Robodebt: the government's deadly secret, and a mother's story of loss and hope
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Warning: this story contains content that may be distressing for some readers.
Rhys Cauzzo was a 'beautiful soul who was always there for everyone at any time,' according to his mum, Jenny Miller from the Sunshine Coast.
'He was very close to his family,' she said. 'He would collect electric blankets from op shops to keep stray cats warm in winter.'
'He was my best friend.'
On Australia Day 2017, Rhys Cauzzo took his own life. He was 27 years old.
After losing her son to suicide, Miller has been advocating for solutions to the harm caused by Robodebt. Credit: Facebook.
It was three in the morning on January 27, 2017, when the police came knocking on Ms Miller's door. 'I just knew that something was out of kilter — it's a mother thing,' she recalled.
It was there and then when they told her of what happened to her son.
When she learned the news, she immediately hopped on a plane to Melbourne, where her son was working as a florist and had recently been accepted to RMIT to pursue a degree in design.
When Ms Miller finally arrived at his Melbourne apartment the day after he died, she found a drawing Rhys had made of a man holding a gun, dollar signs, and the word 'debt'.
It was in May of 2016 when Rhys began receiving debt notices, and Ms Miller said the two of them often discussed the matter over the phone.
The government alleged that the young man received an overpayment of $28,000 from his occasional work as a florist, and he was being required to repay that amount.
And when Rhys went to Centrelink to dispute the accusations, they told him, 'There's nothing we can do – you need to now prove that you haven't earned this money.'
Ms Miller claimed that in December 2016, Centrelink and debt collectors started calling and writing to Rhys almost every day.
'I knew straight away that this had pushed him over the edge,' Ms Miller said.
Miller said she will never get over Rhys' death, but is holding out hope that the royal enquiry will shed light on the mystery. Credit: Jenny Miller.
Five years after Rhys' death, Ms Miller said she was glad to hear that a royal commission would look into the 'Robodebt' scheme, which she suspected pushed her son over the edge.
'We have been pushing to try to get answers and have some truth,' said the mum.
The Albanese government revealed the specifics of an investigation into the failed debt recovery plan that the previous administration had put in place this week.
In 2015, the Robodebt program used an algorithm to determine if Centrelink users had been overpaid, but 433,000 people were wrongfully charged with roughly $2 billion in payments.
Rhys was among the over 400,000 Australians who, in the words of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, were 'victims of a cruel system'.
On Thursday, the PM revealed a royal commission into the contentious Robodebt scheme, calling it a 'human tragedy with very real implications for its victims' when it was discovered that it had wrongly recovered more than $750 million from 381,000 people.
Ms Miller and her son aren't the only ones who have had to deal with the consequences of Robodebt.
On Thursday, Albanese referred to the scheme as a 'human tragedy with very real consequences for its victims'. Credit: ABC/News video.
Andrea Russell, a mother of six living in Tasmania, was put under a lot of stress in 2017 when her $12,500 bill arrived just before Christmas.
'I was extremely stressed at how I was going to pay back the money. We lived from week to week; it was a really difficult time,' she recalled. 'People have suicided, and no one has been held accountable. We have to make sure this never happens ever again.'
The 50-year-old mum claimed that in order to save $5000—which was thankfully reimbursed to her in 2020—for the government, she had to reduce the amount of money she spent on her children's tuition.
'There are still questions unanswered, and there needs to be a royal commission for the people who weren't able to speak up,' Russell said.
The Federal Court approved the settlement of the Robodebt class action in June last year, requiring the government to pay $112 million.
In 2019, it was ruled illegal to automatically match tax and Centrelink data to charge welfare recipients for money the Coalition government said they were overpaid.
The Morrison administration never revealed who was in charge of the project or which ministers were aware of its flaws, but now the Albanese administration has put aside $30 million for a royal commission to investigate.
Miller thanked Albanese for honouring his election promise to establish a royal commission investigating Robodebt. Credit: Sunrise.
Ms Miller appreciates the Prime Minister's commitment to establishing the royal commission, which was one of his electoral promises.
'Firstly, I would actually like to thank Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese for honouring the promise they were making to myself and others to have a royal commission,' she said in an interview with the morning show Sunrise.
'I've been fighting this for nearly six years, and it's time there were some answers. We need accountability.'
Bill Shorten, Minister of Government Services, said that even though the class action lawsuit gave victims justice, there was still more that needed to be done.
'This royal commission has to fill a gap,' he said. 'We still don't know who conceived of this. The Federal Court judge, Justice Murphy, said that the senior public servants and responsible ministers should have known but didn't know.'
The investigation will be based in Brisbane, and it will be led by Catherine Holmes, who was the former chief justice of Queensland's Supreme Court and who also led the investigation into the floods in 2010 and 2011.
It will look at how the scheme was set up, how it was designed, and how it was put into action. It will also look at who was in charge of it, why they thought Robodebt was necessary, and any concerns that have been raised about its legality and fairness.
The Governor General will receive the final report by April 18, 2023.
The Robodebt Royal Commission will look into how hundreds of thousands of Australians' debts were illegally collected. Credit: ABC.
Members, please don’t hesitate to dial 13 11 14 to speak with Lifeline if you're ever struggling. For more information on depression, you can also contact Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 or speak with your GP to set up a mental health care plan.
Here are more ways to get help if you or someone you know needs it:
Rhys Cauzzo was a 'beautiful soul who was always there for everyone at any time,' according to his mum, Jenny Miller from the Sunshine Coast.
'He was very close to his family,' she said. 'He would collect electric blankets from op shops to keep stray cats warm in winter.'
'He was my best friend.'
On Australia Day 2017, Rhys Cauzzo took his own life. He was 27 years old.
After losing her son to suicide, Miller has been advocating for solutions to the harm caused by Robodebt. Credit: Facebook.
It was three in the morning on January 27, 2017, when the police came knocking on Ms Miller's door. 'I just knew that something was out of kilter — it's a mother thing,' she recalled.
It was there and then when they told her of what happened to her son.
When she learned the news, she immediately hopped on a plane to Melbourne, where her son was working as a florist and had recently been accepted to RMIT to pursue a degree in design.
When Ms Miller finally arrived at his Melbourne apartment the day after he died, she found a drawing Rhys had made of a man holding a gun, dollar signs, and the word 'debt'.
It was in May of 2016 when Rhys began receiving debt notices, and Ms Miller said the two of them often discussed the matter over the phone.
The government alleged that the young man received an overpayment of $28,000 from his occasional work as a florist, and he was being required to repay that amount.
And when Rhys went to Centrelink to dispute the accusations, they told him, 'There's nothing we can do – you need to now prove that you haven't earned this money.'
Ms Miller claimed that in December 2016, Centrelink and debt collectors started calling and writing to Rhys almost every day.
'I knew straight away that this had pushed him over the edge,' Ms Miller said.
Miller said she will never get over Rhys' death, but is holding out hope that the royal enquiry will shed light on the mystery. Credit: Jenny Miller.
Five years after Rhys' death, Ms Miller said she was glad to hear that a royal commission would look into the 'Robodebt' scheme, which she suspected pushed her son over the edge.
'We have been pushing to try to get answers and have some truth,' said the mum.
The Albanese government revealed the specifics of an investigation into the failed debt recovery plan that the previous administration had put in place this week.
In 2015, the Robodebt program used an algorithm to determine if Centrelink users had been overpaid, but 433,000 people were wrongfully charged with roughly $2 billion in payments.
Rhys was among the over 400,000 Australians who, in the words of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, were 'victims of a cruel system'.
On Thursday, the PM revealed a royal commission into the contentious Robodebt scheme, calling it a 'human tragedy with very real implications for its victims' when it was discovered that it had wrongly recovered more than $750 million from 381,000 people.
Ms Miller and her son aren't the only ones who have had to deal with the consequences of Robodebt.
On Thursday, Albanese referred to the scheme as a 'human tragedy with very real consequences for its victims'. Credit: ABC/News video.
Andrea Russell, a mother of six living in Tasmania, was put under a lot of stress in 2017 when her $12,500 bill arrived just before Christmas.
'I was extremely stressed at how I was going to pay back the money. We lived from week to week; it was a really difficult time,' she recalled. 'People have suicided, and no one has been held accountable. We have to make sure this never happens ever again.'
The 50-year-old mum claimed that in order to save $5000—which was thankfully reimbursed to her in 2020—for the government, she had to reduce the amount of money she spent on her children's tuition.
'There are still questions unanswered, and there needs to be a royal commission for the people who weren't able to speak up,' Russell said.
The Federal Court approved the settlement of the Robodebt class action in June last year, requiring the government to pay $112 million.
In 2019, it was ruled illegal to automatically match tax and Centrelink data to charge welfare recipients for money the Coalition government said they were overpaid.
The Morrison administration never revealed who was in charge of the project or which ministers were aware of its flaws, but now the Albanese administration has put aside $30 million for a royal commission to investigate.
Miller thanked Albanese for honouring his election promise to establish a royal commission investigating Robodebt. Credit: Sunrise.
Ms Miller appreciates the Prime Minister's commitment to establishing the royal commission, which was one of his electoral promises.
'Firstly, I would actually like to thank Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese for honouring the promise they were making to myself and others to have a royal commission,' she said in an interview with the morning show Sunrise.
'I've been fighting this for nearly six years, and it's time there were some answers. We need accountability.'
Bill Shorten, Minister of Government Services, said that even though the class action lawsuit gave victims justice, there was still more that needed to be done.
'This royal commission has to fill a gap,' he said. 'We still don't know who conceived of this. The Federal Court judge, Justice Murphy, said that the senior public servants and responsible ministers should have known but didn't know.'
The investigation will be based in Brisbane, and it will be led by Catherine Holmes, who was the former chief justice of Queensland's Supreme Court and who also led the investigation into the floods in 2010 and 2011.
It will look at how the scheme was set up, how it was designed, and how it was put into action. It will also look at who was in charge of it, why they thought Robodebt was necessary, and any concerns that have been raised about its legality and fairness.
The Governor General will receive the final report by April 18, 2023.
The Robodebt Royal Commission will look into how hundreds of thousands of Australians' debts were illegally collected. Credit: ABC.
Members, please don’t hesitate to dial 13 11 14 to speak with Lifeline if you're ever struggling. For more information on depression, you can also contact Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 or speak with your GP to set up a mental health care plan.
Here are more ways to get help if you or someone you know needs it:
- Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
- Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636
- Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
- Headspace on 1800 650 890
- ReachOut at au.reachout.com
- MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
- Care Leavers Australasia Network (CLAN) on 1800 008 774
- Head to Health at headtohealth.gov.au
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