Editing Centrelink (section)

==History and operations==
Centrelink commenced initially as a [[government agency]] of the Department of Social Security under the trading name of the Commonwealth Services Delivery Agency in early 1997. Following the passage of the ''Commonwealth Services Delivery Agency Act 1997'', the Centrelink brand name came into effect in late 1997. Offices were established nationally to manage services to people in need of social security payments.

In 1998, the government established the [[Centrepay]] payment system to allow recipients of Centrelink welfare payments to authorise automatic deductions from their welfare payments to pay for regular expenses.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Department of Social Services |title=Centrepay Reform – Discussion Paper |url=https://engage.dss.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Centrepay-Reform-Discussion-Paper-Final.pdf |publisher=Australian Government |access-date=25 December 2024 |date=May 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Allam |first1=Lorena |last2=Knaus |first2=Christopher |title=Centrepay scandal: Labor to reform debit scheme to combat 'predatory behaviour' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/21/centrepay-scandal-centrelink-welfare-payment-redirection-labor-government-changes |access-date=25 December 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=21 May 2024}}</ref>

On 1 July 2011, Centrelink, together with [[Medicare Australia]], was integrated into the Department of Human Services as a result of the {{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act||Human Services Act, 2011}}, with the department retaining the brand name as part of its set of master programs.

In 2016, [[Concentrix]], a business services company and subsidiary of U.S.-based [[SYNNEX|SYNNEX Corporation]], was one of the companies awarded a contract to operate call centres for Centrelink.<ref>[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-06/centrelink-contractor-concentrix-cut-thousands-off-welfare-in-uk/10586274 Centrelink contractor Concentrix wrongly cut thousands off welfare in the UK] ''ABC News'', 6 December 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2018.</ref>

Another company awarded a call centre operating contract by Centrelink is Stellar, a subsidiary of the Nevada-registered U.S. company Stellar LLC.<ref>[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-10/ato-contractor-has-a-history-of-bankruptcy-and-tax-minimisation/10595884 Australian Taxation Office contractor has history of bankruptcy and links to tax havens] ''ABC News'', 10 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.</ref>

Following the re-election of the [[Morrison government|Morrison Federal government]] in May 2019, the Department of Human Services was renamed [[Department of Human Services (Australia)|Services Australia]].