The Latest Breaking News from Centrelink

Friday marked the end of the public hearings for the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme. They painted a picture of a catastrophic program that was legally and ethically indefensible – an example of how technological overreach, coupled with dereliction of duty can amount to immense suffering for ordinary people.

Exclusive: Voiceprint program used by millions of Australians to access data held by government agencies shown to have a serious security flaw

The practice of “income averaging” to calculate debts in the robodebt scheme was completely flawed. This is what I confirmed in my new report conducted for the robodebt royal commission published last Friday, the final day of the commission’s public hearings.

There is no asset test for the seniors health card, and the income test rules have been recently relaxed, and it is now very generous.

The royal commission ended on Friday, having heard shocking testimony from officials and politicians, and heart-rending accounts of the impact of the botched scheme

Just weeks before his 23rd birthday in 2019, Jarrad Madgwick left the house hours after being issued with a $2,000 Robodebt. He never returned home or into the arms of his mum Kathleen.

Two former Centrelink employees have told a royal commission their concerns with the way robodebt was operating were repeatedly dismissed.

I’m grateful to all those who spoke out, but it should never have happened and we have no guarantee it won’t happen again

Former PM tells royal commission he accepted what then human services minister Alan Tudge told him about legality of scheme

It may sound daunting, but there are various ways to balance pensions and investments to get the maximum return from your super.

A 98-year-old widow called her care provider in tears, saying she did not have anything else to sell, a written submission to the Robodebt royal commission says.