Home buyers in the ACT receiving aggressive and unclear demands for repayments

ABC NEWS (Australia)

An ACT assembly inquiry into the government's controversial home buyer concession scheme has heard evidence from Canberrans, who say they've been traumatised by their experience. The inquiry is investigating several aspects of the scheme, and it comes after previous ABC reporting on many home buyers receiving aggressive and unclear demands for repayments.

Transcript

00:00Determined to provide for herself and her kids, for single parent Kathy Whedon, the

00:07ACT Government's Home Buyer Concession Scheme looked like a lifeline.

00:11I'd gone through a family law separation and had consent orders ratified through the

00:16courts and so I genuinely believed I was eligible on those grounds.

00:20Eighteen months after getting a concession and buying a home, she received sudden and

00:25brutal notice that she wasn't eligible.

00:28What did the Revenue Office claim that you owed?

00:31Somewhere in the vicinity of $50,000.

00:33As well as the debt, Kathy objected to the conduct of the Revenue Office.

00:38The correspondence that was sent out was absolutely appalling.

00:42You know, the way they spoke in that correspondence, the way that made individuals feel, the complete

00:47lack of concern, regard for people's wellbeing.

00:53Despite having provided reams of information explaining her situation, her appeals were denied.

00:58You know, you're 18 months into a healing journey coming out of not great circumstances and

01:03it takes you straight back.

01:04In the middle of this year, Kathy paid the debt in full.

01:08If you live in endless hope, it just puts you in a cycle of an emotional spiral.

01:14Today, Kathy's voice was heard, along with others, by an Assembly Committee inquiry into

01:20the scheme.

01:21I knew that I had no capacity to go anything further.

01:25The Government acknowledges parts of the program need to be fixed.

01:29We absolutely recognise that there have been some people who have had a really significant

01:33impact from the way that this process has been implemented.

01:36We're working on providing more reasons for decisions, be more trauma-informed in our approach

01:42and how we lay out those notices.

01:44Kathy is clear on what should come from the inquiry's report in December.

01:49I really hope that someone's going to be held to account.

01:52The ACT Revenue Office, and in fact the Minister's Office, can't pretend that they aren't aware

01:56of this.

01:57Calls for a fairer system in a tough housing market.

02:11All right.

02:20Thank you for joining us.

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