Eyre Peninsula woman Jessica Jolly has renewed her calls for an inquiry into the federal government's botched Robodebt scheme, saying there had still been "no accountability" over her brother's treatment.
Ms Jolly lost her brother, Corey Webb, to suicide in 2017, later finding out he owed the government money.
It was not until years later when Centrelink — now Services Australia — contacted Mr Webb's family with regard to paying the money back, that they learnt he had been on an illegal, so-called Robodebt payment plan when he died.
Since November, Ms Jolly has been calling for a royal commission to get transparency about how Centrelink staff interacted with customers like her brother.
"It has been years and there are still no answers, no accountability, no ownership," Ms Jolly said.
"They did not consider any of this when they were interacting with my brother and, I believe, thousands of others."
She said there needed to be more light shone on the impact of the Robodebt scheme.
"A royal commission would allow … every single aspect [to be] considered and improvements to be suggested and made," Ms Jolly said.
"We want this information for our brother, and for our family to have more understanding on how this impacted him and his family."
Outstanding questions
Ms Jolly emailed her federal member, Liberal MP Rowan Ramsey, to ask if he could help fill in the blanks for her family, but did not receive the answers she sought.
Independent senator Rex Patrick stepped up during Senate Estimates earlier this month and called on Minister for Government Services Linda Reynolds to have the agency respond.
Senator Patrick said the documentation he had obtained so far suggested a heavy-handed approach was taken when Centrelink staff spoke with clients.
But he added it was not clear whether the agency was still withholding information about how Mr Webb was treated.
"[In] documentation we have, we can now see exactly how Centrelink pursued this unlawful debt," Senator Patrick said.
"We know the sequencing, what sort of action they took.
He said the government had to make sure that, when Services Australia were chasing people with a debt, they were "alive to the possibility that people were vulnerable".
"Generally they're going to be chasing people who aren't as well off as some," Senator Patrick said.
"With the documentation we have in front of us, it's not clear that that occurred."
Because the documents had been released administratively rather than under Freedom of Information laws, however, Mr Patrick said the agency did not have to provide information about what information it had declined to release.
Privacy rights after death
Mr Ramsey said in a statement that the situation regarding Ms Jolly and the loss of her brother to suicide was "tragic".
"I contacted Minister Linda Reynolds on her behalf last year as she sought to access correspondence between her brother and Centrelink," he said.
"I was informed that under Australia’s Privacy Act, the rights to privacy continue after death even to the deceased’s family.
"While I know this is incredibly frustrating for families seeking answers, these protections are in place for good reason because there are things an individual may never want their family to know."
Mr Ramsey said he spoken to Ms Reynolds, who had undertaken to explore all avenues available under the law to provide Ms Jolley with information.
