The Federal Government says its latest efforts to stop welfare overpayment will cost about $30 million.

The government’s figures suggest over $5 billion is overpaid to welfare recipients each year, which it says is largely due to the inaccuracy of reported employment income.

The Morrison government wants to change the way recipients report their incomes, having them report their actual incomes rather than generating an estimate based on their wage and number of hours worked.

Services Australia - the new agency overseeing the welfare system – will receive $10 million per year until 2020/21 to fund the transition, covering costs including educating recipients and administrative changes.

Welfare advocates want the government to delay its rollout and consult more broadly to prevent another robo-debt disaster.

“There's no need to rush this bill,” the Australian Council of Social Service told a parliamentary committee this week.

“To compare what happened with robo-debt, there was no consultation with experts at all.”