A class action will be launched against the Government over the so-called robodebt scandal, arguing the Government’s automated debt system is unlawful, ABC News reports.
Opposition government services spokesman Bill Shorten announced the action, which will be brought by Gordon Legal, and comes after sustained pressure on the Government over the system.
Peter Gordon, a senior partner at the law firm, said the collection of money based solely on a computer algorithm was unlawful.
“The Commonwealth has used a single, inadequate piece of data — the robodebt algorithm — and used it to seize money and penalise hundreds of thousands of people,” he said
“We’ll allege that to simply collect money from hundreds of thousands of people by the simplistic application of an imperfect computer algorithm is wrong.
“We think that before the Government docked the pensions or took the tax refunds of widows and carers and aged pensioners it needed to have better evidence, it needed to consider each case individually.”
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Mr Gordon said up to 160,000 errors could be blamed on robodebt, and the legal action would seek both repayment of falsely claimed debts and compensation for affected people.
He said the system had unlawfully taken tens of millions of dollars from Australians, and he was “comfortably satisfied” the suit met the requirements of a class action.
“Not every case needs to be exactly the same. They only have to be roughly similar,” he said.
FULL STORY AND PHOTO
Centrelink robodebt class action lawsuit to be brought against Federal Government (ABC News)
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Centrelink robodebt class action could bring ‘justice to many’ (9 News)
Robo-debt class action could deliver justice for tens of thousands of Australians instead of mere hundreds (The Conversation)