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‘Botched’ Robodebt scheme enters Administrative Appeals Tribunal
Following an announcement of the $112 million class action settlement for victims of the controversial Robodebt scheme, the long-running battle to access documents from the federal government will be heard in court this week.
Naomi Neilson
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers will act for human rights advocate Justin Warren to get access to the documents by taking the Robodebt scheme to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Their case will centre on early business plans and any other documents procured by Services Australia to justify the controversial roll-out.
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If successful, Mr Warren hopes the documents will shed more light on who knew about the Robodebt scheme and how the automated debt recovery program was designed and approved at the most senior levels of public service and government.
The senior levels may potentially include Prime Minister Scott Morrison and ministers Christian Porter and Alan Tudge when they were responsible for the program.
“The Robodebt program has caused severe financial stress and harm to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people. The documents at the centre of this case, if released, could give these people answers about what the government knew, and when, about the risks of the failed and unlawful scheme,” Maurice Blackburn principal lawyer Jennifer Kanis commented in a statement.
Mr Warren had originally requested the documents under the Freedom of Information (FOI) laws back in 2017 but was refused. He challenged the decision through the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and won. This month’s hearing will be a further appeal by Services Australia to block the release.
The case forms part of the Grata FOI Project and is run pro bono by Maurice Blackburn. It is the second piece of legislation to come out of the Grata FOI Project that aims to hold ministers and government departments accountable to FOI law and ensure that the public is able to scrutinise the decisions of government.
Grata Fund founder and executive director Isabelle Reinecke said: “A functioning FOI system is crucial for a transparent and functioning democracy. Not only should these documents be released, but we need to have an independent, arms-length inquiry into what happened and who knew what when.”
