A woman who was accidentally overpaid more than $ 94,000 worth of benefits by Centrelink over 10 years will only have to repay the government 18 per cent of the money . Hearing documents from the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia reported that the woman had received more than she was eligible for due to 'an error by Centrelink ' , even after she had inquired whether she was still getting the correct payment . Tribunal member Mr C. Ermert wrote that 'incorrect coding on her computer record ' meant she continued to receive benefit payments 'even though her income exceeded the level at which they ceased to be payable ' . A woman received $ 94,219.84 more than she was eligible for from Centrelink over 10 years due to a computer error . In early 2011 , the woman reported to Centrelink that her and her partner 's estimated combined annual income had increased to $ 274,479 . However a senior practitioner confirmed that she was still eligible to continue receiving the same rate of Family Tax Benefit , Child Care Benefit and Schoolkids Bonus . It was not until April of 2014 that a Centrelink worker noticed the error and ordered the woman to repay a total of $ 94,219.84 worth of debts . Despite the woman admitting that ' a debt recovery plan would not cause her financial hardship ' , she challenged the decision , claiming that 'she was not responsible for debts caused by the Department 's errors . ' The Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia has ordered that she must repay $ 17,248.18 . The Tribunal documents stated that she 'answered consistently that she noticed nothing untoward about the level of benefits until 2011 , when her husband 's salary increased significantly , giving them more disposable income . 'It was then that she raised the issue with Centrelink . Up to that time she trusted the Department to make the correct payments . ' While the errors were recognised as being solely the governments fault , the Tribunal still ruled that she had to repay the $ 17,248.18 that she received from 2012 onward due to legislation regarding timeframes . Repayments for over $ 77,000 that she received before 2012 were waived .
The woman was overpaid for 10 years due to an error by Centrelink . She reported an increased combined income in 2011 but was still found eligible for a number of benefits until 2014 . In the case of Ms McArdle, she had been on welfare since 2008 and her annual income is about $11,000 - $12,000 per year.