Centrelink accused of killing a customerAn Australian Broadcasting Authority investigation has found Federal welfare agency Centrelink has a case to answer over the suicide of a customer.
Centrelink lodged a complaint with the ABA concerning an item broadcast 3 March 2004 on channel seven's Today Tonight, denying the claim that pressure from it's staff following the miscalculation of $35,000 in payments forced a customer's suicide.
The report indicates that "[i]n their letter of complaint to the ABA [Centrelink] asserted: [t]he story included an allegation, attributed to the daughters of a former Centrelink customer, that their mother’s suicide was as a result of Centrelink’s continual pressure on her to find a job. Centrelink rejects that allegation".
The ABA was of the view that the "family genuinely believe that Centrelink treated their mother in a manner inappropriate for someone in an emotionally unstable state of mind, and that this ultimately was a factor contributing to their mother’s decision to take her own life".
"The ABA finds that the viewpoints of [the deceased's] three daughters were represented fairly."
"Accordingly, the licensee did not breach ... the [broadcasting] Code."
August 4, 2005
