Watch our video about Centrelink debts and overpayments.
The process when you’ve been overpaid
1. We identify an overpayment and check if you owe us money
We may notice you’ve been overpaid after you tell us of a change or complete a review.
Once we know you’ve been overpaid, we check if you have a debt that you need to repay.
You may not need to repay money if:
- we can offset the overpayment by deducting it from your next payment
- the overpayment is small and not cost effective for us to recover.
If you don’t need to repay money, this is where the process ends.
2. We contact you to explain why you owe money and what you need to do
If you need to repay money, we’ll always send you a letter. The letter will show how much you were overpaid and explain why you owe money. The letter will also include a due date when you need to start repaying the money. We send this in the post or online to your myGov Inbox.
Sometimes we’ll call you or send you a text message. Make sure you check it’s us and not a scammer. If you’re not sure if a call is from us, hang up and call back our debt recovery line.
If you’re an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Australian, you can call the Centrelink Indigenous debt recovery line.
For help in your language, you can call the Centrelink multilingual phone service.
If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov, you can see if you need to repay us money online. To do this, sign in to myGov and select Money you owe.
You can also use the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app.
There are steps you can take if you:
- want us to explain why you were overpaid
- disagree with the debt
- can’t start repaying the money by your due date
- are considering a debt agreement or bankruptcy.
Otherwise, you’ll need to start repaying the money.
3. You repay or start repaying the money by the due date
The due date is usually 28 days after we send you the letter.
If you get a Centrelink payment, we’ll deduct money from your payment. You don’t need to do anything, but you can change how much we deduct.
If you no longer get a Centrelink payment, you should either:
- repay the money in full
- set up a payment arrangement.
4. You haven’t repaid or haven’t started repaying by the due date
By the due date, you need to have done one of the following:
- repaid the money in full
- set up a payment arrangement with us
- got an extension to your due date.
If you haven’t, and you’re not getting a Centrelink payment, we may:
- charge you interest
- ask the ATO to withhold or garnishee some or all of your tax refund
- ask your employer, bank or other organisation to help us recover the money
- issue a Departure Prohibition Order.
In rare situations, we may take legal action.
We only take these actions as a last resort if we haven’t heard from you. So please contact us before the due date if you can’t repay the money.
Help when you’ve been overpaid
If you need help, information or support, you can:
- find out what to do if you disagree or can’t repay a debt
- contact a social worker
- find out about our Financial Information Service (FIS) and how a FIS officer can help you
- read about how to deal with debt.
You can also access information about your past Centrelink debts.
Contact numbers available on this page.
Centrelink debt recovery line
Use this line to discuss repaying an existing Centrelink debt.
There are other ways you may want to contact us.