Robo-debt’s gone but for many, Centrelink is still a tyrant

Robo-debt may be gone but, shockingly, many of the features and conditions that were the hallmarks of that crude and cruel scheme continue to this day.

Not much has changed for legal assistance services such as ours since the scheme was abandoned. We still see clients with debt notices they don’t understand.

Illustration by John ShakespeareCredit:

When our Centrelink clients ask for an explanation for how their debt was calculated, they still cop reams of Excel spreadsheet printouts full of incomprehensible numbers and acronyms. In one recent case, when our client appealed her debt to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Centrelink presented next to no corroborating evidence to prove the debt.

Royal commissioner Catherine Holmes’ damning findings found the robo-debt scandal to be crude, cruel and neither fair nor legal. The scheme unleashed a savage attack on the very people Centrelink was charged with serving. It resulted in deaths by suicide and untold misery for some of the most vulnerable people in our community.

Centrelink’s practices point to a persecutory culture that dissuades people from questioning its decisions, and ultimately acts as a disincentive for people to seek income support to which they are entitled. In a damning indictment of our social security system, our clients tell us that they don’t want to claim a payment because they are frightened that years down the track, they will get a debt.

Thousands of people are not getting the help they need to navigate Centrelink’s arcane and oppressive processes and to understand its decisions. Legal assistance services were unable to cope with the robo-debt demand, and still don’t have the resources to pick up the phone to half of the people who need help.

The excessive demand on legal assistance services doesn’t just impact individuals needing help to keep a roof over their head and food on the table. It restricts our capacity to hold Centrelink to account and to raise the alarm on systemic failures.

It is only recently that the federal government lifted a “gag” clause that prevented us from campaigning to challenge administrative, legislative or policy decisions such as robo-debt.

The royal commission report rightly condemned the failings of senior public servants in protecting vulnerable Australians. But we need to recognise and support the hard-working Centrelink officers who help us during personal hardship, and crises such as lockdowns, floods and bushfires.

Centrelink is staffed by many caring and compassionate frontline officers. We need more public servants like Colleen Taylor, the Centrelink compliance officer who spoke truth to power and called out robo-debt to her superiors.

We see green shoots of change at Services Australia – which administers Centrelink – and at the Department of Social Services, which advises government on social security law and policy.

Recent policy changes that make it easier for victim survivors to access Centrelink payments and avoid unfair and crushing debts point to a willingness for reform by the federal government.

The royal commission report highlights the importance of ministerial leadership in changing social attitudes to people relying on income support. The new Minister for Government Services, Bill Shorten, and the Minister for Social Services, Amanda Rishworth, are listening and know they have an opportunity to drive that change.

If fully implemented, commissioner Holmes’ recommendations will go a long way towards bringing about change in Centrelink’s institutional culture, and towards enhancing the capacity of legal assistance services to hold that organisation to account.

Bold leadership from our federal government is needed to enable Centrelink to refocus on its true purpose, which is to serve the Australian people and help us all to prosper and, when mishaps happen, to be there to help us get back on our feet and keep going.

Katherine Boyle is a practising lawyer, the chief executive of the Welfare Rights Centre NSW and the deputy chair of Economic Justice Australia. She gave evidence to the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme.