But Emma Delahunty, a single mother of a one-year-old, will be forced to pay back the money due to what she called a “loophole” in the rules for people receiving paid parental leave. The same hardship hurdle does not apply to welfare debts, which can be waived or reduced if Centrelink is to blame, Delahunty said. In February, she was officially contacted about the debt for the first time by a private debt collector, which demanded she enter a payment plan. She also pointed out that she had not claimed the full amount of paid parental leave that she was entitled to. “Where a social welfare debt arises, the department is legally obliged to recover the debt except in very limited circumstances.

Source: The Guardian September 29, 2019 19:52 UTC