On 2 August 2023, the Commonwealth Ombudsman published a statement(Opens in a new tab/window) on the historic practice of income apportionment used by Services Australia.
In response to the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s statement, the Minister for Social Services, the Hon Amanda Rishworth MP and the Minister for Government Services and the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the Hon Bill Shorten MP, have released a joint statement(Opens in a new tab/window).
Income apportionment is a process that was applied to income received prior to December 2020. It has not been a method used to assess income support payments since December 2020 when changes to legislation were made that simplified income reporting.
In July 2021, Services Australia paused debt raising and internal reviews that may be related to income apportionment. If you have questions about income apportionment, you can find more information on the Services Australia website(Opens in a new tab/window) or call the Services Australia dedicated debt hotline on 1800 076 072.
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