Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has been questioned about his knowledge of the Robodebt scheme while he was in the top job between 2015 and 2018.
Look back on how Monday's hearing unfolded in our blog.
Key events
Live updates
We'll wrap up our live coverage here
By Jessica Riga
Thank you for your company this morning.
You can catch up on Monday's developments below, or download the ABC News app and subscribe to our range of news alerts for the latest news.
What happened when Turnbull fronted the Robodebt royal commission
By Jessica Riga
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Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has told the Robodebt royal commission it never occurred to him that the scheme was not lawful
- The debt recovery program — which has been found to be unlawful — began in the months before Turnbull became prime minister and continued throughout his time in the top job, amid an increasing outcry about the fairness and legality of the scheme
- Turnbull says his concern was to ensure the debts raised were accurate and fair and he relied on his ministers to comply with the law
Watch: Turnbull says he didn't consider 'legality' of Robodebt
By Jessica Riga
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says the legality of the program never occurred to the government as he gives evidence at the Robodebt inquiry.
Turnbull has been excused
By Jessica Riga
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has been excused by the Robodebt royal commission.
Commissoner shuts down notion evidence has been 'redacted'
By Jessica Riga
Malcolm Turnbull mentioned the evidence has been redacted, and was promptly told the opposite by Commissioner Catherine Holmes.
"Nothing about the Robodebt scheme has been redacted, I can assure you," she says.
Turnbull did not consider 'legality' of Robodebt
By Jessica Riga
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has been grilled about his knowledge of the Robodebt scheme while he was in the top job between 2015 and 2018.
"Look, I did not turn my mind to the legality of the program. It never occured to us that it was unauthorised," he told the commission.
"Because we assumed that was as it had been represented."
Turnbull questioned about 'disastrous' Robodebt scheme
By Jessica Riga
Commissioner Catherine Holmes has jumped in.
She's asking about the automated aspects of the processing, and asks why it wasn't appropriate to involve the digital transformation office.
"The problem was you'd have a dozen different departments creating websites and portals from the ground up," Turnbull says, "but human nature made that hard."
Commissioner Holmes says the result was "disastrous."
Turnbull asked about letter from Porter, Tudge
By Jessica Riga
Malcolm Turnbull has been asked about a letter from Christian Porter and Alan Tudge regarding the scheme.
"As I've said in my statement, I have no doubt this letter was shown to me and I read it, but as of today I don't recall it," Turnbull tells the commission.
Video link issues emerge
By Jessica Riga
Turnbull is appearing via video link, and we've had our first technological hiccup with a streaming delay.
Thus we get a few rounds of "you go," "no, you go" between Turnbull and Commissioner Catherine Holmes.
Turnbull asked about his confidence in Tudge
By Jessica Riga
Commissioner Catherine Holmes has asked the former prime minister if he thought Alan Tudge had a "good grasp" on the situation.
Turnbull says he "never" thought of Tudge as "negligent".
Further communication referenced in royal commission
By Jessica Riga
The royal commission has referred to further correspondence between Malcolm Turnbull and Alan Tudge about the scheme, which occurred more than a week later.
On January 18, 2017, Tudge told Turnbull there's "still some heat in the Centrelink issue, but it has dissipated for the moment."
"That's great, thanks Alan," Turnbull replied. "Important to have this settled down by the time we get back to parliament."
Turnbull asked about correspondence with Tudge
By Jessica Riga
The former PM has been asked about his 2017 Whatsapp messages with then human services minister Alan Tudge, which you can read below.
Turnbull reached out to Tudge regarding an article in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Watch live: Malcolm Turnbull gives evidence via video link
By Jessica Riga
As well as the live stream via the royal commission website, you can also watch Mr Turnbull give evidence via the ABC YouTube channel.
Turnbull asked about the day-to-day functioning of cabinet ministers
By Jessica Riga
The questioning has kicked off, with Senior Counsel Assisting Justin Greggery asking Malcolm Turnbull how involved cabinet ministers were with the day-to-day functioning of the Robodebt scheme.
Turnbull replies with what could be considered a veiled swipe at Scott Morrison's secret ministries.
"The government is not run out of the prime minister's office... as other prime ministers have sought to do," Turnbull says.
Malcolm Turnbull swears under oath ahead of his royal commission hearing
By Jessica Riga
The royal commission is now in session
By Jessica Riga
I'll let you know when the former prime minister appears via video link.
We're now moments away from today's hearing
By Jessica Riga
As I mentioned before, you can follow the live stream on the government's Robodebt royal commission website here.
Let's get you up to speed on Stuart Robert's Robodebt appearance
By Jessica Riga
Last week, former minister Stuart Robert told the Robodebt royal commission he takes "absolute responsibility" for the implementation for the illegal scheme.
The former government services minister has also revealed he went on television programs defending the program as a "dutiful cabinet minister", despite being aware it could be unlawful.
When asked by Commissioner Catherine Holmes SC whether he took responsibility for "what the government, of which you were a part of, did?"
"Absolutely, Commissioner," Mr Robert replied.
"As a senior member of the government, I take absolute responsibility as part of cabinet solidarity for this.
"But I also take responsibility for being the minister to say: 'We have got to get advice to stop it now'."
Mr Robert discussed "holding [the] government line" in all media interviews – including one on ABC's 7.30 — despite having "personal misgivings" about Robodebt's calculation method.
- You can continue reading this story by Alexandria Utting using the link below.
Analysis: When the Robodebt royal commission ends we need a serious talk about public service culture
By Jessica Riga
While we wait for today's hearing to kick off, catch up with Laura Tingle's analysis from the weekend:
At the Robodebt royal commission, we've heard ministers who oversaw the portfolio during this period say they weren't responsible for what their department officials did. An investigation of public service culture must be next.
You can continue reading Tingle's analysis below:
What is Robodebt? Here's your quick guide
By Jessica Riga
It's the informal name given to a debt recovery program starting in 2015 that falsely accused members of the community of owing money to the government.
The Robodebt scheme automatically issued notices to welfare recipients identified as having debts through a process of income averaging.
This compares a person's reported income with their income as measured by the Australian Tax Office.
While similar techniques were used in the past, the scale of Robodebt's debt recovery was unprecedented.
Shortly after the scheme was implemented, people started to complain over being issued bills for debts that simply didn't exist.
In some cases, the debts topped $24,000.
The scheme unlawfully claimed almost $2 billion in payments from 433,000 people.
- You can continue reading this story using the link below
