Labor, Greens demand more robodebt info

Senators have demanded a breakdown of refunds made over the government's unlawful robodebt scheme.
Nov 24 2021 New Daily.

The federal government is under pressure to detail a breakdown of funds returned to Australians served with unlawful debts.

The “robodebt” scheme matching Australian Taxation Office and Centrelink data to claw back welfare benefits the government claimed were overpaid was deemed unlawful by the Federal Court.

Labor and Greens senators want Services Australia to release publicly the total value of debts across class action members and the average share of the cumulative $1.2 billion settlement sum once finalised.

The latest report of an inquiry looking at the saga lashed the Morrison government for not releasing information about legal advice regarding the scheme’s operation on the grounds of public interest immunity.

“Despite numerous attempts to obtain the information, the committee has been prevented from thoroughly assessing whether the government knew of the insufficient legal basis of the program due to repeated and poorly articulated public interest immunity claims,” the fifth interim report said.

It requested Government Services Minister Linda Reynolds table in parliament by 1pm on Wednesday requested documents or explain her failure to do so.

Government senators Wendy Askew and Hollie Hughes said the documents were exempt under freedom of information laws and public interest immunity claims should be respected.

They said 98 per cent of refunds had been made, with about 426,400 people getting money back or having their debts wiped.

Centrelink must be made the subject of a Royal Commission. Robodebt, Indue card, many arbitrary decisions with no legal basis that then take months and months to rectify, such as old age pensioners being cut off the pension.

Centrelink's misconduct is so widespread that it takes up more time of the local members than any other issue. It is abundantly clear that Centrelink needs to be cleaned out.

Liberals like ignoring FOI requests , it's in their DNA not to be accountable

Bam wrote on Nov 25^th, 2021 at 7:42am:

Centrelink must be made the subject of a Royal Commission. Robodebt, Indue card, many arbitrary decisions with no legal basis that then take months and months to rectify, such as old age pensioners being cut off the pension. Centrelink's misconduct is so widespread that it takes up more time of the local members than any other issue. It is abundantly clear that Centrelink needs to be cleaned out.

Yeah - from 85 to 91 my mother was cut off her old age pension every 6 months. She had no other income and her only asset was a granny flat she lived in. Rediculous. The last few years she couldnt communicate with them at all and my sister and i had to spend days at centerlink trying to fix it every time.

Spot

Sister calls for royal commission into illegal robodebt scheme following suicide of brother, Corey Webb   :(
ABC News
24 Nov 2021 2021

A Port Lincoln woman is calling for a royal commission into the government's unlawful Robodebt bungle, in response to her brother's suicide after he repaid Centrelink payments while also experiencing financial hardship.

Key points:
Corey Webb took his life in 2017, several months after he repaid his robodebt while also experiencing financial stress
His sister Jessica Jolly wants Centrelink to release official correspondence between the department and her brother
Ms Jolly is calling for a royal commission into the government's illegal robodebt scheme
Jessica Jolly said their mother was contacted by Centrelink this year, who were trying to locate her bother, Mr Webb, in order to repay the Centrelink payments he made in 2017 — with the department not knowing Corey had died a few months after the repayments.

"Mum was confused, and had to go through that process to explain he'd passed away," Ms Jolly said.

She said the Centrelink staff member explained that Corey had been given an illegal robodebt, and that he could now be given compensation through a class action.

"I cannot highlight it enough, it is not about money. It does not matter how much money you give us, no amount of money is going to bring my brother back," she said.

Centrelink sign on the wall of a building.
Robodebt was a part-automated process, benefit recipients were sent letters asserting they owed the government money because of overpayment.(ABC News)
Ms Jolly said after the phone call, it was like another piece of the puzzle that fell into place.

"We were able to step back and go, wow, this was an extra thing that he had on top of all the other things he was experiencing that potentially contributed to making the decision that he made," she said.

Ms Jolly explained her brother had lost employment prior to his death, and he was looking for another form of employment while training and up-skilling.

"He had significant loans with the bank which he got prior to losing his employment," she said.

"Compared to some of the other significant amounts, the robodebt probably wasn't that much, but several thousand dollars when you have other debts is significant.

"The fact he didn't share that — I feel that there may have been some guilt and shame and that just infuriates me because he didn't actually owe it and he paid it back."

Searching for answers
Mr Webb's family want Centrelink to release official communication between him and the department.

"We are wanting to find out: What that looks like, how many letters did he receive, how much pressure was being put on him to pay back money he didn't even owe?" Ms Jolly said.

The family said after failed attempts to seek help from the Member for Grey, Rowan Ramsey — they had been able to submit FOI requests with the help of Independent Senator Rex Patrick for more answers.

"This is a grieving family that are searching for answers, anyone with compassion or sensitivity would recognise that what they're asking for is not unreasonable and they should pass on that information," Mr Patrick said.

Mr Patrick said the FOI process is ongoing, and he has also taken the matter to Minister for Government Services Linda Reynolds.

"To her credit she's trying to get the data released administratively, we will continue with FOI — I hope the Minister can help me resolve this over the next couple of days," he said.

Senator Patrick is wearing a dark suit, standing and talking with right arm raised.
Independent Senator Rex Patrick has been assisting the Webb family in obtaining official correspondence between Corey Webb and Centrelink. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
A spokesperson for Ms Reynolds said she was seeking advice from Services Australia on ways to access further information while complying with privacy laws.

The spokesperson said the government took their privacy obligations very seriously, which were in place to protect all customers, even when they were deceased.

Mr Ramsey said correspondence had stopped between the family and himself, and he thought the matter had been resolved.

"I don't know why it would be difficult to obtain that information — I would have thought Centrelink would be forthcoming," Mr Ramsey said.

Ms Jolly said a royal commission would shine a light for families who may have been similarly affected.

"I know they are expensive and take a long time," she said.

"However, I feel this will be Pandora's box — the number of things it'll highlight will be significant."