The Albanese government will establish a royal commission into the previous government’s Robodebt welfare scheme, with the findings due to presented in April 2023.
The Robodebt scheme, first introduced by the former Coalition government in 2015, was an online automated debt collection system. It unlawfully claimed at least $1.76 billion in payments from 433,000 Australians.
Last year, a settlement of $1.8 billion was ordered for people wrongly pursued by the Robodebt scheme, after a class action was brought on against the government.
“One thing … that stands out … is the financial hardship, anxiety and distress, including suicidal ideation and in some cases suicide, that people or their loved ones say was suffered as a result of the Robodebt system, and that many say they felt shame and hurt at being wrongly branded ‘welfare cheats’,” Justice Bernard Murphy said at the time.
The royal commission will look into the how the scheme started and who was responsible it, the handling of concerns that were raised about it, the outcomes of the scheme and the harm done to individuals, as well as measures needed to prevent similar failures in public administration.
Labor says there are major questions to answer about who was responsible for the scheme, and what they knew.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday to announce the royal commission, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government would make sure a scheme like it would never happen again.
“We know that almost 400,000 Australians fell victim to this cruel system, a human tragedy with very real consequences for its victims,” Albanese said.
Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the Robodebt scheme was of deep concern for many Australians.
“We know, as late back as 2016, there were members of the public flagging concerns that these debts weren’t right, that there were problems with it, and we saw the government take no action whatsoever,” she said.
“These concerns, these stories where people were finding debt notices which they believed were not correct, kept coming and the complaints continued through 2017.
“These were real flags that the government should have listened to. And there are real questions about why these concerns, these complaints, these increasing problems – why the former government didn’t take any action.”
‘Untold harm’
Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten said the royal commission was needed to deliver justice to victims of Robodebt.
“Robodebt was a shameful chapter in the history of public administration in this country. It was a massive failure of policy and law,” he said.
“Citizens will recollect that the government unlawfully raised debts of at least $1.76 billion against 433,000 Australian citizens. The previous Liberal administrations had no lawful right to raise these debts. It caused untold harm.”
Shorten spoke about some of the victims of Robodebt, sharing the devastating impact the scheme had on the lives of many Australians, often among the most vulnerable members of the community. There have been numerous claims by victims that the scheme adversely impacted their mental health.
“There was Maddy, who received a debt which she didn’t owe at all from her time she was receiving Youth Allowance, legitimately, whilst also holding down jobs at university. She attempted suicide,” Shorten said.
“We’ve spoken to Catherine, a 45-year-old lady who didn’t know she owed an unlawful debt of $3,500 until it was taken out of her tax return.
“We’ve spoken to Anjuli, she was a victim of domestic violence. She fled to a refuge while pregnant. She had been holding down three jobs and she was chased for a debt that she never owed. There’s a real toll.”
The royal commission will be headed up by former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland, Catherine Holmes. The government has allocated $30 million for the royal commission.
In Australia, you can contact the crisis support service Lifeline on 13 11 14.