Ministers for the Department of Social Services, media release, 25 August 2022:
Establishment of the Royal Commission into Robodebt
Joint with:
Anthony Albanese MP
Prime Minister of Australia
Amanda Rishworth MP
Minister for Social Services
Bill Shorten MP
Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme
Minister for Government Services
Mark Dreyfus QC MP
Attorney-General
The Governor-General His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd) has issued Letters Patent establishing a Royal Commission into the former debt assessment and recovery scheme commonly known as Robodebt.
The inquiry will examine, among other things:
The establishment, design and implementation of the scheme; who was responsible for it; why they considered Robodebt necessary; and, any concerns raised regarding the legality and fairness;
The handling of concerns raised about the scheme, including adverse decisions made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal;
The outcomes of the scheme, including the harm to vulnerable individuals and the total financial cost to government; and
Measures needed to prevent similar failures in public administration.
The Royal Commission’s focus will be on decisions made by those in positions of seniority. The full scope of the inquiry is outlined in the Royal Commission’s Terms of Reference.
Commonwealth agencies will work to respond expeditiously to requests made by the Royal Commission.
The Royal Commissioner is Catherine Holmes AC SC. The Commissioner is a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland and brings vast experience from a distinguished legal career.
The Commissioner led the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry following the 2010-11 floods and acted as counsel assisting the Commission of Inquiry into Abuse of Children in Queensland Institutions in 1998-99.
The Government has allocated $30 million for the Royal Commission and the final report will be delivered to the Governor-General by 18 April 2023.
The headquarters of the Royal Commission will be in Brisbane and information about hearing dates and how to participate will be provided in the coming weeks.
A legal financial assistance scheme will be available to people requested to formally engage with the Royal Commission, for example, to appear as a witness.
___________ENDS___________
The Monthly, 25 August 2022:
The government has announced the terms of reference for a royal commission into robodebt, fulfilling an election promise to get to the bottom of a calamity that we still know so little about. The inquiry will be led by former Queensland Supreme Court chief justice Catherine Holmes, with the final report to be handed down in April 2023. It will examine, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said today, “the establishment of the scheme, who was responsible for it, and why it was necessary, how concerns were handled, how the scheme affected individuals and the financial costs to government, and measures to prevent this ever happening again”. Government Services Minister Bill Shorten, who spent years raising concerns about the automated recovery scheme, labelled it “a shameful chapter in the history of public administration in this country”, adding that it had caused “untold harm”. The Opposition has already rubbished the commission, with leader Peter Dutton calling it a “witch-hunt” and a “get-square” with Scott Morrison, who was social services minister when the scheme was established. It’s little wonder the Coalition doesn’t want this looked into. But it is utterly shameless of it to continually insist that nothing in the past matters – that we don’t deserve answers to what went on in the years it spent using and abusing the office of government.
Following along with Dutton’s comments today, there was little differentiation between when he was talking about the robodebt royal commission and when he was talking about the inquiry into Morrison’s secret portfolios, which he has also begun labelling a “witch-hunt”. “[The prime minister] should be concentrating more on how he can help families and less on how we can get square with Scott Morrison,” Dutton told reporters this morning, ostensibly talking about robodebt….
BACKGROUND
Australian Parliament, Senate, Community Affairs References
Committee, Centrelink’s Compliance Program, Accountability and justice: Why we need a Royal Commission into Robodebt, May 2022.
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