Described as “a crude and cruel mechanism,” RoboDebt received thorough investigation in the final Royal Commission Report, with the assessment stating the unlawful Scheme “made many people feel like criminals”.

Following a condemning account of federal ministers and public servants, the report made 57 recommendations, including a change in social attitudes towards welfare recipients.

With thousands of lives left devastated by the Scheme – revelations have again sparked major reaction from media and activists – with a local poverty advocacy group urging the need to “tackle the culture of welfare bashing that RoboDebt has come from”.

Image: Image courtesy of Wikimedia: Gary Houston CCO 1.0

Produced By: Emma Wotzke

Featured In Story: David Winderlich – member of South Australian Anti-Poverty Network Co-ordinator Committee , Anna – lived experience of homelessness and victim of RoboDebt, and

First aired on The Wire, Thursday 13 July 2023