The Robodebt royal commission hears the department responsible for managing the illegal debt collection scheme had a culture that stopped people asking questions about the legality of the program.
Counsel assisting the commission Angus Scott KC asked Mr Ffrench whether he would have "strongly recommended" the DHS secretary to obtain legal advice had he been in the chief counsel role in 2017.
He said the dynamics of DHS in 2017 were such that it was run with a "command and control approach to the management of the department".
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Former senior government lawyer 'didn't contemplate' sharing advice Robodebt was illegalPaul Menzies-McVey said he was 'not sure if I turned my mind to that' when asked if he worried about people who received debt letters while he waited on further legal advice.
Read more »
Afternoon Update: Mother’s harrowing robodebt testimony; paid blue ticks coming to Facebook and Instagram; and a Roman dildo foundA landmark report released by the National Tertiary Education Union found that 22 public universities had allegedly withheld at least $83.4m in wages since 2020.
Read more »
Government lawyers were told Robodebt's income-averaging method couldn't be used to calculate welfare debtsThe inquiry today heard from a mother whose son took his own life after being targeted with dozens of phone calls, text messages from Centrelink and debt collectors chasing an alleged Robodebt.
Read more »
‘I can’t forget’: frontline worker gives searing indictment of robodebt as architects of scheme due to give evidenceCentrelink employee told the commission she would never forget what staff were ‘forced’ to do to victims of the program
Read more »
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle mulling legal action over South Park episodeThe South Park episode which tore into Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has reportedly raised the ire of the couple, with rumours surfacing they have called in their legal team to take action.
Read more »