A high-level Australian inquiry called on Friday for criminal or civil action to be taken over a government scheme that sent false debt repayment demands to more than 400,000 welfare recipients.
The “robodebt" scandal caused such distress to job seekers, pensioners, students and carers that some considered suicide. It allegedly pushed two young men to take their own lives.
The scheme ran from 2015 to 2019 under Australia’s former conservative government, and was most notably promoted by ex-prime minister Scott Morrison.
Current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who set up a royal commission into the affair after his centre-left Labor Party won elections in May 2022, described it on Friday as “a gross betrayal and a human tragedy".
“It was wrong, it was illegal, it should never have happened and it should never happen again," he said.
“This tragedy caused stress, anxiety, financial destitution and sadly had a very real human toll."
But the prime minister would not be drawn on whether Morrison should resign as a member of parliament, saying: “That’s a matter for him.
“I think that these findings… make it clear that Scott Morrison’s defence of this scheme and all the government’s actions over such a long period of time were, to quote the report, based upon a falsehood."
In her report, which runs for more than 900 pages, Royal Commissioner Catherine Holmes said an additional sealed chapter sent to federal authorities “recommends referral of individuals for civil action or criminal prosecution".
The names of those people should be kept secret, she said, “so as not to prejudice the conduct of any future civil action or criminal prosecution".
The “robodebt" scheme used income averaging — comparing a person’s reported income with their income as measured by the Australian Tax Office — to automatically issue notices to welfare recipients saying they would have to repay some of the benefits they had received.
But the system was faulty and resulted in the unlawful claiming of almost Aus$2 billion (US$1.32 billion) from 433,000 people.
Morrison, who was social services minister at the time the scheme was rolled out, was criticised a number of times in the report.
