A former media adviser to Alan Tudge told a royal commission that information from robodebt victims’ personal files was strategically given to journalists.
Rachelle Miller was a senior media adviser to the office of the minister of human services between 2016 and 2017.Former human services minister Alan Tudge requested access to the private Centrelink files of robodebt recipients who appeared in media stories about the unlawful scheme, a federal inquiry has heard.heard evidence on Tuesday from Mr Tudge's former media adviser, Rachelle Miller, who served in the role between 2016 and 2017.
"The minister requested the file of every single person who appeared in the media so that we see the exact transactions that they'd had with Centrelink and understand what the details of their case was," Ms Miller said. She said while there was growing negative coverage of robodebt, there wasn't too much concern initially due to the outlets reporting on the scheme.
She said Mr Tudge was forceful about finding case studies of people who had received Centrelink debt notices so they could be used in the media, as well as political attacks.
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