Income apportionment

In February 2023, Services Australia and the Department of Social Services (DSS) told our Office there was an issue with how Services Australia had been apportioning income to calculate social security payment rates before 7 December 2020, when the law changed.

As a result, we investigated and published 2 reports: Lessons in lawfulness in August 2023 and Accountability in Action: identifying, owning and fixing errors in December 2023.

Services Australia and DSS accepted 11 of the recommendations and the suggestion, and partially accepted one recommendation. The agencies undertook to implement all the recommendations in both reports, and the Office continues to monitor their progress.

Importantly, there were lessons for all agencies that:

• When errors happen, agencies owe it to the public to act promptly to assess the impact of the error and develop and implement fair and proportionate remedies.
• Agencies should acknowledge errors and, where appropriate, apologise.
• Being transparent and accountable can help to build and maintain public trust in agency decision-making.
• Agencies should provide transparent, simple, timely and clear communication to people about actions and decisions that affect them.

2024