Centrelink pursuing debts that are more than 40 years old despite agreeing to waive old arrears

Advocates and legal bodies want the debt to be made ‘out of bounds’ given how hard it is to determine its accuracy

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Centrelink is pursuing $4.93bn in unpaid debts, with the oldest dating back more than 40 years, despite the government agreeing to implement a six-year statute of limitations on debt recovery.

A growing list of advocates, including peak legal body Economic Justice Australia, want the debts wiped, while Australia’s leading welfare expert has warned it is impossible to trust whether the huge amount of debt is accurate.