centrelink

Knives, chainsaw threats to Centrelink staff

By Steve Lewis

September 15, 2008 12:01am
Article from: The Courier-Mail
AUSTRALIA'S most dangerous workplace is emerging as Centrelink, with staff on the welfare frontline subject to serious abuse and death threats.

Public servants were being threatened with baseball bats, knives and even a chainsaw, a new report has shown.

* Read full story

The Truth of Life - I'm sure you received multiple notices from Centrelink advising you to contact to make arrangements to repay the debt before it was referred onto debt collection...and if they threatened you with thugs breaking into your house to take your stuff..well, if that was unlawful, its a matter for the police.

Posted by: eutraphalia of melbourne 3:27pm today
Comment 266 of 266
@ The Truth of Life (Comment 264) - Did you not realise that you were still receiving a payment from Centrelink, or did you just happily accept the extra $400 or so per fortnight without thinking to actually telephone someone to enquire about it? Your case sounds a bit like wilful or blind ignorance to me. Don't you think that if a company or a bank accidentally put money into your account, that they would ask for it to be returned, or would you expect to keep that, even though you were not entitled to it??

Posted by: Jim of Brisbane 10:29am November 05, 2008
Comment 265 of 266
I was receiving Centrelink abstudy payments and went to the Centrelink office to advise them I was no longer studying and to place me on new start allowance. This visit is recorded on the Centrelink computer system. Centrelink did not do their part and a year later sent me a 12 thousand dollar bill for receiving payments I was not entitled too. I think somewhere along the line they forgot that 12 months ago I was the one who told them I wasn't entitled to the payments. It didn't stop them from getting some thugs to ring me up and threaten to come to my house and take my property to recoup costs. I wonder why people get angry at their incompetencies???

Posted by: The Truth of Life Experiences 6:00pm October 28, 2008
Comment 264 of 266
Hey Kate, if you are being 'harrassed' to pay back money, it's because you were not entitled to it in the first place!

Posted by: Ho hum of Melbourne 3:38pm October 28, 2008
Comment 263 of 266
Centrelink are disgusting in how they treat lots of people. After going through losing my husband and being on centrelink for a short period of time, they have since harrassed, played games and humiliated me in my current employment. It's like someone is p****ssed off in Centrelink because I now make more than some pathetic gov worker, they will do anything to get there money back. Lucky I can afford a lawyer unlike some poor buggers who totally rely on such a scum government department.

Posted by: Kate of Adelaide 6:12pm October 25, 2008
Comment 262 of 266
I've been biting my tongue but I can't let this pass without comment. Several years back I went through a terrible period where I lost my business, home, family, assets and possessions as a result of crime and severe health problems. I found myself homeless, destitute and near death but my problems didn't really start till I fell into the clutches of Centerlink. The treatment I received at the hands of this vicious organization was quite indescribable and very nearly finished me off, so I while I do not condone violence or aggressive behavior I can well understand how people can be pushed to the breaking point and beyond. In my view Centerlink officers have a responsibility not unlike that of doctors inasmuch as their often callous and unthinking actions can have dire - even fatal - consequences. Nobody should ever have to experience what I went through and those labeling Centerlink clients scum and bludger are ignorant in the extreme.

Posted by: skudge 3:09pm September 18, 2008
Comment 261 of 266