Australian benefits affair: half a million victims

The benefits affair in the Netherlands, where citizens were unfairly branded as fraudsters by the tax authorities and government for years, does not appear to be unique from an international point of view. An Australian committee is coming forward with a critical final report on a similar scandal.

Laila Moussaoui 12-07-23, 15:10 Last updated: 12-07-23, 16:20

In its 990-page final report, a committee of inquiry concludes that the former Australian government unlawfully manhunted benefits recipients. Citizens were unfairly required to repay their benefits, which made them known as criminals. In some cases, the personal situation of victims became so distressing that, according to the committee, this led to suicides.

Australian media report that half a million citizens have been affected by Robodebt, as the scandal came to be called there. They were wrongly accused of benefits fraud by an algorithm in an automated government system. The victims then tried to do everything they could to pay their debts. They used their savings or sold their assets.

'Costly failure'

The research report describes Robodebt as a “costly failure of public administration” with devastating consequences. The report mentions at least three suicides directly related to government policy and the committee suggests that there are likely to be more. The report is highly critical of the Australian government's actions and speaks of a cover-up. Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who was responsible for launching this policy in his role as Minister of Social Affairs at the time, rejects the findings. He calls the allegations against him unfounded.

The committee makes recommendations for possible criminal and civil prosecution for all persons involved. The Australian government ended the RoboDebt scheme in 2019. Victims were reimbursed a total of more than 700 million Australian dollars by the government. A lawsuit for compensation was settled by the government.

Innocent civilians

Debt collectors that collect fines from innocent citizens on behalf of the government are being urged to return more than 11 million Australian dollars in taxpayers' money.

The use of private debt collection agencies, which received a commission for collecting money from benefit recipients, is also heavily criticized. Dealing with citizens in a vulnerable situation came into the hands of agencies that set themselves the goal of recovering as much money as possible as quickly as possible, according to the committee.