A study of Australians on Centrelink payments.
The Asking Those Who Know study includes interviews and a survey with over 600 Centrelink users. It found that:
- An overwhelming number of people (74 percent) want to do Centrelink activities that are fair. Even more (75 percent) want to do activities that lead to work
- However, most people believe their Centrelink activities are pointless (79 percent)
- Very few people believe that Centrelink obligations are helping them find paid work (13 percent)
- Almost two thirds of people (58 percent) have had a Centrelink debt. Almost half of the time, Centrelink errors caused the debt (47 percent)
- Breaches and payment cut-offs are often the fault of Centrelink, but people are the ones who pay the price.
The final report from this study builds on an interim report, based on initial survey results, which was published in December 2020.