2019-11-27 18:44:05 +1100
To: All political parties in Australia
We demand a Royal Commission into the #Robodebt scheme.
We demand a Royal Commission be called to investigate #robodebt because the automated debt collection program has caused significant financial strain and mental health issues among some of the nation's most vulnerable people.
Why is this important?
How many people have to suffer before a #Robodebt Royal Commission is called?
#Robodebt useds intentionally flawed "data matching" to make inflated debt claims from six or more years previously, places the onus on the victim to disprove the claims within 28 days, the department refuses to provide any justification for its claims when asked to do so, and then initiates procedures to recover "debts" including heavy-handed use of debt collectors when the debts are still in dispute.
Despite improvements to the program, including increased involvement from Centrelink staff and outreach to affected welfare recipients, the scheme is still having an adverse impact on vulnerable people.
Debts raised under past iterations of the scheme need to be reviewed, because people who had overpayments raised under the old system, which involved very little oversight from staff, would have paid back money they did not owe.
#Robodebt causes stress and anxiety among the country’s most vulnerable people. Research has shown welfare recipients are more likely to report mental health issues and the debt recovery scheme has “exacerbated” the existing hardship and symptoms of mental illness of affected people.
#Robodebt reverses the onus of proof onto welfare recipients, and those who do not engage with the process or are unable to provide such evidence are likely to get a debt notice because compliance staff will then use a “controversial averaging” tool to predict their fortnightly income using their annual tax return.
The government needs to be brought to justice for causing millions of people severe stress over fake debt notices delivered by his #Robodebt scheme.
Robodebt Class Action
https://gordonlegal.com.au/robodebt-class-action/
Robodebt is an abuse of power. It should never have seen the light of day
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/28/robodebt-is-an-abuse-of-power-it-should-never-have-seen-the-light-of-day
Please sign this petition and share across your social media.
If you have a Centrelink debt you’re not convinced is fair it’s never to late to challenge it. Ask for a review by an Authorised Review Officer, preferably in writing.
For more information and for support fighting your robodebt go to Not My Debt website https://t.co/I6AD5nwdkI or Facebook https://t.co/ykO6PmLuO9
Join the #robodebt class action
https://gordonlegal.com.au/robodebt-class-action/