Landlords charging Centrepay transaction fees to vulnerable tenants against scheme policy

Administration fees for debit system should be covered by business but renters – including a disability pensioner – have still been made to pay

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Landlords are wrongly making vulnerable tenants cover the costs of administering the government-run Centrepay debit system, in one case passing it on to a blind disability pensioner.

A Guardian Australia investigation has revealed multiple failings with Centrepay, a system allowing businesses early access to welfare payments, prior to money hitting a welfare recipient’s bank account.

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