Independent Member for Clark, Andrew Wilkie, introduced his Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Responding to Robodebt) Bill 2025, which would address recommendations of the Robodebt Royal Commission and help prevent a repeat of the fiasco.
The Bill proposes higher standards and duties which must be adhered to in the provision of social security services to ensure policies and processes are designed and administered with an emphasis on service, rather than punishment. It also introduces changes to the social security law relating to oversight of automated decision making, as well as more compassionate debt recovery and collection practices, and compliance activities.
“Robodebt was a catastrophic failure of government administration that destroyed the lives of thousands of Australians,” Mr Wilkie said. “It’s been two years since the Royal Commission and, shamefully, we are yet to see any meaningful legislative change from this Federal Government. Well, I’ve now done the work for them, and so I urge them to come to the table on these legislative reforms to ensure such catastrophic failures of social services administration can never occur again.”