Australia "robodebt" Online Compliance Intervention
Australia "robodebt" Online Compliance Intervention
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The Australian government's "Online Compliance Intervention"(OCI) scheme - also known as "Robodebt" - was a highly controversial automated debt recovery system that replaced a manual system of calculating overpayments and issuing debt notices to welfare recipients.
Launched in July 2016, the OCI data-matching system automated much of the investigation and debt raising process where Australia's Department of Human Services detected a discrepancy between the amount of income a citizen declared in a year with averaged fortnightly income data from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
According to then Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the new system would increase the 'number of fraud investigations and compliance interventions by over 900,000 over four years' and save AUD 1.8 billion.
System 🤖
System 🤖
Website: CWebsiteelink self-service 🔗
Operator: Department of Human Services/Centrelink
Developer: Services Australia
Country: Australia
Sector: Govt - welfare
Purpose: Recover overpaid welfare payments
Type: Online compliance intervention system
Technique: Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Documents 📃
Documents 📃
Transparency and accountability 🙈
Transparency and accountability 🙈
Australia's Robodebt scheme had many important significant transparency and accountability limitations:
Calculation process. The automated system used to calculate alleged debts was not transparent. Many people did not understand how their alleged debts were calculated, making it difficult to challenge or verify the amounts.
User communication. Centrelink correspondence often lacked clear information about how debts were calculated, leaving people unable to properly understand or resolve their alleged overpayments.
Burden of proof. The scheme unfairly placed the responsibility on individuals to prove they did not owe the claimed amounts, rather than on the government to prove debts were valid.
Complaints and appeals. Many people found it effectively impossible to contest their Robodebts, especially if they could not produce payslips from the period in question.
Institutional culture. The Royal Commission found that the system was sustained by a lack of transparency, accountability, and a culture characterised by "venality, incompetence and cowardice".
Regulatory disclosure. One Commonwealth department failed to adequately disclose information about the scheme to the Ombudsman who was investigating it.
Ministerial failings. Government ministers failed to adequately inquire about the scheme's legality or knowingly misled colleagues and the public about it.
Risks and harms 🛑
Risks and harms 🛑
Australia’s Robodebt scheme has been criticised for causing financial distress, mental health issues, suicides, and a lack of access to justice, largely due to its flawed algorithm and illegal practices.
Incidents and issues 🔥
Incidents and issues 🔥
May 2020. Australia scraps "robodebt" welfare debt recovery scheme
January 2017. Former senior assistant commonwealth ombudsman Louise Macleod led an official inquiry into the OCI. The ensuing report listed some process issues with the scheme but was muted on the issue of income averaging and completely silent on legality. However, internal emails later shared with the Royal Commission questioning the legality of the scheme were shown to have been withheld from her investigation.
June 2016. Complaints quickly started to be made about the OCI scheme after its launch to organisations such as legal advisory service Victoria Legal Aid, with citizens saying they were being hit with year-old debts and given three weeks to provide documents to prove they had not been overpaid. Government officials denied widespread problems with the scheme, and started a public campaign to rebut stories in the media which accused the OCI of producing unfair and possibly illegal outcomes.
Legal, regulatory 👩🏼⚖️
Legal, regulatory 👩🏼⚖️
Gordon Legal. Robodebt class-action
Gordon Legal. Robodebt FAQs
Research, advocacy 🧮
Research, advocacy 🧮
Terry Carney (2018). The New Digital Future for Welfare: Debts without Legal Proofs or Moral Authority? (pdf)
Investigations, assessments, audits 🧐
Investigations, assessments, audits 🧐
Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs (2020). Centrelink's compliance program
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (2019). Handling personal information Department of Human Services, PAYG data matching program (pdf)
Commonwealth Ombudsman (2017). Centrelink’s automated debt raising and recovery system (pdf)
Commonwealth Ombudsman (2017). Lessons learnt about digital transformation and public administration: Centrelink’s online compliance intervention (pdf)
Page info
Type: System
Published: March 2023
Last updated: December 2024
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