KEY POINTS:
- The robodebt royal commission has blasted the scheme as "crude and cruel".
- Victims were made to feel like "second-class citizens, criminals, and dole cheats", it said.
- The 990-page report makes 57 recommendations.
This article contains references to suicide/self-harm.
The illegal robodebt was "crude and cruel", made victims feel like "criminals" and "dole cheats", and the despair it created caused suicides.
That's the verdict of a blistering royal commission report into the scheme released on Friday, which recommends some individuals involved face criminal charges.
"In essence, people were traumatised on the off-chance they might owe money. It was a costly failure of public administration, in both human and economic terms," the report said.
The report has accused a series of Coalition ministers of abusing their powers, failing to inform cabinet over how robodebt was operating, and continuing the scheme well after its "probable illegality and cruelty" was obvious.
Royal Commissioner Catherine Holmes delivers her report to the Governor General David Hurley at Government House in Canberra. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
"The robodebt scheme was a gross betrayal and a human tragedy. It pursued debt recovery against Australians who in many cases had no debt to pay," he said.
"It was wrong. It was illegal. It should never have happened, and it should never happen again."
Robodebt used automated income averaging to send debt notices to nearly half a million victims, some falsely told they owed tens of thousands of dollars.
Here are its key findings.
Robodebt caused suicides
Victims suffered severe and long-lasting effects from being falsely accused of owing debts, the report found.
It said that included feeling "vilified and worn down", a feeling exacerbated by a more general stigma experienced by social welfare recipients.
“Recipients were made to feel like second-class citizens, criminals, and dole cheats," it said.
“Witnesses gave evidence about how the term ‘cheat’, often used in the context of debt recovery measures, insinuated that there was an illegitimacy in their reliance on the welfare system. This accusation of dishonesty affected their sense of self-worth.”
The report found that, in some circumstances, the despair robodebt caused led to victims taking their own lives.
"What is certain is that the scheme was responsible for heartbreak and harm to family members of those who took their own lives because of the despair the scheme caused them," it said.
"It extends from those recipients who felt that their only option was to take their own life, to their family members who must live without them."
Scheme's 'probable illegality' was obvious in 2017
The report found robodebt should have been scrapped or drastically altered six years ago.
It said the scheme's "probable illegality and cruelty" was obvious at the beginning of 2017, but the former government continued to repeat falsehoods in the media.
"It should then have been abandoned or revised drastically [in 2017], and an enormous amount of hardship and misery (as well as the expense the government was so anxious to minimise) would have been averted," it said.
"Instead the path taken was to double down, to go on the attack in the media against those who complained and to maintain the falsehood that in fact the system had not changed at all."
Criminal prosecutions recommended. Why aren't people being named?
In a chapter not made public, criminal and civil charges are recommended for individuals involved in the scheme.
But their identities are not published anywhere in the report.
The royal commission is wary of prejudicing any future criminal trials, given defence lawyers can argue media coverage could mean a client is unable to receive a fair trial.
Albanese said the government was not aware of the details of criminal referrals, a precaution he described as "appropriate".
The commission's decision follows a similar approach to other non-criminal inquiries carried out in the recent past.
The Brereton report also redacted information of subjects which could face criminal prosecution. Source: AAP / Australian Department of Defence
That was to ensure that any potential criminal charges would not be prejudiced.
The Office of the Special Investigator is investigating many of the allegations outlined in the Brereton report, but it only publicly named one subject when he was formally charged with murder.
The robodebt report refers parts of the private chapter to four Commonwealth agencies, including the newly formed National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Minister used the media to attack victims
The report found former social services minister Alan Tudge used the media "to distract from and discourage" complaints about the scheme.
Tudge's justification - that the reports were "correcting the record" - was questionable, given he did not also air incidents in which mistakes were made, it found.
The report blasted the conduct of a number of former Coalition ministers, including former social services minister Alan Tudge. Source: AAP
"It also had the effect of undermining the credibility of complaints and concerns about flaws in the scheme."
The report said Morrison allowed cabinet to be misled over the scheme. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
Former prime minister Scott Morrison, who was social services minister between 2014 and 2015, is also criticised in the report.
It said that, by not asking the department why it had reversed its position on income averaging, Morrison "allowed cabinet to be misled".
"He failed to meet his ministerial responsibility to ensure that cabinet was properly informed about what the proposal actually entailed and to ensure that it was lawful," it said.
Asked whether Morrison should resign, Albanese said: "[He] is mentioned countless times in this report. It is a matter for him what action he takes in response".
The report found Christian Porter, another former social services minister, could "not rationally have been satisfied of the legality of the scheme".
The report also takes aim at then Department of Human Services secretary Kathryn Campbell.
It said Campbell knew the "misleading effects" of a proposal taken to cabinet but "chose to stay silent".
Campbell is currently an adviser on the AUKUS pact, a Defence Department role with a $900,000 annual salary.
SBS News does not suggest any of the ministers involved in the scheme, or Campbell, have been referred for criminal or civil charges.
Which ministers charged taxpayers for their legal defence?
The government spent nearly $2.5 million in taxpayer money to represent its ministers at the royal commission.
Taxpayers spent the most on representing Christian Porter, whose legal bill nearly reached $800,000.
Tudge's defence did not cost the taxpayer.
Readers seeking crisis support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged up to 25). More information and support with mental health is available at and on 1300 22 4636.
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