ACOSS is again demanding the immediate removal of the Targeted Compliance Framework (TCF) after senior officials were unable to say if it is operating legally.
When asked about the legality of the compliance framework in senate estimates on Wednesday, the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Murray Watt, and Department Secretary Natalie James were both unable to say they had confidence it was operating legally.
There are also serious questions for the Government still to answer around the circumstances of the ten people who have subsequently died after having their income support payments illegally cancelled.
The Targeted Compliance Framework, introduced in 2018, sets out the penalty system for people who do not meet their mutual obligations, including payment suspensions and cancellations.
The TCF has been plagued by various errors since its introduction and in November it was revealed that around 1,000 income support payments may have been illegally cancelled between April 2022 and July 2024.
"The fact that this harmful system continues to operate when neither the Minister nor the department secretary can say if it is operating legally is extremely concerning," said ACOSS CEO Cassandra Goldie.
"Since its introduction in 2018, ACOSS has consistently opposed the compliance framework and formally warned successive Ministers about the serious harm it causes, including homelessness, relationship breakdown and destitution
"The Minister acknowledges the compliance framework is overly punitive and in need of a complete overhaul, and cannot say if it is operating legally, yet chooses to continue harming people by refusing to have the system suspended.
"Every three months 240,000 people - over a third of people in Workforce Australia - have their payment suspended. The compliance framework must be urgently stopped to prevent further harm to people on low incomes."
