Robodebt was ruled a massive public administration failure and a shameful chapter in Australia's history by the Federal Court. A royal commission is about to make a ruling on who was responsible.
The former Queensland Supreme Court chief justice has considered testimonies from more than 100 witnesses, including two former prime ministers.
Crucially, the commission uncovered government officials were repeatedly warned the debt recovery scheme was unlawful from the beginning and had numerous opportunities to stop it.Victims gave evidence of their lasting trauma from the ordeal – some have vowed to never access social security again; others live in constant fear a debt collector could come knocking at any moment.There are key questions Commissioner Holmes must answer in her final report.
The commissioner herself suggested public servants across the two departments involved in the scheme may have "colluded" to launch Robodebt when they knew it was unlawful."Everyone says it was really someone else's doing and it's a bit hard to get to the bottom of whose doing it was," Commissioner Holmes told a hearing in February.
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