Her son’s case went to the heart of robo-debt. At last, Jennifer Miller feels vindicated

Jennifer Miller feels she has “absolute vindication” after more than six years of fighting for her son Rhys Cauzzo, who took his life after being chased by debt collectors under the disastrous robo-debt scheme.

Royal commissioner Catherine Holmes, SC, found the welfare debt recovery program “was responsible for heartbreak and harm to family members of those who took their own lives because of the despair the scheme caused them”.

Jennifer Miller describes feeling “absolute vindication” from the robo-debt commission. Credit: Dan Peled

Miller’s case, in which Cauzzo took his own life after being wrongly pursued for almost $18,000 owed to Centrelink, was highlighted by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for Social Services Bill Shorten in a press conference on Friday. Miller became emotional when realising her testimony had been so crucial and the level of support she received.

“It’s been bloody hard, I can tell you, but I knew that I was right and I did not want my son to be seen as a dole bludger or anything like that,” Miller said.

“He was a beautiful, young, honest man that had a heart of gold, a beautiful soul and that’s how I want him remembered, I don’t want him remembered as a fraudster.”

Jennifer Miller with her son Rhys Cauzzo when he was a toddler.Credit: Dan Peled

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, whose case was found by the commission to have been not “handled appropriately, professionally and sensitively”.

Kathleen Madgwick was another key witness referred to in the findings as she lost her 22-year-old son, Jarrad, to suicide.

“What is certain is that the scheme was responsible for heartbreak and harm to family ... it extends from those recipients who felt that their only option was to take their own life, to their family members who must live without them,” the report stated.

The report refers extensively to Miller and Madgwick’s sons’ cases and the scheme’s harm to families, which Albanese described as “an extraordinary finding”.

Shorten acknowledged the findings were not the true outcome Miller and Madgwick would have wanted, but said it was vindication.

“The universe can’t grant us going back in time and making sure that Rhys and Jarrad didn’t take their own lives, but it is vindication so on a stressful day, a traumatic day, a triggering day, to those brave women and many others, we acknowledge you,” Shorten said.

Holmes’ sealed section of the report – which recommended the referral of individuals for civil action or criminal prosecution to the Australian Federal Police – was something Miller had been prepared for and said she understood the need to avoid prejudicing future cases.

“I don’t have an issue with that not being made publicly available at this point, but I do know that there are going to be some quite severe criminal convictions coming up,” Miller said.

“I do feel like that we have certainly been vindicated for our fight and there’s justice for our sons.”

Looking forward, Miller hoped to take time for herself after years of activism that she believed would have made her son proud.

Tom Orsag is another victim who received an $8000 bill which stunned him, making Friday’s findings from the commission a relief.

“For the royal commission to say the government got it wrong ... it was a relief,” Orsag, who lives in Melbourne’s north-eastern suburb of Ivanhoe, said.

“Whether anything comes from it, that’s another question.”

Melbourne man Tom Orsag was hit with a $7000 robo-debt, plus a $1000 owed to the collectors.Credit: Joe Armao

A casual construction worker for almost two decades, Orsag was fastidious when it came to claiming his earnings, keeping all his payslips to ensure his affairs were all by the book.

“It was absolute complete and utter shock,” he said of finding out about his debt, which included $1000 for a collection agency alongside $7000 claimed by Centrelink.

“I declare my income every fortnight. I said ‘there’s no way I’m paying $8000’.”

Felicity de Sommerville, who had $11,500 taken from her bank account by Centrelink in 2017, said she was moved to tears as Albanese spoke shortly after the report was handed down.

“It’s all just sinking in that it’s finally come to an end ... today is a momentous day,” she said.

Gordon Legal senior partner Peter Gordon, who led the class action case into robo-debt, said the firm will review the final report to determine whether further claims or actions can be brought on behalf of the victims.

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.

“Hundreds of thousands of everyday Australians’ lives were stuck by this unlawful scheme. They should hopefully feel a sense of justice,” Gordon said.

With Sarah Keoghan

Lifeline 13 11 14

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