From Monday, the royal commission into the unlawful debt recovery scheme known as Robodebt will start calling witnesses.
It starts in Brisbane at 10am, with the hearings live-streamed through the royal commission’s website.
Under the terms of reference, the inquiry will examine:
- The establishment, design and implementation of the scheme, including who was responsible
- The handling of concerns about the scheme
- The impact it had, including on vulnerable individuals and the ultimate cost to the commonwealth
- Measures to ensure such a scheme does not take place again.
It’s unclear who will be called to give evidence, but the commission is expected to hear from victims, public servants and potentially senior government ministers.
The royal commission will be led by Catherine Holmes AC SC and deliver a final report in April.
The victims
Over the coming weeks it is expected that the royal commission will hear submissions from members of the public who were caught up in the Robodebt scheme.
Roo
In April 2018, Roo Davies was 33 and working in disability support when he received a letter from Centrelink saying he owed them $4763.
Centrelink alleged the debt was from 2013 and ordered him to pay up.
Mr Davies contested the claim and was able to produce the relevant payslips.
The protracted review process put Mr Davies, who had pre-existing mental health issues, under a great deal of stress.
“Some of the phone calls were quite traumatic,” Mr Davies told The New Daily.
“It got to a point where I wasn’t allowed to contest it any more. They said there’s nothing you can do, you have to pay … then the letters started getting more intimidating and threatening … they warned me against leaving the country.”
At one point, he asked a Centrelink employee how they could pick a random monetary figure and claim he owed it without proving it was a valid amount.
“The guy on the phone said: ‘The letter saying you owe it is proof’ – it was insane,” said Mr Davies.
Although Mr Davies said he welcomes the royal commission, he doesn’t hold out much hope that those responsible for the scheme will face justice.
“I’d never expect any accountability to be taken by those dudes that are in charge,” he said.
Catherine
Catherine was speechless when she opened a letter from Centrelink saying she owed $13,000.
Then she broke down in tears.
“I flipped out. I actually cried, to be honest, because I didn’t owe that money,” she told TND.
“I think I was probably scared. We didn’t have any cash at the time. Like it was a pay cheque to pay cheque situation.”
She immediately called up the agency to make sure the letter wasn’t a hoax.
They claimed that she had a debt dating back to 2016 when she worked in disability services.
Luckily Catherine was able to contact her previous employer and obtain her pay slips.
“I remember saying to the person at Centrelink, ‘You are so lucky that I am well and capable of doing this’,” she said.
Catherine asked the Centrelink worker if this was happening to other people.
“I told them that this is going to be detrimental to people’s health. And lo and behold, people took their own lives.”
Catherine said she hopes the families that lost loved ones receive compensation.
“What f—ing moron thought it was a good idea to just drop a letter in someone’s mailbox saying they owed an amount like that,” she said.
“It’s great that there’s an inquiry, but maybe they should consider compensating the families of people that died.”
Both Catherine and Mr Davies were part of Gordon Legal’s class action lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Australia.
The Commonwealth and Gordon Legal agreed on a $112 million settlement.
What was Robodebt?
More than 430,000 people were subject to automatic debt collection via the Robodebt scheme, which the former government publicly admitted was hugely inaccurate.
The system’s calculations often had the Centrelink in-house software seize huge sums from bank accounts without people realising what was coming.
Readers seeking crisis support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged up to 25).
More information and support with mental health is available at beyondblue.org.au and on 1300 22 4636.
