Lawyers acting for hundreds of thousands of welfare recipients who have had unlawful "robodebts" raised against them have urged the Government to apologise over its handling of the scheme and promised not to use the apology against the Government in court.
Key points:
- Class action lawyers representing robodebt recipients have called on the Government to apologise for the scheme
- The Government will refund recipients but ministers have refused to apologise due to the ongoing court case
- Lawyers in the class action say they will not use any apology in the litigation
Government Services Minister Stuart Robert announced on Friday that the Government would pay back $721 million for 470,000 debts raised under the scheme, which matched annualised income data from the Australian Tax Office with income reported to Centrelink by welfare recipients.
The announcement is a significant retreat over the scheme, which the Government has sought to defend repeatedly since it was first announced in 2016.
"I want to offer to the Government this undertaking; that if it is prepared to offer a genuine and a proper apology to everyone whose lives have been so severely affected by the flawed and unlawful robodebt scheme, we will undertake not to use that apology, or the fact of that apology, in the litigation," Gordon Legal founder Peter Gordon told 7.30.
On Sunday, Attorney-General Christian Porter said the Government was unable to apologise over it's handling of the scheme.
"There's litigation ongoing and that litigation argues, among other things, negligence and we don't concede that," he told Insiders.
After a Federal Court challenge by one robodebt recipient led by Victoria Legal Aid found the debt raised against their client was unlawful, a class action was launched by Gordon Legal on behalf of all recipients of robodebts.
Mr Gordon reiterated that the firm would continue to pursue the class action claim, even though the Government has decided to offer refunds.
"There's the question of all the other losses, including in some cases horrific psychological, personal and financial harm people suffered as a consequence of this, which itself adds up to hundreds of millions of dollars," he said.
More than 600,000 people notified of class action
7.30 understands that Centrelink staff have been told the agency has identified there are 617,000 people who are eligible to participate in the class action.
In May, those people were issued notices to advise them of the class action underway.
But the Government has only announced refunds for 470,000 debts.
The shortfall in figures has not been explained by the Government.
Mr Gordon said it was unclear how the Government had arrived at those calculations.
"A larger number of people were contacted in relation to the class action consistent with orders from the Federal Court of Australia at the request of Gordon Legal as part of their claim, which seeks to cover all debts raised under the Income Compliance Program, irrespective of how they were calculated," a spokesman for Government Services Minister Stuart Robert told 7.30.
The difference in figures is likely to cause some uncertainty for people who may have told they are eligible for the class action, but not have been identified in the government's refund process.
The class action is set down for a mediation later in June.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiamh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA2LTAxL3JvYm9kZWJ0LWNsYXNzLWFjdGlvbi1sYXd5ZXJzLXVyZ2UtZ292ZXJubWVudC10by1hcG9sb2dpc2UvMTIzMDIxMDjSASdodHRwczovL2FtcC5hYmMubmV0LmF1L2FydGljbGUvMTIzMDIxMDg?oc=5
2020-06-01 11:01:11Z
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