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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Luke Henriques-Gomes Social affairs and inequality editor

Age pensioner felt ‘sheer terror’ at receiving robodebt letter demanding $65,000, inquiry told

Centrelink RoboDebt
Rosemary Gay giving evidence to the robodebt royal commission on Monday
Rosemary Gay giving evidence to the robodebt royal commission on Monday. The age pensioner said she would ‘never get over’ receiving a 2016 letter demanding $65,000 in overpaid welfare benefits with one month to pay. Photograph: Robodebt royal comission

An age pensioner who was initially told she had one month to pay back a $65,000 robodebt will “never get over” what happened to her, a royal commission has heard.

The commission is investigating why and how the unlawful Centrelink debt recovery scheme was established in 2015 and ran until November 2019, ending in a $1.8bn settlement with hundreds of thousands of victims.

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