Government to pay back $721m as it scraps Robodebt for Centrelink welfare recipients

The Federal Government will refund $721 million worth of debts it clawed back through its controversial Robodebt scheme. Key points: Almost half a million debts will be waived or refunded by the Government The computer-generated demands for payment will be refunded if they have already paid The scheme began requiring additional proof last year The scheme saw hundreds of thousands of people issued with computer-generated debt notices, some of which made demands for payment from people who did not owe the Government any money. "The best advice we have is that raising a debt wholly or partly on the basis of ATO-averaged income is not sufficient under law," Government Services Minister Stuart Robert said. "It's been putting ordinary Australians through pain, trauma, people have lost jobs, people have lost relationships, people have suffered psychological injury, people were not allowed to go overseas, all on the basis of illegal Government debt notices." "Hundreds of people, after receiving the debt notices, passed away, and I have no doubt that some of that in some cases is due, tragically, to the mental health pressures of Robodebt action by the Government," he said.