The People vs Robodebt is a powerful and disturbing three part SBS docudrama. It’s based on the lived experience of victims of unjust Centrelink debts, plus Centrelink workers, a political staffer and legal experts.
Robodebt was automated “income averaging”, a policy designed and implemented by federal government before it was stopped as being unlawful. It affected not only those on Newstart payments, but those on Age or Disability Pensions as well. Only a fraction of debts were real, the vast majority were false. During the period Robobdebt was in operation, from 2015 to 2019, 433,000 people received nearly 900,000 debt notices. At least three people took their own lives.
“Income averaging” was an automated process by which Centrelink used ATO data for a person’s whole annual income, then divided the annual income equally over 26 fortnights, then compared that with what a person told Centrelink was work income for that fortnight. Centrelink took what a person earned over a whole year then divided it into an inaccurate figure of real wages per fortnight. The onus was forced onto the accused to prove their innocence, not on the accuser to prove their case.
“So the method (Robodebt) simplifies the process, and unfortunately leaves the law behind. You take the person’s annual tax return, and you don’t investigate what they were earning each fortnight. What you do instead is you divide the annual figure by 26, put it into a letter that you send to the person, and ask them to show that it’s wrong. It was very wrong.” Dr Darren O’Donovan, Senior Law Lecturer, La Trobe University
The People vs Robodebt is in three parts. Episode 1 outlines the issues and highlights personal stories and lived experience of not only Centrelink claimants, but retired Centrelink workers and a political media adviser. Episode 2 further explores personal stories, the trauma and injury to claimants and Centrelink workers too. It highlights the legal ramifications of Robodebt and how the story became public thanks to journalists and brave whistle-blowers.
In Episode 3 the personal stories come to a head, often tragically. It describes devastating human fallout of anguish and torment. It also discusses legal challenges and examines the results of the 2022 Royal Commission into Robodebt. Despite more than 400,000 people ultimately being refunded $721 million, watch this episode to the end as it reveals how justice is still denied while the human cost sadly continues.
This recent past may be deemed tragic history, but as we enter an age of Artificial Intelligence where more and more of our lives are conducted using automated processes, I highly recommend The People vs Robodebt as a warning of how devastating removing people from official procedures can be.