Labor frontbencher Linda Burney has referred Human Services Minister Alan Tudge to federal police over allegations he broke social security laws by releasing the personal information of a Centrelink recipient to the media.
Ms Burney, Labor's human services spokeswoman, described the case as "shocking".
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Linda Burney spurs investigation into minister
Labor frontbencher Linda Burney has called for an investigation into Human Services Minister Alan Tudge after he disclosed a welfare recipient's personal information to the media. Courtesy: ABC News 24.
"A private individual's information appears to have been provided to a media outlet without their permission," she said.
"If this is the case then how can anyone trust the government to look after their private information? If you or I go to Centrelink or a hospital or a school, we expect it to stay private."
![Human Services Minister Alan Tudge.](/web/20170307070700im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/7/o/7/j/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gup9bq.png/1488513440850.jpg)
Documents seen by Fairfax Media reveal Mr Tudge's office asked the department for extra personal information on the woman, including her tax returns and the date of her separation from her partner, so that Mr Tudge could respond to any criticisms that might come up in Question Time.
Mr Tudge said the information was provided to the media to correct "false assertions".
"It was done with the approval of the chief legal counsel of the Department of Human Services," he said.
"The government takes privacy very seriously and complies with all the requirements of the relevant legislation to ensure that Australians' information is safeguarded appropriately."
![Labor's human services spokeswoman Linda Burney](/web/20170307070700im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/5/w/o/x/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gup9bq.png/1488513440850.jpg)
The escalation came after department chiefs were interrogated in senate estimates hearings in Canberra on Thursday. The questions focused on the department's decision to release the information to the media and to Mr Tudge's office after the woman had written about her treatment by Centrelink in an article published by Fairfax.
Ms Burney said she believed Mr Tudge's actions to be "immoral at best" and "illegal at worst."
"It has gotten to the stage with Mr Tudge that there needs to be a thorough investigation," she said.
"That is why I have taken the very serious step of writing this afternoon to AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin."
Department of Human Services secretary Kathryn Cambell said the department had not secured a public interest certificate before releasing the woman's information, nor had any inquiries been made to the privacy commissioner.
She said this was not required under the terms of the social security legislation, "when it was for the purposes of maintaining the integrity of the system.
Estimates hearings were also told Mr Tudge was getting regular updates from his department on welfare recipients who are "critical or unhappy with the system", while Centrelink staff are monitoring social media to keep an eye on people complaining about their treatment by the agency."
The developments have prompted Victoria Legal Aid to advise their clients not to publicly disclose any personal information.
"It is important to remember the real human consequence of this decision," the legal body said in a statement.
"We would now have to advise any person who thinks they have an incorrect Centrelink debt, that if they speak publicly about their situation, their confidential information is no longer safe with Centrelink."
On Thursday, the committee also heard that more than 6600 Centrelink welfare recipients only discovered they owed the agency money when external debt collection agencies began chasing them.
"I acknowledge that some recipients have not received their formal reminder letter because we did not have their addresses," Ms Campbell said.
"Then the first they may have known about their debt is when they were contacted by the debt agency."
Ms Campbell said this had occurred in 5 per cent of cases.
The admission came despite previous claims by the department that welfare recipients who had been issued with a debt notice had multiple opportunities to appeal their notices before debt collection agencies began pursuing them.
"We deal very constructively with the complaints we receive," Ms Campbell said. "We are a big organisation with 35,000 staff, we make mistakes and we admit to that."
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