November 2023
New laws to make federal algorithms and AI explainable
New federal transparency laws to review machine decision-making and to explain how these decisions are made, will be introduced.
- Tom Burton
July 2023
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Learning the lesson after welfare crackdown went rogue
Australians will rely heavily on technology and automated systems for government service delivery in future. That cannot end in the digital dystopia of robo-debt again.
- The AFR View
February 2023
One big lesson from the buried PwC robo-debt review
New rules are needed to stop governments and agencies burying critical reports produced by consulting firms, as happened with PwC and robo-debt, an academic says.
- Edmund Tadros
‘Nod and a wink’ to bury damning PwC report into robo-debt
The royal commissioner investigating robo-debt has suggested a “nod and a wink” may have been given to bury a damning PwC report into the unlawful scheme.
- Alex Mitchell
- Opinion
- Robo-debt royal commission
The cover-up culture that created robo-debt must also go
Officials who didn’t want to hear bad news, and ministers who wanted to manage the news, are the heart of this story.
- Laura Tingle
December 2022
- Analysis
- Government Observed
The big lie that propped up robo-debt
Perhaps the worst aspect of the whole affair has been the reluctance of anyone to take responsibility for the failed program.
- Tom Burton
Morrison seeks cabinet privilege waiver ahead of robodebt appearance
Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison is seeking to waive cabinet confidentiality ahead of appearance before the robodebt royal commission next week.
- Tom Burton
August 2022
Labor vows royal commission will deliver ‘robo-justice’ for debts
A former senior judge will head the inquiry into the robodebt scheme that affected more than 400,000 welfare recipients.
- Andrew Tillett
February 2021
Smooth sailing expected for JobSeeker bump
The Morrison government’s $50-a-fortnight bump to the unemployment benefit looks set to sail through Parliament with reluctant support from Labor and the Greens.
- Ronald Mizen
Woolies’ ‘dirty big grog shop’ preys on Indigenous people: Forrest
Andrew Forrest has called out the supermarket giant over plans to build a mega liquor store near dry communities in the Northern Territory.
- Brad Thompson
November 2020
Robodebt debacle ends with $1.2b in compensation
About 400,000 robodebt recipients will receive $112 million in compensation, including legal costs, in addition to the $720 million in refund payments previously agreed upon.
- Ronald Mizen
June 2020
Morrison apologises for robodebt pain
The Prime Minister has apologised for any “hurt or harm” people suffered as a result of the government’s controversial debt recovery scheme.
- Ronald Mizen
'Hundreds of millions': Robodebt bill looms for taxpayers
As Scott Morrison expressed regret over the government's robodebt scheme, lawyers say taxpayers could still be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars.
- Ronald Mizen
February 2020
Government 'knew robodebt was illegal': emails
The government has introduced legislation which would make welfare recipients report income when it's paid rather than earned.
- Rebecca Gredley
December 2019
Automating the big state will need more than computers
Robodebt showed the limits not of new technology, but a whole model of running the government.
- Chris Berg
November 2019
- Opinion
- Social services
Big welfare state era must end
Universal public services are supposed to help the poor. But the reality is that complex social needs are ignored.
- Bill English
- Opinion
- Opinion
Computer says no: robodebt leaves a trail of wreckage
The welfare reform scheme has been a political and financial failure for a government obsessed with its credentials on the surplus.
- Laura Tingle
Government backs down on 'robodebt' scheme
Government Services Minister Stuart Robert has announced Centrelink will collect more proof before it decides to issue a debt notice.
- Andrew Tillett
October 2019
- Opinion
- Globalisation
The false choice between diversity and welfare
The world has been a disappointment to the left for more than a decade. The crash 'should' have verified its dissenting view of capitalism. Instead, it was the right that flowered. Here's why.
- Janan Ganesh
September 2019
Labor backs class action against welfare robodebts
A legal challenge to the government's robodebt recovery system will be run by Gordon Legal, the firm of prominent Melbourne lawyer Peter Gordon.
- Tom McIlroy