance regime after fixes, inviting over 50,000 people to apply for compensation.
