Revealed: some Australians have overpaid their Centrelink debt by more than $20,000

Approximately 44,000 Australians who have a debt with Centrelink have overpaid it, some by $20,000 or more, Guardian Australia can reveal.

It is the latest in a string of scandals to hit Centrelink after hundreds of thousands of people had their payments illegally cancelled , with several reviews concluding the welfare system is not working legally and the government announcing plans to undertake at least three remediation processes for separate issues – the robodebt class action , income apportionment and overpaid debts.

Economic Justice Australia, which has been briefed on the overpayment issue by Services Australia, said while some overpayments are in the tens of thousands, the average amount was about $5,000.

“They have found 44,000 overpayments,” Kate Allingham, the chief