Welfare advocates in this country can now forcefully critique any government program that trades on stigma or vulnerability and ignores real-life suffering.
Peter Whiteford, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Robodebt affected hundreds of thousands of people and undercut trust in our political and social welfare systems. Unless we act on today’s royal commission report, something like it will happen again.
Former Minister for Human Services Stuart Robert during hearings for the robodebt royal commission.
Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme/AAP
Beware those who offer ‘cultural’ fixes and non-binding reassurances. The government shouldn’t fall back on the very institutions that never fully acted until a royal commission.
Robodebt should never again be framed as a technological glitch or a legal oversight. It was the active and direct exploitation of people’s vulnerability.
ParentsNext requires the parents of very young children to perform monitored activities in return for Centrelink payments. Eve Vincent talks to single mothers about ‘the indignity of investigation’.
As a woman living on the disability support pension put it: ‘You don’t have the flexibility that a rich person has to respond to crisis, so you have to beg for help. And you know you’ll be judged’.
Instead of applying for 20 jobs a month, from Monday July 4 Australians on JobSeeker payments will have to earn 100 points a month. So what will you actually need to do?
You might be surprised to know that many unemployed Australians are not on unemployment benefits. And then came COVID – which saw a big shift in how many people were able and willing to claim.
Peter Whiteford, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
The combination of community activism, journalistic investigation, political scrutiny and the legal aid system has ultimately provided a remedy to the victims.
The MyGov website ground to a halt this week as thousands of people tried to access welfare support. As a result, long queues popped up at Centrelink offices across the country.
The Minister for Government Services has announced a two-year roadmap to supposedly propel e-government. But the plans, part of a larger strategy, are considerably lacking substance.