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The Robodebt scheme, formally Online Compl … The Robodebt scheme, formally Online Compliance Intervention (OCI), was an unlawful method of automated debt assessment and recovery employed by Services Australia as part of its Centrelink payment compliance program. Put in place in July 2016 and announced to the public in December of the same year, the scheme aimed to replace the formerly manual system of calculating overpayments and issuing debt notices to welfare recipients with an automated data-matching system that compared Centrelink records with averaged income data from the Australian Taxation Office. The scheme has been the subject of considerable controversy, having been criticised by media, academics, advocacy groups, and politicians due to allegations of false or incorrectly calculated debt notices being issued, concerns over impacts on the physical and mental health of debt notice recipients, and questions around the lawfulness of the scheme. Robodebt has been the subject of an investigation by the Commonwealth Ombudsman, two Senate committee inquiries and several legal challenges. On 29 May 2020, the Morrison Government announced that it would scrap the debt recovery scheme, with 470,000 wrongly-issued debts to be repaid in full. Initially, the total sum of the repayments was estimated to be A$721 million, however in November 2020 this figure expanded to A$1.2 billion after the Australian government settled a class-action lawsuit before it could go to trial. In June 2020, Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated during Question Time that "I would apologise for any hurt or harm in the way that the Government has dealt with that issue and to anyone else who has found themselves in those situations", however the government has not yet offered a formal apology. The scheme was further condemned by Federal Court Justice Bernard Murphy in his June 2021 ruling against the Government where he approved a A$1.8 billion settlement including repayments of debts paid, wiping of outstanding debts, and legal costs. In October 2022, the Albanese Government effectively forgave the debts of 197,000 people that were still under review. Making the announcement, Amanda Rishworth stated “The Robodebt fiasco is something that should be of deep concern to all Australians. It was meant to save money, however, we know it had a significant human cost” In November 2022 it was disclosed that legal advice before the scheme started was that it did not comply with legislation. Commissioner Catherine Holmes asked DSS lawyer Anne Pulford "You get an advice in draft, and if it's not favourable you just leave it that way?"; Pulford responded "Yes, Commissioner".?"; Pulford responded "Yes, Commissioner".
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