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The Latest Breaking News from Department of Human Services

Robodebt royal commission hears former ombudsman who investigated the scheme allowed DHS to amend wording of report

The royal commission into the unlawful debt-raising scheme heard the department responsible for the Coalition-era program – the Department of Human Services — was allowed to submit notes on a final report into Robodebt.

ABC News

Documents which could have prompted end of Robodebt not shared with investigators, inquiry hears

Ex Ombudsman staffer tells the inquiry that had their investigators been shown documents flagging Robodebt's illegality, they would have called for the scheme to end.

ABC News

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

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Robodebt: top bureaucrat admits ‘significant oversight’ led to cabinet being misled

Former department head Kathryn Campbell rejects suggestions at inquiry that oversight was deliberate or government ministers had pressured her

The Guardian - AU

Department of Human Services bureaucrat ordered Robodebt letter system be switched off, royal commission hears

Former director at the Department of Human Services Tenille Collins says she had concerns with the Robodebt scheme's practice of sending welfare recipients a debt if they did not respond to a letter from Centrelink after 21 days.

ABC News

Public servant claims she was ‘screamed at irrationally’ after querying robodebt scheme

Official tells royal commission she was threatened with losing her job after turning off part of the system without approval

The Guardian - AU

Robert denies he wanted to 'double down' on robodebt, hits out at ex-secretary

The former minister denied in the 'strongest terms' that he was unconvinced about slashing the scheme upon learning it was unlawful.

The Canberra Times

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Former top lawyer denies seeking to withhold documents from coroner after robodebt victim’s suicide

Annette Musolino tells inquiry she did not withhold legal advice from her boss, the Department of Human Services secretary

The Guardian - AU

Former human services minister Stuart Robert vowed to 'double down' after being told Robodebt was illegal, royal commission told

Former top bureaucrat Renee Leon says she was forced to step in and stop the illegal Robodebt scheme because ministers refused.

ABC News

Alan Tudge’s senior staff failed to ask about robodebt scheme’s legality, inquiry hears

Former staffer to the human services minister unable to say what action he took over a review that raised issues with the scheme

The Guardian - AU

Ministerial staffers failed to consider damning Robodebt report, inquiry hears

Ministerial staffers failed to consider a report which found Robodebt was so "deeply flawed" it should have been "stopped", a royal commission into the illegal scheme hears.

ABC News

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

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

‘Platitudes and false words’: mother of robodebt victim who took own life tells inquiry of government stonewalling

‘It all became very sly. Everyone was lying and covering each other’s backs,’ royal commission hears

The Guardian - AU

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The Guardian - AU

Robodebt royal commission: the questions that remain as inquiry’s final public hearings begin

Outlines for the upcoming hearings on the Coalition’s flawed debt recovery scheme show where the investigation may be headed next

The Independent UK

Favre seeks dismissal from Mississippi welfare funds lawsuit

Brett Favre’s lawyers are again asking a Mississippi judge to dismiss the retired NFL quarterback from a lawsuit that demands repayment of millions of dollars of welfare money

Chicago Sun-Times

Brett Favre files defamation lawsuits against Shannon Sharpe, Pat McAfee

Favre filed lawsuits Thursday in Mississippi, accusing the state auditor and two national sportscasters of defaming him in public discussions about the misspending of welfare money.

The Guardian - AU

Email reveals top bureaucrat pressed ombudsman to delete comments questioning robodebt’s legality

Correspondence published by inquiry show then Human Services head told federal watchdog she was concerned about comments due to an ongoing court hearing and wanted them removed

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ABC News

Taxpayer-funded review that found 'flaws' in Robodebt scheme was discontinued by Department of Human Services, royal commission told

In a deal worth almost $1 million, the Department of Human Services engaged a consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to review the budget savings program, but then declined to see the end result.

The Guardian - AU

Christian Porter tells inquiry ‘someone’ in department assured him robodebt was legal but ‘I can’t recall who’

Former social services minister and attorney general also says he accepts some responsibility for the scandal

The Guardian - AU

Former chief counsel did ‘nothing’ to address legal doubts over robodebt, royal commission hears

Annette Musolino told by commission she let the system run despite advice saying there was a fundamental problem with its legality

The Guardian - AU

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

ABC News

Former government services minister Stuart Robert was warned Robodebt scheme could lead to civil action

Former government services minister Stuart Robert was warned continuing the illegal Robodebt scheme could lead to the civil action, the royal commission is told.

ABC News

Department of Social Services legal team was under 'definite pressure' from senior leadership, former in-house lawyer tells Robodebt inquiry

A former in-house legal officer tells the Robodebt royal commission that departmental cultural issues and leadership changes may have impacted the handling of the flawed scheme.

Tribune News Service

Civil rights groups sue Maryland agency over medications prescribed to foster children

BALTIMORE — Civil rights organizations and advocates representing three Maryland teens are challenging the state’s oversight of medical records for foster children receiving psychotropic drugs, according to a new federal lawsuit filed this week.

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