The Australian government will pay $475 million more to people who were wrongly targeted by Robodebt. This is now the biggest class action payout in Australia’s history. Robodebt was a system that made false claims about money that people on welfare supposedly owed to Centrelink.
The government has agreed to this new settlement after an appeal from the first case in 2020. The total amount is $548.5 million. This includes $13.5 million for legal fees and $60 million to manage the payments. A Federal Court must approve these amounts.
The law firm Gordon Legal says more than 450000 people will get money from this settlement. Peter Gordon who started the law firm says this helps prove that many Australians were treated unfairly by the Robodebt program.
“This shows that Australia follows its laws & not just what leaders want. These laws make sure the government does the right thing. I hope it stays this way,” Gordon explained.
Felicity Button was a nursing student who joined the legal case. She had to pay back $11,500 when she got Youth Allowance.
“We were treated badly and it wasn’t fair. But we didn’t fight back with anger. We went to court like we should and we won in the end” she said.
Centrelink Refunds for Aussies
People suffered greatly because of Robodebt. Many lost their loved ones or split up with their partners. Some went broke and others faced serious mental health problems that will never heal.
Button explained that while money can’t fix everything the settlement was the best possible outcome.
The Attorney-General Michelle Rowland spoke about the government’s promise to help the many Australians who were hurt by the previous government’s failed Robodebt program. She believes settling this case was the right choice. The old system caused pain to hundreds of thousands of people who were already struggling.
Rowland said the government needed to make things right.
Who’s Covered & Eligibility Rules
From 2015 to 2019 the Australian government ran a program called Robodebt. This program wrongly forced many people on welfare to pay back money they didn’t actually owe.
The program was so bad that two people took their own lives because of it. A special investigation found that Robodebt was unfair and against the law. They said it hurt many innocent people who were harassed about debts they might not even have.
The government has agreed to pay $548.5 million to the victims. This is on top of the $112 million they already paid in an earlier settlement. They also cancelled many fake debts & gave back money that people had paid.
If you were affected by Robodebt you don’t need to do anything now. Just make sure Services Australia has your current contact details.
