An investigation in Australia that will go down in history as a watershed event revealed that a previous government’s illegal welfare hunt made victims feel like criminals and led to suicides.
The automated government program was colloquially called “Robodebt” in the affected communities. It mistakenly demanded that welfare users pay back benefits.
Because of a flawed algorithm, some individuals received letters stating that they were hundreds of dollars in debt and that they owed the money.
The policy had an impact on the lives of almost half a million people in Australia.
Between the years 2016 and 2019, the program was in operation until it was declared unlawful by a court. It had the effect of compelling some of the country’s most impoverished citizens to pay off bogus debts.
Many were coerced into making decisions that made their financial situations even more precarious, such as taking out loans, selling their vehicles, or using their savings to pay off a debt that they had been told they needed to pay off within a few weeks. Others experienced being called names and feeling ashamed after being informed that they had a financial obligation.
On Friday, the final result of an investigation into the scandal that was conducted by a royal commission was made public. In the report, the plan was referred to as a “costly failure of public administration” that had “extensive, devastating, and continuing” negative impacts.
In her 990-page report, Commissioner Catherine Holmes wrote that “Robodebt was a crude and cruel mechanism, neither fair nor legal, and it made many people feel like criminals.” “Robodebt was neither fair nor legal, and it made many people feel like criminals,” she added.
The most influential method of public investigation in Australia is called a royal commission. This one was open to the public for eleven months and received hundreds of contributions throughout that time.
On Friday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the program implemented by the previous administration a “gross betrayal” of citizens since it had adversely affected those who were already at a disadvantage.
According to the findings of the investigation, there were at least three suicides that were known to have occurred as a direct result of the Robodebt program; nevertheless, the investigation was “confident that these were not the only tragedies of the kind.”
Among the victims of suicide were two young men, Rhys Cauzzo, who was 28, and Jarrad Madgwick, who was 22. Both of their mothers provided testimony to the panel about their sons’ behalf a year ago. In the past, Kath Madgwick has expressed to the media her belief that the government bears some responsibility for Jarrad’s death by suicide.
The stress of a debt demand had caused other victims, according to their statements to the investigation, to experience anxiety and sadness and even forced them to ponder ending their own lives.
One woman reported that she had suicidal thoughts for a period of months as the debt hung over her head and that the “lowest point” in her life was the day when the debt collector debited the money from her bank account to pay off the bill.
She stated in response to the investigation, “I felt desperate on that day; it was so upsetting that I could not afford to pay for my daughter’s medical expenses and I felt powerless to improve my situation.” “I felt powerless to improve my situation,”
Another victim who had a history of mental illness stated that when he received a notification of a debt for $11,000 (£6,300, $8,100), he was in “complete shock” since it would “set me back years and years and years.”
He explained that “from the point of view of somebody who suffers from generalized anxiety disorder, it’s just… the biggest trigger you can give to somebody.”
The investigation’s final report, which was released on Friday, criticized the conservative government that had been led by former Prime Minister Scott Morrison for initiating the program with “little to no regard” for the individuals and vulnerable cohorts that it would touch.
In addition, the report criticized Mr Morrison for “misleading” Cabinet regarding advice that the transition to an automated system would not require the passage of legislation. At the time that the policy was introduced, Mr Morrison was serving as the minister of the social services department.
Mr Morrison stated that he disagreed with “each of the findings which are critical of my involvement in authorizing the scheme and are adverse to me” in his response that was given on Friday.
He stated that he had “acted in good faith and on clear and deliberate department advice.”
The study accused the government of continuing to cover up the scheme even after its “unfairness, probable illegality, and cruelty became apparent” in 2017. This was one of the accusations that was included in the report.
According to what was written there, “It should then have been abandoned or revised drastically, and a significant amount of hardship and misery would have been avoided.”
“Instead, the course of action that was taken was to double down, to go on the attack in the media against those who complained, and to maintain the fallacy that, in fact, the system had not changed at all”
Commissioner Holmes also emphasized how the politicization of welfare policy had contributed to the worsening of the stigma that is frequently experienced by people who receive social welfare.
According to the findings of the research, the government also erroneously overstated the incidence of benefit fraud, which was “minuscule” or less than 0.1% of all cases.
The commissioner also suggested, in a section of the report that was kept under wraps, that a number of unnamed people who were involved in the program be submitted to legal authorities for both criminal and civil punishment.
The Robodebt program was unexpectedly terminated in 2019 by the Morrison government after victims challenged the legal foundation before the Federal Court of Australia, which determined that the program was in violation of the law.
As part of its retreat, the government was also compelled to reimburse nearly A$700 million in already-made payouts to victims. A multimillion-dollar lawsuit launched by victims seeking compensation was also resolved as part of the settlement.
