Liam Thatcher

Now that the Deloitte report, about the government's unlawful administration of mutual obligations, is making international headlines, it's worth looking at what's actually in it (apart from AI slop) and WHY it was actually commissioned

A thread👇

The image shows the Australian Government crest and the Workforce Australia logo at the top against a dark blue background. In the center is a large, light-blue location pin icon. Below the icon, the text reads: Mutual obligation pause for Disability Employment Service (DES) participants. Please check post

Workforce Australia deleted their X, so I'm bringing you the reminder that Mutual Obligations are suspended from Thursday 16 October 2025 until Monday 5 January 2026 (inclusive) for Inclusive Employment Australia (Formerly DES) participants.

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25m ago 11.28 AEST Cait Kelly Cait Kelly Senate committee discussing decision to offer compensation to those affected by unlawful debt calculations Today, the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee is discussing the government’s decision to offer around $3m to Australians affected by Centrelink’s unlawful debt calculation method. People with unlawful debts between $250 and $2,000 will receive $200, those between $2,000 and $5,000 will receive $400, and debts above $5,000 will receive $600. The government would also raise the threshold for small debts to $250, meaning about 1.2 million debts are expected to be waived or not raised this financial year.

Kristin O’Connell, a spokesperson for advocacy group the Antipoverty Centre, said all the debts should be completely waived: I mentioned someone in my opening statement who’s been criminalised and he’s been incarcerated as a result of one of these debts. There is no amount of money that can make up for the harm done to that person. But under this scheme, if he is deemed to be able to get that compensation, it will be $600 and his debt is in the tens of thousands of dollars. He’s been living with the consequences of criminalisation now since 2018. At least two people were jailed after Centrelink used unlawful calculations to accuse them of overclaiming welfare benefits, a watchdog has revealed.

What compensation could ever be fair for being imprisoned over a false debt?
At least two people were jailed after Centrelink used unlawful calculations to accuse them of overclaiming welfare benefits

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

“I enjoy thinking about truly fundamental concepts, like the alphabet for instance.”

Good morning.

‘They’ve engaged a barrister!’ Parents of high-needs children say Labor is waging lawfare over disability support Exclusive: The federal government paid big law firms more than $60m in 2024-25 to fight NDIS participants appealing decisions about their care packages. Most families represent themselves

The federal government spent more than $60m on private law firms to fight national disability insurance scheme participants appealing decisions about their packages last financial year, a 60% increase from the year before, Guardian Australia can reveal.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

you should read the whole article (i want to also read the book!) but i want to highlight this first question, because so often you hear that solitary is bad, BUT it's a necessary way to protect the vulnerable (whether bc queer or mentally ill or something else). that's not true. it is never that

They are calling it one of the most lawful systems of welfare administration of all time:

i reviewed NBA 2K26 for @endlessmode.bsky.social because someone had to while you're all playing silksong: www.endlessmode.com/article/comm...

People are using autism to rort the NDIS, but it’s not the people with autism As a support worker (an autistic one to boot), I've had a ground’s-eye view of an industry with little to no oversight — one where government policy has had the marrow sucked out of it by a vicious ci...

i wrote about who's really rorting the NDIS for @crikey_news

www.crikey.com.au/2025/08/29/n...

The government's proposed FOI Act amendments are out.

Media has focused on the new submission fee, but far more alarming are changes making it easier for govt to block access to public information.

Two in particular stand out:

People using the NDIS regularly have to submit FOI requests to even figure out how a decision was made about their plan. Get outta here with this

The federal government wants to charge for making FOI requests. Ridiculous for a government allegedly committed to transparency. www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/freed...

It's getting harder and harder to deny that AGI is a near certainty. This kind of rapid expansion, this level of investment and infrastructural shift, this amount of *risk* - it doesn't happen without astronomical reward. The other day I saw a big barn, which can only mean one thing: giant horses

#BREAKING 🚨 'A major report for government by Deloitte is littered with citation errors prompting concern it may have been generated by artificial intelligence'

✍️ @paulkarp.bsky.social in the AFR on the consultancy's $440,000 Targeted Compliance Framework report:

www.afr.com/companies/pr...

NDIA chased more than 100 disabled participants for debts they did not owe

📢 The agency has blamed poor process and human error for incorrectly pursuing 115 people for debts.

The Administrative Review Council is conducting an inquiry into the administrative review of social security decisions inc. internal reviews and the 2 tiers of the ART - consultations open until 26 September 2025 consultations.ag.gov.au/legal-system...

The Free Piss

Drive - ABC listen The lively debate and stories that have shaped Canberra today.

More on the Ombudsman's report and recommendations including the unfair power imbalance between "The Department", its employees and delegates and welfare recipients living below the poverty line from @kristin8x.antipovertycentre.org from @antipovertycentre.org on ABC

www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

The BDS movement is calling for people to pressure Microsoft with divestment and exclusion from contracts, whenever feasible. We also call for boycotting Microsoft’s gaming products, with the following options as tiers of engagement: Cancel your Xbox Game Pass subscription. Boycott Candy Crush, Minecraft and Call of Duty – flagship videogame franchises owned by Microsoft. Boycott all Microsoft Gaming products, including Xbox-branded consoles, headsets, accessories and all games published by Microsoft-owned publishing labels (such as Xbox Game Studios, Activision, Bethesda and Blizzard).

And I've obviously been saying this a lot lately, but BDS does not expect anyone to drop everything made by Microsoft all at once. They pick very specific targets in order to get as wide a coalition as possible, and in the case of Xbox, even suggest different tiers of engagement.

Exclusive: Welfare payments cancelled unlawfully An error in the interpretation of welfare legislation has led to the unlawful cancellation of payments, as the department fails to manage its own compliance system.

I'll be on RN News Breakfast ~8.15am talking about Com'wlth Ombudsman's damning report into this story from November last year. Confirms all and more, as welfare recipients have been saying for YEARS. Ombo report here: www.ombudsman.gov.au/__data/asset... www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/law-cri...

Damning Ombudsman report shows government must stop Centrelink payment suspensions Welfare recipients and community sector organisations are calling for an urgent intervention by government to stop Centrelink payment suspensions, which cause severe financial hardship and turmoil in ...

🚨 A new report into unlawful Centrelink payment cancellations is out!

The Ombudsman has raised concerns about whether payment suspensions happen "fairly and reasonably" with @caitkelly.bsky.social

Tune in to ABC RN to hear from @squigglyrick.bsky.social
apcentre.substack.com/p/damning-om...

And one on housing policy www.aph.gov.au/About_Parlia...

Figure showing a decline in the proportion of University applicants from low SES background over time in Australia, particularly since 2022.

This seems bad for Australian society.

Exclusive: NDIA chief intervened to throw advocate off scheme Internal emails show the National Disability Insurance Agency rushed to withdraw access for a disabled person whose funding was criticised on talkback radio, only to reinstate it 10 months later.

context: www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/...

Disability representative organisations call for accountability after NDIA conduct targeting person with disability - People with Disability Australia Joint Statement on disability representative organisations call for accountability after NDIA conduct targeting person with disability.

our team (DANA) joined with 11 other orgs asking for an urgent ombudsman enquiry, release of legal advice, and roundtable with Minister and NDIA about a person being thrown off the NDIS by CEO decree. absolutely awful and cannot happen again pwd.org.au/disability-r...

We are expecting some significant announcements related to “mutual” obligations and legal issues over the next few weeks and we want to be able to inform people about any changes as quickly and directly as possible. If you want to keep up to date with what’s happening, please DM me to receive a link to the WhatsApp group. We also encourage you to invite anyone you know who has “mutual” obligations to join the group. Let me know if you do not use WhatsApp and want to be kept updated so we can figure out another channel. If you are currently having a problem with your job agency and need advice or help, you can also use the group to ask us a question.

🚨 HELLO, IF YOU ARE ON A CENTRELINK PAYMENT AND HAVE “MUTUAL” OBLIGATIONS OR KNOW SOMEONE WHO DOES, PLEASE READ + SHARE

Text: Even the smallest Australian market, Adelaide endures an impossibly unaffordable median multiple of 10.9, ranked 90th among the 95 markets. Melbourne, with impossibly unaffordable median multiple of 9.7, is the 87th least affordable. Brisbane was an impossibly unaffordable 9.3 and ranked 85th out of 95. Perth at 8.3, was the 82nd least unaffordable market. It is remarkable that these markets are less affordable than widely recognized world cities like New York, London, or Chicago.

What if I were to tell you that Adelaide is now more expensive to live in than Honolulu or San Francisco?

That's just one finding on Demographia's new housing affordability report, which doesn't have any comforting words about any major Australian city: www.newgeography.com/files/Demogr...

New report alert: NCDA reveals systemic failures harming people with disability - housing insecurity, transport denial, and rights removal under guardianship. These injustices demand action from policymakers now! Read: bit.ly/ncdaSAIR