Hundreds of thousands of Centrelink payments were illegally cancelled because of a glitch in the automated system that runs the government’s controversial mutual obligations scheme, the peak body for community legal centres has said.

The analysis from Economic Justice Australia shows about 310,000 people had their Centrelink payments unlawfully cancelled between 2020 and 2024 because they were not given enough time to reconnect to a job provider after missing a compulsory activity as part of their mutual obligations.

Jobseekers are required to meet mutual obligation requirements – such as attending meetings with a employment provider and applying for jobs – to continue to receive their payments. After jobseekers receive five demerits in the mutual obligation system, they enter what is

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