Welfare agency attacked over texts

CENTRELINK has been accused of waging a “war of terror” on welfare recipients after sending letters and text messages warning against fraud.

An elderly Burnie woman with mental health issues feared “Big Brother” was watching her, Labor said, and urged those responsible to rethink their approach.

The welfare agency, which raised the ire of Labor and the Greens following the recent “robo-debt” saga, has courted controversy after alerting clients in several locations to a task force targeting scammers.

“There’s a subliminal message there that ‘we know where you are and we’re coming to get you’ ... these people are not criminals,” Labor’s human services spokeswoman Linda Burney said yesterday.

Text messages to recipients in Tasmania, Western Australia, Victoria and NSW flagged a task force run by the Australian Federal Police and Department of Human Services.

“Taskforce Integrity is in [the recipient’s location] focusing on welfare fraud. Please remember your responsibility to keep all your details up to date,” the SMS read.

About 25,000 texts were sent to people who had already received letters from Centrelink in July, with the Australian Federal Police logo, which attracted widespread scorn.

The Greens and Labor are concerned the correspondence is being sent to people with mental health issues.

Braddon Labor MP Justine Keay was approached by a Burnie man caring for an elderly mother who suffers paranoia and anxiety and was among those contacted.

“She felt as though Big Brother was watching her and probably expected someone knocking on that door that very minute,” Ms Keay said.

“These people don’t need this type of intimidation.”

Human Services Minister Alan Tudge defended the correspondence. “I think the taxpayer is quite happy to support those who are down on their luck at any particular time,” he told LAFM. — AAP