Jennifer Miller lost her son to suicide after he was chased by debt collectors. She is ready for justice

Jennifer Miller’s whole world crumbled when her son, Rhys Cauzzo, took his life after being chased by debt collectors claiming he owed almost $18,000 to Centrelink. She is now hoping for justice when the findings from the royal commission into the robodebt scheme are delivered on Friday.

“It has been a long time coming to this point, and for me, it’s been 6½ years of fighting and hitting brick walls at every angle, but I do believe that the commissioner will be very professional and very just in her recommendations,” Miller said.

Jennifer Miller with her son Rhys Cauzzo in 2011.

The report, which will be handed down by Commissioner Catherine Holmes, comes after hundreds of hours of evidence were heard across nine weeks of public hearings from September as well as a million tendered documents.

The former federal government’s robodebt system, which ran from 2015 to 2019, was found to have recovered more than $750 million from about 380,000 people. The commission heard in February that Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue advised in September 2019 that debts could not be raised based on averaged income tax data from the Tax Office.

Miller, from the Sunshine Coast, gave evidence to the commission in February about the distress her 28-year-old son endured before his death on January 26, 2017. In the month leading up to his death, he received at least 40 forms of communication from debt collectors.

The commission heard that after Cauzzo’s death, Miller found a handwritten suicide note on his fridge that made reference to the debts.

“I felt like when I finally did have the opportunity to speak, it felt like I had finally some vindication for my son. Because I know that I hadn’t been listened to for a very long time and to now be listened to by people of that calibre who genuinely wanted to make sure there was some accountability, it was very gratifying,” she said.

Miller also described the anger she had when senior politicians and bureaucrats were questioned about the scheme.

“The only reason I didn’t jump out of my seat and go and slap someone’s face was because of my respect for the commission,” she said.

“I had to hold on to my seat many, many times and seeing all those ministers and bureaucrats put their hand on the Bible and say an oath and then the next moment, they’re lying blatantly because I knew that from having experienced everything for so long.

‘I felt like when I finally did have the opportunity to speak, it felt like I had finally some vindication for my son.’

Jennifer Miller, Rhys Cauzzo’s mother

“Every ‘I don’t recall, it didn’t cross my mind’ or [former Liberal human services minister Alan] Tudge’s laser-like focus, they were just playing mind games … when they did bring up Rhys’ suicide it would be like a whack inside of the head, I would just start absolutely sobbing.”

Miller said she was looking forward to having the opportunity to properly grieve for the loss of her son, who was a florist and artist in Melbourne before his death, as she felt it had been a constant battle to get to this point.

“I don’t feel I’ve been able to really take that time out and grieve, so I will be ensuring that I do that in the very near future,” she said.

“You know every day I just miss his joy and his laughter and his jokes and his music and his artwork. It’s very, very tough.”

About $11,500 was taken out of Felicity de Somerville’s account without warning.Credit: Gordon Legal/Andrew Tauber

Felicity de Somerville from Melbourne is another victim anticipating the findings on Friday. In 2017, she was attempting to pay for medication for her one-year-old daughter, who was fighting a bad chest infection, when she realised about $11,500 had been drained from her bank account by Centrelink.

At the time, it was equivalent to six months of her wages. Now – six years later – she is ready for vindication.

“Now that it’s come around, I want this chapter to be over,” said de Somerville, a lead plaintiff in the robodebt class-action case.

“I just hope the government will take the recommendations seriously and take them on board; otherwise it will all be for nothing. I want them to accept they made a mistake, but I am trying to keep my expectations realistic.”

Former prime minister Scott Morrison appeared as a witness at the royal commission due to his involvement in the launching of the scheme in 2015 as then social services minister.

Morrison told the commission he was never advised the scheme was unlawful and would not have proceeded with the system if he was told of the legal issues at hand.

Gordon Legal partner James Naughton, who is running the class-action case into robodebt, said Friday’s findings were important in providing certainty the matter had been properly investigated.

The class-action case is still being finalised in the courts, however, about 400,000 debts have been withdrawn or money has been refunded since proceedings began in November 2020.

“It’s been a long journey to get to [Friday],” he said.

Lifeline 13 11 14

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.