The Australian government officially scrapped its controversial "Robodebt" welfare debt recovery scheme.

The scheme, implemented in 2015, used a flawed method of income averaging to automatically issue debt notices to welfare recipients, falsely accusing many of owing money to the government. The approach had led to over 470,000 individuals being targeted, with nearly UAD 2 billion in debts claimed unlawfully.

The government announced the termination of the Robodebt scheme following a Federal Court ruling that deemed the debt collection processes unlawful. This decision came ahead of a larger class action lawsuit, which ultimately resulted in a settlement of AUD1.8 billion, including AUD 751 million in unlawfully collected debts and AUD 112 million in compensation for affected individuals. 

The government has also initiated a royal commission to investigate the scheme's establishment, design, and implementation, as well as the handling of concerns raised about its legality and fairness. The aim of the inquiry was to prevent similar failures in public administration in the future.