Royal Commission into Robodebt

[VladTepes]

Today the government announced that the Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), has issued Letters Patent which establishes the Royal Commission into Robodebt. :clap2:


Term of Reference here:
Terms of reference | Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme (https://robodebt.royalcommission.gov.au/about/terms-reference)




Grab the popcorn


Robodebt royal commission to investigate unlawful debt collection from hundreds of thousands of Australians - ABC News (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-25/robodebt-royal-commission-to-probe-unlawful-debt-collection/101357198)



Robodebt royal commission to investigate unlawful debt collection from hundreds of thousands of Australians
By political reporter Nicole Hegarty


The new federal government has officially called a royal commission into the former government's unlawful debt recovery scheme known as 'Robodebt'.


Key points:
The royal commission will look into the establishment of the scheme, who was responsible, complaints handling, costs and measure to prevent it happening again
Former Queensland Supreme Court Justice Catherine Holmes has been named as the royal commissioner
The commission will deliver its final report to the Governor-General by April 18, 2023
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has unveiled the terms of reference and the commissioner who will oversee the inquiry.


Former Queensland Supreme Court Justice Catherine Holmes will lead the commission with the final report due by April 18, 2023.


The 2015 robodebt program used an algorithm to work out whether Centrelink recipients had been overpaid, but unlawfully claimed almost $2 billion in payments from 433,000 people.


A total of $751 million was wrongly recovered from 381,000 people.


A $1.8 billion settlement was ordered last year for people who were wrongly pursued, and government ministers were lambasted by Federal Court Justice Bernard Murphy over the "massive failure".


Election commitment
Labor committed to establishing the robodebt royal commission at the federal election.


Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has labelled the scheme a "human tragedy."


"The royal commission will examine the establishment of the scheme, who was responsible for it, and why it was necessary, how concerns were handled, how the scheme affected individuals and the financial costs to government, and measures to prevent this ever happening again," he said.


"People lost their lives [and] every single member of parliament can tell stories like this."


Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said there were questions about why there was no action when complaints were raised.


"We know that as late back as 2016 there were members of public flagging concerns that these debts weren't right," she said.


"These were real flags the govt should have listened to."


Government Services Minister Bill Shorten says the assumption that the Federal Court dealt with all matters related to the scheme was false. He said Australians have never heard how the scheme could be conceived.


"The [former] government has never satisfactorily explained how this monster scheme got away from the system and got a life of its own," he said.


Scott Morrison, who was social services minister when the scheme was established, has said the problem was dealt with by his government when it was scrapped in 2020.


Labor said there were still questions over who held responsibility for the failed scheme and how much they knew.


The federal government said the full toll of the scheme had not been accounted for, including numerous claims of suicides caused by the unlawful program.

[VladTepes]

Just got a message from the CPSU





Dear member,

The announcement today of the details of a Royal Commission into the Robodebt scheme is a welcome and long-awaited opportunity for members to have their voices heard.

We understand that today’s announcement will raise issues and a range of emotions for many of you. Please don’t hesitate to seek support from your delegates or the CPSU Member Service Centre on 1300 137 636 if you need it.

From the outset, CPSU members raised serious concerns about the flawed scheme.

You detailed those concerns through our member surveys, through our public letter in early 2017 and your input formed the basis of the extensive CPSU submission to the Parliamentary inquiry into the scheme in September 2019.

You are experts in the system. You work on the frontline of social security service delivery every day and when you raised the alarm, you should have been taken seriously.

Ultimately, the Federal Court vindicated your concerns, finding the scheme was unlawful. You deserved a full and frank apology… but instead the Morrison Government again failed to acknowledge you.
It is an enormous shift to now have a government that is listening and taking your views seriously.

We know that you are limited in what you can say publicly, and by speaking out through your CPSU representatives, you made a critical contribution to the public’s understanding of the problems with the scheme.

In announcing the Royal Commission this morning, the Prime Minister, Social Services Minister, Minister for Government Services and Attorney General made commitments to make changes to ensure nothing like the Robodebt debacle is able to happen again.

Your voices are key to establishing those safeguards.

Your union has got your back and will always make sure you are able to speak out on Robodebt and any other issues that get in the way of you delivering the support the community deserves.

You won and we will support you in continuing to have a voice

There will be further opportunities for you to tell your stories on Robodebt confidentially and have your union representatives advocate for you. We will be contacting members soon to talk about how you can use your voice to contribute to further positive change.

You can read our media release on our website here.

In unity,

Melissa Donnelly
CPSU National Secretary



CPSU submission to Parliament: https://cpsu.informz.net/cpsu/data/images/CPSU_submission_to_inquiry_Sep_2019.pdf


CPSU press release: Members look forward to Robodebt Royal Commission (https://www.cpsu.org.au/CPSU/Content/Media_releases/members_look_forward_RobodebtRC.aspx?utm_source=Go ogle&utm_medium=Organic&utm_campaign=Tradeunion%20employeetradeunion&_zs=0kbMm&_zl=wlxH2)



Members look forward to Robodebt Royal Commission


Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) members in Services Australia welcome the Albanese Government’s announcement of a Royal Commission into the Robodebt scheme.


Even before the unlawful scheme was rolled in out under then Social Services Minister Scott Morrison, CPSU members working in Centrelink told the department and government that the scheme was flawed and would cause serious problems.


These workers are experts in the system. They work on the frontline of social security service delivery every day and when they raised the alarm about how vulnerable people would be harmed, they should have been taken seriously.


For the Government and the Department to ignore their serious concerns was not just negligent, it caused untold damage to welfare recipients, and ultimately breached their trust in the social security system.


The settlement of the Federal Court class action in June 2021 showed our members’ warnings were legitimate.


There has been no genuine apology or responsibility from the previous government.


Instead, staff, who knew all along that the scheme was wrong, were left to assist understandably confused and distressed customers to navigate the refund process and explain what had happened.


The community and staff deserved better.


CPSU members now look forward to the truth coming out through the Royal Commission process.


Quotes attributable to CPSU National Secretary Melissa Donnelly:
“Our members raised the alarm about the flaws in the Robodebt scheme from the very beginning.


“When their concerns were ignored by their Minister Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and the department, they were forced to implement the scheme knowing full well the harm it would wreak.


“Our members take their jobs seriously; they want to deliver quality support to Australians who rely on the social safety net.


"Had the Coalition Government listened to our members, who are experts in this critical work, they would have avoided enormous damage that was inflicted on everyone involved.


“Today’s announcement of a Royal Commission into the scheme finally gives voice to the community members and Centrelink staff who were treated so poorly by the previous government.


“CPSU members look forward to speaking out and working towards a better social security system for all.”


MEDIA CONTACT: Liz Bower 0408 405 121

[vnx205]

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said there were questions about why there was no action when complaints were raised.


"We know that as late back as 2016 there were members of public flagging concerns that these debts weren't right," she said.


"These were real flags the govt should have listened to."

Perhaps the recipients of those demands are seen by many politicians and by some sections of society as a powerless group who don't have the resources to defend themselves.

They are also seen by some sections of society as undeserving and some politicians know they are pandering to the prejudices of some of their constituents by attacking welfare recipients.

[Slunnie]

Perhaps the recipients of those demands are seen by many politicians and by some sections of society as a powerless group who don't have the resources to defend themselves.

They are also seen by some sections of society as undeserving and some politicians know they are pandering to the prejudices of some of their constituents by attacking welfare recipients.

Absolutely bang on with it there. There will be a John Grisham book about this one day. It'll be called "The Robodebt". :lol2:

[vnx205]

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said there were questions about why there was no action when complaints were raised.


"We know that as late back as 2016 there were members of public flagging concerns that these debts weren't right," she said.


"These were real flags the govt should have listened to."






Perhaps the recipients of those demands are seen by many politicians and by some sections of society as a powerless group who don't have the resources to defend themselves.

They are also seen by some sections of society as undeserving and some politicians know they are pandering to the prejudices of some of their constituents by attacking welfare recipients.

I just heard the claim on TV that the reason the government failed to fix the problem was that the cost of the individual payouts they had to make was less than the money they were getting from victims who were unwilling or unable to challenge the "debt".

So they were still making a profit by stalling.

[trout1105]

Ho Hum, Yet another royal commision that will produce/achive nothing and the guilty parties will walk away scot free as usual and the ONLY thing it will produce is yet another hole in the public purse.[bigwhistle]

[Tote]

It would be far more useful to investigate the excess and undemocratic powers that the taxation department wields with impunity. Makes robodebt look pretty tame

Regards,
Tote

[incisor]

It would be far more useful to investigate the excess and undemocratic powers that the taxation department wields with impunity. Makes robodebt look pretty tame

Regards,
Tote

you might find that one coming down the track... [bighmmm]

over 2000 people died because of this one and it is directly related to the way the debts were shifted from under human supervision to AI running a flawed algorithm without human oversight

i truly hope some of those responsible suffer some consequence, but i doubt it sadly

[Slunnie]

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said there were questions about why there was no action when complaints were raised.


"We know that as late back as 2016 there were members of public flagging concerns that these debts weren't right," she said.


"These were real flags the govt should have listened to."







I just heard the claim on TV that the reason the government failed to fix the problem was that the cost of the individual payouts they had to make was less than the money they were getting from victims who were unwilling or unable to challenge the "debt".

So they were still making a profit by stalling.

Reminds me of the Ford Pinto case.

[vnx205]

Reminds me of the Ford Pinto case.

I had exactly the same thought.

[350RRC]

In the lead up to this thread ending up in CA...............

The issue I'm interested in is why the gov of the day persisted in pursuing people after they knew the system wasn't legal, AFAIK.

DL

[V8Ian]

Nothing gets moved into CA, if it gets political it will be shut down. Mods are watching it.

[3toes]

In the UK the post office operated an accounting system called Horizon. It could not add up. People were jailed and others committed suicide with denial by those in charge that there was anything wrong. Took a decade for the truth to come out. You can guess what happened to those in charge

[350RRC]

In the UK the post office operated an accounting system called Horizon. It could not add up. People were jailed and others committed suicide with denial by those in charge that there was anything wrong. Took a decade for the truth to come out. You can guess what happened to those in charge

They got promoted diagonally upward?

[superquag]

I had exactly the same thought.

Cheaper to pay them out - than fix the design problem...

[DiscoMick]

No, that's not the reason.
Cheaper to pay them out - than fix the design problem...