Government Introduces Penalties for Public Officials to Prevent Repeat of Robodebt

In the wake of the ‘Robodebt’ scandal, the government is moving to change the law to hold senior officials accountable if they try to cover up failures.

A copy of the Report of the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme is seen at Parliament House in Canberra, July 7, 2023. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

More accountability is on the way for the Australian Public Service as the Labor government moves to legislate two recommendations from the Robodebt Royal Commission.

The Robodebt program relied on a flawed algorithm to identify individuals who owed the government money.