This Centrelink flaw puts woman at risk from her partner: ‘I can’t even get on with my life’
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Content Warning: This article discusses domestic violence and financial abuse that may be distressing to some readers. The names with asterisk (*) have also been changed for privacy reasons. Discretion is advised.
In the digital age, where personal information is often just a click away, the safety and security of individuals should be a paramount concern for government agencies.
However, a recent incident involving Centrelink, a key Australian government service provider, has raised serious concerns about the safety of women escaping abusive relationships.
As Alannah* made plans to leave her emotionally, financially, and psychologically abusive partner—a man later convicted of an offence against her—she turned to Centrelink for support.
She requested that her parenting payments be directed to a new, personal account instead of the joint account she shared with her ex-partner.
Instead, Centrelink mistakenly deposited a significant lump sum payment into the old joint account, inadvertently alerting her ex-partner to her plans and putting her in immediate danger.
‘I knew he had access to my Centrelink stuff; I knew he was an excessive checker of the bank account. When he came home, he was like, “What’s this about?”’ Alannah* said.
‘I said, “You don’t understand the danger you’ve put me in.” And then there was this rigmarole, they couldn’t just take the money back.’
This error not only compromised Alannah*'s safety but also led to her ex-partner transferring the funds to his personal account that she had no access to.
Despite reporting the mistake to Centrelink, Alannah* faced a bureaucratic nightmare, and the agency failed to provide an explanation or immediate remedy for the error.
Alannah*'s case is not isolated. It highlights a broader issue with federal platforms like MyGov, Centrelink, and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), which can be manipulated to facilitate financial abuse.
The Centre for Women’s Economic Safety (CWES) has launched a campaign urging the government to reform its systems to better protect women.
Financial abuse is alarmingly common in domestic and family violence situations, affecting 79 to 99 per cent of cases, with a significant number of Australian women and men experiencing partner economic abuse in their lifetime.
Rebecca Glenn, the Founder and Chief Executive of CWES, pointed out that these systems were designed in a way that allowed perpetrators to continue financially abusing victim-survivors long after leaving a violent relationship.
‘A lot of these systems are designed to protect people from strangers but not from people they know,’ Glenn said.
‘We know that people have a fair bit of information about their partners: email addresses, security questions, dates of birth, passwords, tax file numbers.
‘The MyGov platform is often misused in many different ways by perpetrators of domestic violence and economic abuse. It can be used to learn about a new address, [and] during COVID-19, we saw it misused to access super. Post-separation, it can be used to see health records and weaponise those in family court proceedings.’
CWES advocates for the introduction of 'innocent spouse relief' in taxation legislation, similar to provisions in the United States.
This would give the Australian Taxation Office discretion in cases of financial abuse.
Additionally, the CWES calls for an overhaul of the child support system, proposing that the government guarantee child support payments, thereby shifting the burden of chasing unpaid support from the individual to the tax office.
‘One hundred per cent of the women we support in our money clinics [financial counsellor sessions provided by the CWES for financial abuse victims] have not been paid child support or have had it drastically minimised, and it’s insufficient,’ Glenn said. ‘No one gets the full amount.’
‘Effectively, it becomes a debt owed to the government rather than a debt owed to the women and children.’
The federal government, under the leadership of the Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher, has acknowledged the issue and announced an audit of key government systems as part of its commitment to ending violence against women.
‘We know that too often perpetrators of family and domestic violence exploit and manipulate government systems to control, threaten or harass a current or former partner,’ she said.
‘The audit will initially focus on the child support, social security and tax systems and will be informed by people with lived experience.’
For women like Alannah*, who continue to face post-separation abuse through delayed or insufficient child support payments, these reforms cannot come soon enough.
Alannah* shared that her ex, despite being obligated to pay just $40 per child each week in child support, often delayed payments, forcing her to repeatedly follow up.
‘It forces me, even though I’m meant to have escaped him and shouldn’t have to even think about him…to focus on him and navigate him,’ she said.
‘I can’t even get on with my life.’
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence and abuse, help is available.
The National Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence Counselling Service has a 24-hour helpline online via the 1800 RESPECT website or phone at 1800 737 732. You may also contact Lifeline.
You may also reach out to the National Violence and Abuse Trauma Counselling and Recovery Service via their hotline, 1800 FULLSTOP (1800 385 578).
In the digital age, where personal information is often just a click away, the safety and security of individuals should be a paramount concern for government agencies.
However, a recent incident involving Centrelink, a key Australian government service provider, has raised serious concerns about the safety of women escaping abusive relationships.
As Alannah* made plans to leave her emotionally, financially, and psychologically abusive partner—a man later convicted of an offence against her—she turned to Centrelink for support.
She requested that her parenting payments be directed to a new, personal account instead of the joint account she shared with her ex-partner.
Alannah*’s life became at risk over this Centrelink flaw. Credit: Shutterstock
Instead, Centrelink mistakenly deposited a significant lump sum payment into the old joint account, inadvertently alerting her ex-partner to her plans and putting her in immediate danger.
‘I knew he had access to my Centrelink stuff; I knew he was an excessive checker of the bank account. When he came home, he was like, “What’s this about?”’ Alannah* said.
‘I said, “You don’t understand the danger you’ve put me in.” And then there was this rigmarole, they couldn’t just take the money back.’
This error not only compromised Alannah*'s safety but also led to her ex-partner transferring the funds to his personal account that she had no access to.
Despite reporting the mistake to Centrelink, Alannah* faced a bureaucratic nightmare, and the agency failed to provide an explanation or immediate remedy for the error.
Alannah*'s case is not isolated. It highlights a broader issue with federal platforms like MyGov, Centrelink, and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), which can be manipulated to facilitate financial abuse.
The Centre for Women’s Economic Safety (CWES) has launched a campaign urging the government to reform its systems to better protect women.
Financial abuse is alarmingly common in domestic and family violence situations, affecting 79 to 99 per cent of cases, with a significant number of Australian women and men experiencing partner economic abuse in their lifetime.
Alannah*'s case is not isolated, as others have experienced the same plight with Centrelink. Credit: Unsplash
Rebecca Glenn, the Founder and Chief Executive of CWES, pointed out that these systems were designed in a way that allowed perpetrators to continue financially abusing victim-survivors long after leaving a violent relationship.
‘A lot of these systems are designed to protect people from strangers but not from people they know,’ Glenn said.
‘We know that people have a fair bit of information about their partners: email addresses, security questions, dates of birth, passwords, tax file numbers.
‘The MyGov platform is often misused in many different ways by perpetrators of domestic violence and economic abuse. It can be used to learn about a new address, [and] during COVID-19, we saw it misused to access super. Post-separation, it can be used to see health records and weaponise those in family court proceedings.’
CWES advocates for the introduction of 'innocent spouse relief' in taxation legislation, similar to provisions in the United States.
This would give the Australian Taxation Office discretion in cases of financial abuse.
Additionally, the CWES calls for an overhaul of the child support system, proposing that the government guarantee child support payments, thereby shifting the burden of chasing unpaid support from the individual to the tax office.
‘One hundred per cent of the women we support in our money clinics [financial counsellor sessions provided by the CWES for financial abuse victims] have not been paid child support or have had it drastically minimised, and it’s insufficient,’ Glenn said. ‘No one gets the full amount.’
‘Effectively, it becomes a debt owed to the government rather than a debt owed to the women and children.’
The federal government, under the leadership of the Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher, has acknowledged the issue and announced an audit of key government systems as part of its commitment to ending violence against women.
‘We know that too often perpetrators of family and domestic violence exploit and manipulate government systems to control, threaten or harass a current or former partner,’ she said.
‘The audit will initially focus on the child support, social security and tax systems and will be informed by people with lived experience.’
For women like Alannah*, who continue to face post-separation abuse through delayed or insufficient child support payments, these reforms cannot come soon enough.
Alannah* shared that her ex, despite being obligated to pay just $40 per child each week in child support, often delayed payments, forcing her to repeatedly follow up.
‘It forces me, even though I’m meant to have escaped him and shouldn’t have to even think about him…to focus on him and navigate him,’ she said.
‘I can’t even get on with my life.’
The National Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence Counselling Service has a 24-hour helpline online via the 1800 RESPECT website or phone at 1800 737 732. You may also contact Lifeline.
You may also reach out to the National Violence and Abuse Trauma Counselling and Recovery Service via their hotline, 1800 FULLSTOP (1800 385 578).
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