Labor has called for a royal commission into the robodebt program, heaping pressure on the Coalition to accept some form of independent inquiry into the unlawful scheme that some families claim led victims to take their own lives.
In a statement issued on Tuesday the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, and frontbenchers Bill Shorten and Mark Dreyfus argued a royal commission was needed to probe the creation and administration of the debt recovery scheme, which saw Centrelink send at least 470,000 unlawful demands for money over four years.
Labor said a royal commission could investigate the potential human cost – including reports some victims committed suicide after receiving debt letters – as well as the financial impact, which the Guardian has revealed will easily exceed $1bn in unlawfully issued debts and may cost the commonwealth hundreds of millions more in court damages and interest.
“The government has continued to hide from scrutiny and refused to answer basic questions about the scheme,” a Labor statement read. “Only a royal commission will ensure they are held to account.”
The call is an escalation of the opposition’s political attacks, only two weeks after Scott Morrison was pushed to an apology in parliament and the government services minister, Stuart Robert, sought to “caution” MPs against “jumping to any unfounded conclusions” while under pressure over robodebt-linked suicides in question time.
It also comes as law firm Gordon Legal pursues compensation for the hundreds of thousands of victims via a class action and seeks to force government ministers to front court over the scheme through a potential misfeasance in public office claim.
The government has opposed the release of some documents as part of the court case and, separately, has hampered a Senate inquiry’s investigation through a sweeping public interest immunity claim.
Labor claimed on Monday a royal commission could also examine the origins of the scheme and whether the government had done sufficient due diligence for a program that was expected to reap more than $3bn in budget savings.
It could also make recommendations on the use of ATO “income averaging”, which describes the use of annual pay data to calculate whether a welfare recipient had correctly reported their income to Centrelink on a fortnightly basis.
Robodebt is technically a moniker created by critics to refer to a series of policy changes starting in 2015 and ramping up the following year.
Government departments have regularly blocked the release of several documents related to the program’s creation and there are questions around the timing of the government’s decision to suspend the scheme in November 2019, given the Guardian has revealed it appeared aware of legal doubts in September. It also lost five cases at a tribunal in 2017 and then declined to appeal.
Morrison, who was social services minister when parts of the scheme were established, apologised for any “hurt or harm” caused, in parliament earlier this month. He said the government would seek to learn any lessons that arose from the program.
While the Coalition has agreed to pay back 373,000 people to the tune of $720m, it has declined to rule out a revival of the program despite leaked advice showing it is “no longer viable”.
It has also sought to minimise the difference between its debt recovery activities and past programs, claiming Labor also used the income-averaging method to raise debts.
While the government’s own internal advice, seen by the Guardian, states the method was a “longstanding practice”, it also says this was used only as a “last resort” until 2015, when the Coalition ramped up the program to issue about 20,000 debts a week, compared with 20,000 a year.
The Coalition also instructed Centrelink staff to issue debts using “income averaging” as standard practice, where previously they had been told to first seek evidence such as payslips before issuing a letter claiming a welfare recipient had under-declared their work income.
In its earliest incarnations, the raising of debts was also almost entirely automated after 2016, although the government reintroduced more human oversight after public criticism.
The Greens, which have also called for a royal commission, argued such an inquiry would allow for a forensic audit to investigate the possibility of unlawful debts raised before July 2015, citing reporting by the Guardian of secret government advice.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Do you know more? luke.henriques-gomes@theguardian.com
