Federal Government agrees with Robodebt Commission recommendations—except for one
- Replies 12
The controversial Robodebt scheme has been described as 'cruel and crude' and rightly condemned for falsely accusing welfare recipients of owing debts.
Now, after a scathing Royal Commission report into the unlawful debt collection system, the federal government said it supports nearly all recommendations for reform.
Robodebt automatically issued debt notices to welfare recipients using an error-prone algorithm, often resulting in falsely claimed debts.
From 2016 until 2020, when it was finally scrapped, Robodebt wreaked havoc on vulnerable Australians. Hundreds of thousands of people received automated debt notices they did not actually owe.
The policy affected over half a million Australians, causing many to face worse financial situations. They had to take out loans, sell their cars, or use their savings to pay off a debt they were told to pay within weeks. Some felt vilified and ashamed after being told they owed money.
A royal commission helmed by Senior Barrister Catherine Holmes published its report in July, slamming Robodebt as 'a shameful chapter' in public administration.
She described the scheme as a ‘costly failure of public administration’ with ‘extensive, devastating, and continuing’ ill-effects in the 990-page report.
Additionally, the report put forth 57 recommendations for reform, which fall under these categories:
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the government had accepted all recommendations except one—amending the Freedom of Information Act to enable access to cabinet documents.
He claimed that it was a 'closing comment' and not an official recommendation.
In its response, the government stated that it had already implemented some of the recommendations from the report regarding the unlawful debt collection scheme.
Government Services Minister Bill Shorten shared: ‘The government's already begun to move on a lot of these recommendations. In my portfolio, there are 26 recommendations.’
‘Even in the last week, we've announced 3,000 extra staff to make sure that we can process payments in a timely and accurate fashion,’ he added. ‘We've stopped using external debt collectors, which was a feature of the previous scheme under Robodebt."
Mr Dreyfus stated that the recommendations would prevent a similar scheme from occurring again.
‘The Australian people—and especially the hundreds of thousands of victims of the Robodebt Scheme—deserve so much better,’ he said. ‘The Robodebt Scheme was wrong. The Robodebt Scheme was unlawful. The Robodebt Scheme destroyed the lives of many innocent Australians.’
'We said we’d act to ensure that nothing like this can ever happen again, and today we take the next step toward delivering on that commitment,' Mr Dreyfus added.
You can watch ABC News’ coverage of the royal commission report here:
What do you think about the federal government’s exception, members? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Now, after a scathing Royal Commission report into the unlawful debt collection system, the federal government said it supports nearly all recommendations for reform.
Robodebt automatically issued debt notices to welfare recipients using an error-prone algorithm, often resulting in falsely claimed debts.
From 2016 until 2020, when it was finally scrapped, Robodebt wreaked havoc on vulnerable Australians. Hundreds of thousands of people received automated debt notices they did not actually owe.
The Robodebt Scheme automatically issued debt notices to welfare recipients using an error-prone algorithm, often resulting in falsely claimed debts. Credit: Shutterstock
The policy affected over half a million Australians, causing many to face worse financial situations. They had to take out loans, sell their cars, or use their savings to pay off a debt they were told to pay within weeks. Some felt vilified and ashamed after being told they owed money.
A royal commission helmed by Senior Barrister Catherine Holmes published its report in July, slamming Robodebt as 'a shameful chapter' in public administration.
She described the scheme as a ‘costly failure of public administration’ with ‘extensive, devastating, and continuing’ ill-effects in the 990-page report.
Additionally, the report put forth 57 recommendations for reform, which fall under these categories:
- Effects of Robodebt on individuals
- The concept of vulnerability
- The roles of advocacy groups and legal services
- Experiences of Human Services employees
- Failures in the Budget process
- Data-matching and exchanges
- Automated decision making
- Debt recovery and debt collectors
- Lawyers and legal services
- Administrative Appeals Tribunal
- The Commonwealth Ombudsman
- Improving the Australian Public Service
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the government had accepted all recommendations except one—amending the Freedom of Information Act to enable access to cabinet documents.
He claimed that it was a 'closing comment' and not an official recommendation.
In its response, the government stated that it had already implemented some of the recommendations from the report regarding the unlawful debt collection scheme.
Government Services Minister Bill Shorten shared: ‘The government's already begun to move on a lot of these recommendations. In my portfolio, there are 26 recommendations.’
‘Even in the last week, we've announced 3,000 extra staff to make sure that we can process payments in a timely and accurate fashion,’ he added. ‘We've stopped using external debt collectors, which was a feature of the previous scheme under Robodebt."
Mr Dreyfus stated that the recommendations would prevent a similar scheme from occurring again.
‘The Australian people—and especially the hundreds of thousands of victims of the Robodebt Scheme—deserve so much better,’ he said. ‘The Robodebt Scheme was wrong. The Robodebt Scheme was unlawful. The Robodebt Scheme destroyed the lives of many innocent Australians.’
'We said we’d act to ensure that nothing like this can ever happen again, and today we take the next step toward delivering on that commitment,' Mr Dreyfus added.
You can watch ABC News’ coverage of the royal commission report here:
What do you think about the federal government’s exception, members? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
.png){kind=icon}
