The harmful Targeted Compliance Framework (TCF) must be permanently scrapped after an independent assurance review has failed to provide assurance it is operating within the law.
The Deloitte review of the IT system behind the framework could not provide assurance that the TCF reliably operates or delivers outcomes lawfully. The review found issues stemming from its introduction in 2018 and that "penalties and payment suspensions are automatically applied without sufficient safeguards".
"This new Deloitte review confirms what we already knew: the Targeted Compliance Framework is fundamentally flawed." said ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie AO.
"This should be ringing alarm bells for the government after two independent reports confirming serious and systematic failings in the system. There is now mounting evidence the TCF is not operating lawfully or the way it was intended and the public has no confidence in its continued operation.
"We are urging Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth and the Secretary of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations Natalie James to immediately bring a stop to the damaging Targeted Compliance Framework. This new report clearly demonstrates that there are flaws across this entire system, including payment suspensions. When will the Government put the interests of people doing it toughest first, and stop this living nightmare for people already in poverty?"
The Deloitte report comes one week after the Commonwealth Ombudsman's damning report found that the Government had failed to implement the law correctly and that this had "profound if not catastrophic" impacts on people with the least.
While cancellations have mostly been paused after repeated errors, hundreds of thousands of people are still having income support payments suspended each quarter under this system.
ACOSS calls on the Government to immediately:
- Stop all Centrelink payment penalties, including suspensions, reductions and cancellations, related to compulsory activities
- Stop the entire Targeted Compliance Framework – a program that continues to cause significant harm
- Commit to implement the Hill Review and redesign employment services so they provide real help to people who are locked out of paid work.
Background:
In December 2024, ACOSS lodged a complaint with the Commonwealth Ombudsman about potentially illegal cancellations of people's vital income support payments and the damaging impacts of the compliance system (the Targeted Compliance Framework) and called for its immediate suspension.
Since 2018, ACOSS has consistently opposed the Targeted Compliance Framework and warned successive Ministers about the serious harm it causes, including calling for the cessation of payment suspensions which impact nearly 240,000 people in Workforce Australia every three months.
