How to repay money you owe to Centrelink
You can repay money for a Centrelink debt in full or set up a payment arrangement. We may recover money in other ways as well.
If you owe us money, we want to help you repay it in a way that best suits your situation. That’s why there are options available to you.
Your Centrelink debts won’t affect your credit rating. However, we may take action if you haven’t started repaying the money by the due date.
Your options
There are 2 main ways to repay money you owe. They are:
- in full by the due date
- over time, by setting up a payment arrangement or having deductions from your regular payment.
Most people pay the money they owe over time.
The right option for you depends on your situation. When deciding how to repay the money, you’ll need to think of things like:
- your budget
- upcoming expenses
- any other debts you may have
- how long you want to be repaying the money.
We have examples to help you work out a repayment option that suits you.
Your repayments
How you repay money will depend on:
At times we may recover money in other ways and for other agencies.
Page last updated: 28 January 2021
This information was printed 25 February 2021 from https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/subjects/centrelink-debts-and-overpayments/how-repay-money-you-owe-centrelink. It may not include all of the relevant information on this topic. Please consider any relevant site notices at https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/site-notices when using this material.