Almost half of all people using employment services received threats to suspend their payments in the last quarter, new data has revealed.

The data from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) showed a 23% increase in the number of payment suspension notices issued by Workforce Australia, with 618,000 issued from 1 July to 30 September 2025, up from from 504,000 in the previous quarter.

It comes as advocates call for a pause in suspensions until the government can ensure the target compliance framework (TCF), the automated system that runs mutual obligations and has just been investigated by the commonwealth ombudsman , is working legally.

In an October 2025 Senate estimates hearing, Senator Jess Walsh said the government knew Centrelink payment suspensions were

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