back to article Oz senate committee says 'robo-debt' program was 'set up to fail'

Federal Government senators have rejected a Senate report that describes its “robo-debt” program as “set up to fail”. The inquiry was set up by the Labor opposition with the support of The Greens, and its report was tabled in the Senate last night. The government began to automate the process of determining overpayments last …

  1. FozzyBear
    Facepalm

    Sounds like using a driftnet to catch a couple of minnows.

    $300Mil to catch $24 Mil sounds like the usual rate of return on investment from a government project (i.e. pissin' money down the drain).

    The fact that it doesn't work properly is just a bonus or an undocumented feature. Though considering the governments rack record this could have been a key deliverable

    1. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

      Nothing out of the ordinary for this particular government.

      Repeatedlty telling us there's a budget emergency while at the same time cutting taxes and continuing to spend billions on frivolities. Federal government debt has doubled in the four years they've been in office.

      Then earnestly believing they can lecture the rest of us about fiscal responsibility.

      1. mathew42

        Please explain which items you consider frivolous.

        Please explain which sources of government debt are new polcies versus unfunded Labor policies.

        Both sides of politics are great at announcing policies where the significant costs are deferred for many years.

  2. Winkypop Silver badge
    FAIL

    Kafkaesque meets Rube Goldberg

    Defended by people who never have to use the 'system'

  3. Pompous Git Silver badge

    Excel?

    I thought Centrelink was a Lotus site...

    1. The Central Scrutinizer

      Re: Excel?

      Bahaha.... probably.

  4. Big-nosed Pengie

    On the contrary

    Its purpose was to punish poor people for being poor. And it works like a charm.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: On the contrary

      Soon to become a US Republican policy tool...

  5. Francis Boyle Silver badge

    The interesting thing

    is not that it failed but that it fail leaving egg on the governments face. Note to Macolm et al: just because something works in the US doesn't mean it will work in Australia. There's something to be said for being descended from convicts rather than puritan prigs.

  6. Sanctimonious Prick
    Unhappy

    And Before The Automated System?

    I personally pursued Centrelink (and other avenues) over several years regarding an error they had made, resulting in me owing them over $3,000.

    Yeah, I got it sorted out in the end, but the pain of getting the error corrected was horrible!

    As Big-nosed Pengie said, "Its purpose was to punish poor people for being poor."

  7. mathew42

    Safety net versus 'rorting' the system

    There is tension in the welfare state between providing a safety net and people 'rorting' the system. There are definitely examples from both sides, and the complexity of the rules is insane.

    By way of example, we recieved a letter about a childcare benefit payment. After reading it three times I couldn't determine if we had been overpaid or not. Decided to ignore it as my wife wasn't prepared to spend an hour in the queue.

    Centrelink does make a reasonable argment for 'Universal Income' simply to eliminate one of the largest departments in government.

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