Record numbers of Disability Support Pension applicants are having their claims rejected, often against the explicit advice of doctors. With nothing left to lose, some are choosing to fight.
The Australian Federal Police has decided that Human Services Minister Alan Tudge's leak of a blogger's personal info was all above board.
"I’m struggling to see a basis for a genuine argument that the disclosure of Fox’s information did not involve a breach of the Privacy Act," writes Michael Bradley.
Who could resist working for Border Force and seeing this ad?
The use of a citizen's personal information by a vengeful public service department, in cooperation with the media, is a new low for a government seemingly committed to collecting and exploiting our data.
Blogger Andie Fox wrote a comment piece for the Fairfax papers on February 6, outlining her experience with Centrelink. Then things got nasty.
In today's Media Briefs: Fairfax's Good Weekend and Good Living on the same menu ... Spun out of Human Services job ... Front Page of the Day ... News International offers Milly Dowler's family £3m settlement and more ...
Crikey readers have their say.
A centre that helps some of Victoria's most vulnerable families with parenting issues is understaffed and underfunded, writes Swinburne journalism student Russell Davis.
The Department of Human Services has found success in the Twitterverse by applying the same broad strategy it uses for talkback radio, closely monitoring mentions of government services and interacting when possible with audiences.