Royal commission announced into Robodebt

Anthony Albanese has announced a $30 million royal commission into Robodebt, to consider, among other things, decisions made by those in positions of seniority for the Robodebt scheme.

Robodebt – an online automated debt collection system – started in July 2015 and continued to November 2019.

It is estimated it raised debts of at least $1.76 billion against 433,000 Australian citizens.

It was shuttered after a successful class action (which Labor helped organise) that led to money being repaid to impacted victims. 

The Robodebt royal commission will look at:

• The establishment, design and implementation of the scheme; who was responsible for it; why they considered Robodebt necessary; and, any concerns raised regarding the legality and fairness
• The handling of concerns raised about the scheme, including adverse decisions made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal
• The outcomes of the scheme, including the harm to vulnerable individuals and the total financial cost to government
• Measures needed to prevent similar failures in public administration

It will be led by Catherine Holmes AC SC, a former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland who led the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry following the 2010–11 floods. She also acted as counsel assisting the Commission of Inquiry into Abuse of Children in Queensland Institutions in 1998–99.

The headquarters of the royal commission will be in Brisbane and information about hearing dates and how to participate will be provided in the coming weeks.

A legal financial assistance scheme will be available to people requested to formally engage with the royal commission, for example, to appear as a witness.

A final report is expected to be delivered to the Governor-General by 18 April 2023.

Speaking of the royal commission on Thursday morning (25 August), the Prime Minister said: “One of the commitments that I made was to put the humans back into human services, to make sure that this can 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.

“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.

“It is vital that we get to the bottom of how Robodebt came about so that we can ensure that it can never, ever happen again.”

Bill Shorten, Minister for Government Services, added: “The last government gave us Robodebt. The last government gave us robo-victims. The last government gave us robo-denial. Today, Labor will give the victims some robo-justice.”

He called it “a shameful chapter in the history of public administration in this country” and “a massive failure of policy and law” that “caused untold harm”.

Mr Shorten flagged examples of victims who had been impacted by the scheme.

“I was speaking to some of the victims before this announcement today. 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. 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,” he said.

“There’s a real toll.

“This Royal Commission has to fill a gap. At one level, it was certainly the conduct of irresponsible ministers and senior public servants. At another level, no-one ever asked the question: ‘maybe the machine was wrong and the people complaining were right’.

“Until we have these answers, we will never be able to have full restitution for the victims, nor can we guarantee that it can never happen again.”

more to come.