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The Latest Breaking News from Department of Social Services

Why robodebt's use of 'income averaging' lacked basic common sense

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.

The Conversation · Mar 16, 2023

Top bureaucrat who oversaw Robodebt rollout says document to ministers was potentially misleading

Kathryn Campbell tells the Robodebt royal commission that a document put to Cabinet failed to mention the need for legislative change.

ABC News · Mar 7, 2023

Robodebt inquiry: evidence contradicts witness’s claim he didn’t know unlawful method was being used

Former Department of Human Services official tells inquiry he can’t explain emails and other documents he saw referring to use of income averaging

The Guardian - AU · Feb 24, 2023

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Partner income tests are preventing some Australians with disabilities from getting married

Julie relies on the Disability Support Pension. She says if she takes the next step in her relationship with Simon, she will lose the pension, and therefore her independence.

ABC News · Feb 23, 2023

Public servants may have ‘colluded’ to launch robodebt despite knowing it was unlawful, inquiry hears

Former deputy secretary Serena Wilson denies ‘reconstructing events’ in her evidence to the royal commission to protect her own interests

The Guardian - AU · Feb 23, 2023

Coalition government lacked 'empathy' for welfare recipients, focused on cost savings, Serena Wilson tells Robodebt royal commission

A former department head described the office of then-social services minister Scott Morrison as having "limited interest in advice" between 2014 and 2018.

ABC News · Feb 23, 2023

Former top Department of Social Services lawyer failed to share advice Robodebt was illegal, royal commission hears

Ex-government lawyer says he was "not sure if I turned my mind to that" when asked if he worried about people who received debt letters while a Centrelink worker reveals how the program was administered.

ABC News · Feb 21, 2023

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Alan Tudge denies he was responsible for department’s failure to check legality of robodebt, royal commission hears

Former human services minister says he was away on leave when an article casting doubt on legality of robodebt was sent to him

The Guardian - AU · Feb 1, 2023

Inaccuracy of robodebt scheme ‘known issue’ but was ‘only way’ to do more reviews, commission told

Former top lawyer for the Department of Human Services said she relied on another department’s position that income averaging scheme was lawful

The Guardian - AU · Jan 30, 2023

Robodebt inquiry hears claim social services official ‘sat on’ damning external legal advice about scheme

Former mid-level official Kristin Lumley says she believed there was ‘inaction’ from her boss and it would ‘end up in federal court’

The Guardian - AU · Jan 27, 2023

Robodebt advice would cause damage: lawyer

A senior government lawyer has told a royal commission into robodebt that independent legal advice could have led to the scheme being stopped entirely.

AAP · Jan 26, 2023

Former Social Services official denies trying to conceal evidence during robodebt investigation

Robert Hurman tells royal commission it was ‘not my intention’ to be anything other than full and frank with the watchdog

The Guardian - AU · Jan 25, 2023

Witness Robert Hurman admits his department made 'false' statements about Robodebt to ombudsman

A senior bureaucrat who approved a letter to the ombudsman investigating Robodebt has conceded his department made "false" statements about the unlawful scheme.

ABC News · Jan 25, 2023

'Horror budget' paved way for robodebt

Successive Liberal government crackdowns on welfare fraud led many on social services to feel like criminals and paved the way for robodebt, an inquiry heard.

AAP · Dec 15, 2022

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The Guardian - AU · Dec 14, 2022

Scott Morrison leaned on his faith in his department to explain the ‘critical failure’ of robodebt

Former PM’s verbose approach in stand meant it took an eternity to establish his position that he didn’t see vital legal advice on the scheme and can’t say why

The Guardian - AU · Dec 9, 2022

Senior official denies ‘manipulating the truth’ to ombudsman over legality of robodebt scheme

DSS witness faces scrutiny at royal commission over involvement in robodebt plans and evidence given to watchdog’s 2017 investigation

The Conversation · Dec 4, 2022

HILDA finds working from home boosts women's job satisfaction more than men's, and that has a downside

The shift to working from home is unlikely to reverse.

Salon · Dec 1, 2022

Medicaid in South Dakota sees resistance

South Dakota's Medicaid expansion faces a difficult rollout due to political pushback and outdated technology

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The Guardian - AU · Nov 22, 2022

Labor drops plan to reduce access to disability pension for drug and alcohol-related conditions

Albanese government backs away from controversial change as part of once-in-a-decade review of disability pension eligibility criteria

The Guardian - AU · Nov 11, 2022

Conspiracy or stuff up? Robodebt royal commission probes how far up the chain of command blame falls

The first two weeks of hearings into the unlawful welfare scheme sought to answer a central question: how could this happen?

Tribune News Service · Nov 11, 2022

South Dakota voters approved Medicaid expansion, but implementation may not be easy

RAPID CITY, S.D. — South Dakotans voted Tuesday to expand the state’s Medicaid program to cover thousands of additional low-income residents, becoming the seventh state to approve expansion via the ballot box.

ABC News · Nov 10, 2022

Finn Pratt confirmed Robodebt's lawfulness despite not taking legal advice, commission hears

The former Department of Social Services secretary signed a letter to the Commonwealth Ombudsman in 2017 saying the scheme was legal, despite not seeing any legal or policy advice or knowing how it worked, a royal commission hears.

The Guardian - AU · Nov 7, 2022

‘Watered down’ legal concerns included in robodebt briefing for Scott Morrison, inquiry hears

Earlier document warned proposed debt recovery measures would have ‘fundamental impacts on social security policy and legislation’, royal commission told

The Guardian - AU · Nov 3, 2022

‘Unethical’: robodebt inquiry hears advisers were ‘almost immediately’ concerned by the initial plan

Former director of debt management compared proposal to so-called Dallas Buyers Club ‘speculative invoicing’ saga

AAP · Nov 3, 2022

Legal advice on robodebt not passed on

The royal commission has heard a government department failed to relay information about the unlawfulness of the robodebt income averaging calculation.

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