The robodebt royal commission has blasted the scheme as 'crude and cruel' as it recommended criminal and civil charges against individuals involved. Read more:
It will recommend criminal charges against some individuals involved in the scheme.
It does not name the individuals it has recommended to face charges, in an apparent attempt to avoid prejudicing future criminal trials. "In essence, people were traumatised on the off-chance they might owe money. It was a costly failure of public administration, in both human and economic terms." In a letter to Governor-General David Hurley at the beginning of the report, Holmes said: "There is also an additional sealed chapter that is not part of the bound report. It recommends referrals of individuals for civil and criminal prosecution."Some $721 million was wrongfully taken from around 381,000 people under the scheme, which started in 2015 and was scrapped in 2020.
“The public interest role played by those services [was] exemplified in their work during the scheme,” it said. Morrison was warned the robodebt scheme would be illegal without major legal changes but his department pushed ahead with the program regardless, knowing it wouldn't hold up in court, the inquiry heard.
Another victim said he was left with thoughts of self-harm after he was wrongly ordered to pay money he had "not a chance" of repaying. The 35-year-old mother had $11,500 taken from her bank account by a debt collection agency in 2017, while on a payment plan for a robodebt raised against her, but had no correspondence from Services Australia.
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