Federal government defends Centrelink automated debt recovery

The federal government is defending Centrelink's automated debt recovery system amid reports of wrongly-issued repayment notices.

Stock photograph showing Australian Government's Centerlink, Family Assistance and Medicare branding, Source: AAP

The government says it has received fewer than 300 complaints out of the almost 170-thousand letters sent out this financial year.

For a number of weeks the federal government agency Centrelink has been sending out automatically-generated debt notices to current and former payment recipients.

Now, an online campaign has begun sharing accounts of people disputing the amounts they supposedly owe the government. 

Lyndsey Jackson helped create the 'Not My Debt' website and social media pages.

She says some of the most socio-economically vulnerable people are being incorrectly sent letters from Centrelink demanding repayment.