“Newly appointed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese probes investigation into the automated debt scheme which robbed 433,000 welfare recipients of $1.2 Billion”
Australian PM Anthony Albanese promises a comprehensive inquiry into the unlawful Automated debt scheme which robbed $1.2 Billion from 433,000 Welfare Australian recipients. The scheme was set up by the former conservative coalition which committed fraud through this scheme by wrongly calculating funds that were owned by the recipients.
On Thursday during a televised media briefing PM Anthony called the scheme a human tragedy and the victims who fell into this fraudulent system will face very real consequences.
The automated debt scheme was started in July 2015 and went on to scam people till November 2019. Scott Morrison was the Social service Minister at this point. The scheme was put in place to ensure that no welfare recipient was underpaying their debt as well as making sure that recipients were also not over-receiving their payments from the government. The algorithm put in place was recovering the money without any human interference or scrutiny.
The methods by which the debts were given were deeply flawed and averaged out totaling the welfare recipient’s income over 12 months.
After this debt scandal, the most powerful government inquiry was established to check all the premises of such types of schemes. It will background check the responsible officials of the scheme, check the financial reports submitted by the scheme committee, and on the side make sure no such fraud scheme will happen in the future. The government inquiry established is called the Royal Commission. The final report by the commission will be presented next year by April 18.
The commission’s statement
The head of the commission Catherine Holmes was the former chief justice of the Queensland state Supreme Court. The commissioner will have the authority to decide criminal charges and compel the witnesses in court.
According to the government services minister Shorten, the Robodebt scheme is a historically shameful occurrence for Australia’s public administration and a massive failure of law and policy. He also clarified that the $1.2 billion taken from 433,000 unsuspecting welfare recipients was unlawful.
The settlement
Eventually, in 2021, the 1.2 billion USD was approved to be returned to the victims after a federal court decided to hear the case and brought up the Liberal-National Coalition’s agreement to hear the victims’ appeal in late 2020.
Scott Morrison, the President in power during which the scandal broke out did make a public policy but even then did not admit to any legal liabilities.
During their campaign, the current Labor government had promised to sort out the debt scheme settlements as well as do the inquiry. The promise seems to be in effect after the Labor returned to power in May this year.
The tragedy of the scheme
As PM Anthony pointed out, the welfare recipients were stuck in a cruel system that heavily impacted their lives. Many who learned that they owed thousands of dollars to the government went into shock in fear of financial falling, debt trauma, etc. Some victims were already facing mental health issues leading up to suicide and self-harm.
Anne Rishworth, the Social Service Minister described the automated debt scheme as a “fiasco” that should be a concern of every Australian citizen. She says that the government continues to hear stories about depression, dilemma, and anxiety from several victims who fell into this fraud scheme. The public also raised the point that when they previously had spoken about their confusion and concerns to officials, the government had ignored them and refused to take any action.
The Robo debt scandal was seen as a heavily unprofessional government IT service that had provided a reason to be wary of government automation and Data handling. It is unfortunate how many elder people have had to suffer from the greediness of one man in power.
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