Last Friday the 7th of July was an eventful day as the Robodebt Royal Commission finally submitted its long-awaited report into a scheme that cost an estimated 2030 people their lives and impacted over half a million Australians.
It was essentially a scheme that targeted the most vulnerable people in society, those who are on either Youth Allowance, JobSeeker or the Aged Pension. These are benefits designed to help provide "support" for those who are struggling. During Robodebt, the then-Coalition government used an automated data-matching program that determined that a lot of these people owed debts (some of who actually didn't) and due to this data-matching, Centrelink then sent out debt-recovery letters to all those who "owed" debts.
The problem with this is that it wasn't always accurate and some of those who were vulnerable, got so overwhelmed that they committed suicide. In addition, Robodebt wasn't lawful however the public service failed to fully brief the government with that frank and fearless advice while the relevant ministers basically skirted the law and misled the party and parliament regarding its legality.
While the Robodebt Royal Commission looked at how it was run under the Coalition, it cannot be forgotten that it was the Gillard Government who started the data matching program back in 2011 where there was data matching between Centrelink and the ATO. The difference between their scheme and what the Coalition did is that while there was data matching involved automatically, there was still a human element who double-checked and decided who to go after. The Coalition basically cast the net wide on EVERYONE and made no exceptions for who they went after.
With the report into Robodebt now out, questions now turn to who will ultimately be held to account. According to the Royal Commission, there is a sealed section with about 20 names that will be forwarded to either the Australian Federal Police or the National Anti-Corruption Commission for either civil or criminal charges. Undoubtedly, people should be held to account for what went on, whether it be ministers or public servants and once that section gets unsealed, it will be interesting to see who is on the list.
As for the report itself, there are some 57 recommendations made and reading through some of them, I am left speechless that some of this stuff wasn't already happening; some of them are just commonsense while one I suspect will cause real controversy. Here are a couple of examples outlined below
Recommendation 10.1: Design policies and processes with emphasis on the people they are meant to serve This one struck me immediately as very bloody disturbing. Shouldn't we already be doing that anyway? I mean, how this actually has to be a recommendation when last I checked, this is what governments and the public service should be doing anyway, just absolutely beggars belief.
Recommendation 18.2: Reinstate the limitation of six years on debt recovery I had no idea this was removed to start with and why it was removed honestly baffles me. It basically gave Robodebt the excuse to full tilt on people who had debts from well beyond 6 years ago. It also basically said to welfare recipients "We'll come for your debt no matter whether you have it in 2017 or had it in 2006." What an absolute shambles and this is one that needs to be done IMMEDIATELY!
Recommendation 23.3: Fresh Focus on "customer service" Everyone knows that dealing with Services Australia is not a pleasant experience in the slightest and depending on the day of the week, you might either get someone who is as helpful as can be or someone that frankly just wants to get rid of you as quickly as possible.
If they want some help on how to improve customer service, I can offer 4 simple solutions for free;
Hire more staff so that people aren't waiting on the phone for hours at a time in the hope of getting through to a human to speak to
Make sure that all staff are actually trained (both phone and face-to-face) so that they actually give out the correct information
Make your forms a lot more simple to fill out than the crap we currently have
How about not demanding every last detail of our lives to determine whether someone is eligible?
The 4th suggestion I admit is a tough one to sell but if you've ever gone through a Centrelink form, some of the questions they ask are extraordinary and the amount of proof that needs to be provided is at this moment in time, absolutely ridiculous. I understand there is a high threshold needed but there are reasons why people are needing support, we shouldn't be seeking to make the process any more frustrating than it already is.
It was the last overall recommendation however that really piqued my interest in a way I didn't expect it to.
Section 34 of the Clth FOI Act should be repealed There's a bit to unpack with this one but essentially what is being proposed here is that "a description of a document as a Cabinet document is no longer itself justification for maintaining the confidentiality of the document." I cannot see any government implementing this recommendation as that would lead to unprecedented transparency and governments everywhere are not fans of that. This one unfortunately falls under the category of "It's a sensible idea so we won't implement it."
While the report has only just come out, there are around 20 people around the nation who right now will be watching and waiting to see if they face any form of justice for their role in this unprecedented disgrace. At the end of the day, Robodebt serves as a very cautionary tale that you cannot trust certain aspects of technology in the hands of a government that only caters to its donors and regards others with contempt. This data-matching software was used badly and the consequences of that are still being felt today by many.
Let's hope that the 2030 who passed away due to the stress of Centrelink debts and the over half a million who got dragged into its net, get justice against those who implemented and administered such a heartless scheme.
If you want to read more about Robodebt whether it be the full report or just a summary of the recommendations, click here to be taken directly to the site
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