Prime Minister to announce probe into Centrelink scandal

Government Services Minister Bill Shorten says he wants to give victims of ‘unlawful’ Robodebt “robo justice”, as Peter Dutton claims the royal commission is a ‘witch-hunt’.

Victims of the unlawful robodebt scheme could be entitled to further compensation should the recently announced royal commission recommend it.

Fulfilling an election promise, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday unveiled details of the inquiry into what he labelled a “human tragedy”.

“The royal commission will examine the establishment of the scheme, who was responsible for it and why it was necessary, how concerns were handled, how the scheme affected individuals and the financial costs to government, and measures to prevent this ever happening again,” he said

“People lost their lives … we need to get to the heart of why this occurred.”

The Prime Minister made the announcement alongside ministers Amanda Rishworth, Bill Shorten and Mark Dreyfus in Sydney.

Robodebt was an automated debt recovery program rolled out by the Coalition between 2015 and 2019.

The scheme used an automated system to match tax and Centrelink data to raise debts against welfare recipients for money the then-government claimed was overpaid.

Anthony Albanese and Bill Shorten will announce the inquiry in Sydney. Picture: Liam Kidston

During the election campaign, the Prime Minister described the ordeal as a “human tragedy, wrought by (the Coalition) government.

“Against all evidence, and all the outcry, the government insisted on using algorithms instead of people to pursue debt recovery against Australians who in many cases had no debt to pay,” he said.

“We know that almost 400,000 Australians fell victim to this cruel system. A human tragedy with very real consequences for its victims. The royal commission will examine the establishment of the scheme, who was responsible for it, and why it was necessary, how concerns were handled, how the scheme affected individuals and the financial costs to government, and measures to prevent this ever happening again,” Mr Albanese said.

Former Queensland Supreme Court chief justice Catherine Homes, who led the commission into the state’s 2010-2011 floods, has been tipped to head the $30 million probe.

Between 2015 and 2019, the former government used an automated system to match tax and Centrelink data to raise debts against 443,000 welfare recipients for money it claimed was overpaid.

In total, $751 million was wrongly collected from 381,000 people.

The scheme has cost taxpayers more than $1.8 billion in compensation after the government agreed to a settlement with victims following a class-action lawsuit.

The final report will be delivered to the governor-general by 18 April 2023.

Asked if further compensation could be offered to victims, Mr Albanese said he would not pre-empt the commissioner’s findings.

“It is vital so that we get to the bottom of how robodebt came about so that we can ensure that it can never, ever happen again,” he said.

Mr Albanese denied it was an expensive way of trashing the former government.

“I’ll tell you what’s expensive - the more than billion dollars that this process has cost. A federal government that cost that money because of - because of the way that this was handled”.

The program was ruled unlawful in 2019. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

He said there was an even worse cost - as human lives had been lost.

Government Services Minister Bill Shorten, who in opposition was fierce in his pursuit of the Coalition, said the probe would provide “robo-justice” for victims.

“The government has never satisfactorily explained how this monster scheme got away from the system and just had a life of its own,” he said.

“The last government gave us robodebt. The last government gave us robo-victims. The last government gave us robo-denial. Today, Labor will give the victims some robo-justice.”

“This royal commission has to fill a gap. At one level, it was certainly the conduct of irresponsible ministers and senior public servants. At another level, no-one ever asked the question, ‘Maybe the machine was wrong and the people complaining were right.’

Until we have these answers, we’ll never be able to have full restitution for the victims, nor can we guarantee that it can never happen again,” Mr Shorten said.

Whether he, or other ministers who oversaw the scheme such as Christian Porter and Stuart Robert, would be required to give evidence would be at the discretion of Ms Holmes, Mr Albanese said.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton swiftly rejected the royal commission as a witch hunt. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

The Coalition had argued there was no need for an inquiry given the settlement.

Scott Morrison, who is already facing an inquiry into his secret ministry appointments, could be called to appear to explain his role in the scheme’s creation while social services minister in 2015.

Mr Morrison, who was social services minister when the unlawful scheme was conceived, has repeatedly denied he was personally responsible for the program.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton swiftly rejected the royal commission as a “witch-hunt” from a government obsessed with “squaring” Mr Morrison.

“This has become more politicised and it’s morphing into a witch-hunt rather than pointing out a problem that needed to be solved,” Mr Duton told 2GB radio.

He claimed the process of raising debts without human review began while Mr Shorten was minister when it commenced under the Coalition.

The Australian Council of Social Services welcomed the royal commission, saying it was time for those responsible to be held to account.

“Hundreds of thousands of people were victims of robodebt and we are yet to see anyone held to account,” acting chief executive Edwina MacDonald said.

“This royal commission must eliminate any possibility of robodebt happening again and focus on improving protections for people receiving social security.”