Nothing really happens until you take the corrupt government to court.
'Shameful' doesn't really cut it, but corrupt would at least more appropriate, as the government was still trying to obtain falsely claimed debts from people after being caught out:
Victims of the botched robodebt scheme have won a major victory against the Australian government over the “shameful” chapter.
The automated commonwealth scheme dubbed “robodebt” matched tax and Centrelink data to claw back welfare benefits the federal government claimed had been overpaid between 2015 and 2019.
The government agreed to pay $112 million in compensation to people who it claimed owed them money based on the flawed debt recovery scheme, with a Federal Court judge approving the settlement on Friday.
“The proceeding has exposed a shameful chapter in the administration of the commonwealth social security system and a massive failure in public administration,” Federal Court Justice Bernard Murphy said in the judgment.
The scheme wrongly hounded more than 443,000 people for $1.7m in welfare debts most never owed after the government switched to the flawed system.
Labor’s Bill Shorten slammed the scheme. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David CroslingSource:News Corp Australia
Since the start of the legal action the government promised to refund $751m of “invalid” debts people paid and drop claims for hundreds of millions more.
Justice Murphy said the group of Australians who found themselves in need of government supports included many who were marginalised or vulnerable and could be ill-equipped to understand or challenge the debts.
Melbourne nurse Felicity Button was one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit and had $11,500 taken from her account to pay off a debt she never owed.
The 33-year-old mum couldn’t pay for her daughter’s antibiotics after the money was taken out of her account in 2017.
“It was horrendous,” Ms Button said.
The nurse rang the debt collection agency and begged them to give her back the money so she could buy her daughter’s medicine and have fuel for her car.
“I honestly didn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel,” she said.
Ms Button received youth allowance while she was studying and working casually in 2016 and believed she was wrongly hounded for the funds. She is relieved the long legal battle is finally over.
“It’s sad that it took five years and actually quite embarrassing that it took five years,” the nurse said.
Those responsible for the scheme should have known that income averaging based on data from the tax office was an “unreliable basis” in which to raise and recover any debts, Justice Murphy said.
“Given a choice between a stuff-up, even a massive one, and a conspiracy, one should usually choose a stuff-up,” he said.
He said the government should have ensured it had a proper legal basis to raise and recover any social security debts.
It caused financial hardship, distress and anxiety to a “great many vulnerable people” and resulted in a “huge waste of public money”, Justice Murphy said.
But the government did not admit liability as part of the settlement but agreed the scheme was unlawful.
The opposition’s government services spokesman Bill Shorten slammed the scheme that targeted people who were marginalised and vulnerable.
“I have met with families who believe that the pursuit of the unlawful debt against a loved family member triggered them to take their own life,” Mr Shorten said outside the Federal Court in Melbourne.
He called for a royal commission into the scheme and for those who were responsible to be held to account.
Peter Gordon said it was a ‘rough form’ of justice for some involved in the class action against the federal government. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David CroslingSource:News Corp Australia
“No senior public servant has lost their job, no minister has lost their job.”
The founder of the legal firm who took on the lawsuit, Peter Gordon, said those wrongly labelled cheats and who contemplated suicide might feel the settlement was a “rough form of justice”.
He said it was a win for his clients, and Gordon Legal would begin allocating compensation that could range from hundreds of dollars to thousands per person.
Amounts would depend on what was wrongfully taken from people and the length of time the government had the cash, Mr Gordon said.
Despite the settlement getting the court’s approval, hundreds of people involved in the class action objected to it. Those objectors will be able to opt out and bring their own individual claims against the government.
Treasurer Josh Frydenburg said income averaging had been adopted under former Labor prime minister Paul Keating and rejected calls for a royal commission.
“When it comes to recovering debts, it’s a very difficult situation. This process of income averaging had been adopted by previous governments of both political persuasions,” he told reporters on Friday.
It comes as Government Services Minister Linda Reynolds apologised for how the program was administered.
“Clearly, this has been a very difficult process for all involved and we apologise for the way aspects of this program were administered,” she said.
Source:news.com.au
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