Robodebt Robbery

Bell Epoch isn't a personal blog. I already have one of those. This blog is for news and commentary on social issues. But I find myself at the centre of a social issue right now. I've got a Robodebt story, and this one's a doozy.

If you're not familiar, Robodebt is the government's practice of using data matching software to find discrepancies between information clients have provided to Centrelink to claim payments, and data from other government agencies such as the tax office and child support agencies. I hate to break your faith in the information technology capabilities of the government that can't even get the Census right, but Robodebt has come up with lots and lots of errors. Robodebt has the delightful habit of seeing a Newstart recipient has picked up a few weeks of work, deciding they must have earned that much every week all year, and slapping them with a debt for the government payments that Robodebt decided the person wasn't entitled to because the computer has decided they were working when they weren't.

Look, it's kind of fair that the government wants to get money people claimed when they weren't entitled to it back. The problem is Robodebt shoots first and asks questions later. Debts are automatically issued with no warning, no explanation, and little chance to challenge or appeal. And if Robodebt decided there's a debt, they can just help themselves to your money and good luck getting it back. 

In my case, I've been issued a debt no one can explain or justify, and only found out about when Centrelink helped themselves to my $2,500 tax return. 

Back in January, I got a letter telling me I had a $7,800 debt for overpayment of Family Tax benefit dating back to 2015. Wait, what? This was when I was freshly separated from my husband. I'd lost just about everything I owned, was at uni, not working, and had 25% care of my son. I was scraping by on Austudy and a partial family tax benefit and after paying rent, often had to choose between the train to uni and food. But I was scrupulously honest and accurate in what I told Centrelink. Now the government decided I had too much money back then? I called them. No one could tell me why there was a debt but they promised it would be appealed and someone could get back to me. 

So I left it there. I've had a lot of stuff going on this year, and it did kind of slip my mind. I'm working full time, not on Centrelink payments at all, and don't log into My Gov much cause I've no need to. Apparently Robodebts can be enforced to stop you leaving the country but I had no issues doing so in May. I got another letter at some stage saying I had a $300 debt, and figured my initial debt had been reviewed and reduced to that amount. Fine, I didn't know what the debt was but by now would probably have paid it to save myself dealing with them.

Fast forward to July. I completed my tax return, looked forward to a decent refund of $2,500, which was needed for...stuff. I don't earn a tonne of money, live pretty frugally (my American trip this year was done on the cheap...two star hotels, all public transport and walking, eating one meal a day plus apples and chips) and really needed my tax back, not to mention my beloved 16 year old cat needs thyroid treatment. I spent most of my monthly pay from work paying off some outstanding debts cause hey, tax refund coming soon right?

On the 17 July I got a My Gov letter telling me the original debt stood, now bumped up to $8000 with interest.

On the 18 July, the ATO processed my tax refund and transferred it all to Centrelink to pay off my debt.

So I've been calling. On 19 July the Centrelink debt team told me apparently, maybe, the debt was for overpayment of rent assistance. Wait, what? Where are you saying I falsely claimed rent assistance? I asked what addresses they had on file for me, and the guy on the phone read out my addresses and the dates I lived there - which was the completely accurate info I gave them at the time, along with my leases. Apparently though, they'd look into it, and if I gave them all my rental information again maybe the debt would be waived. Also just maybe I could get some of my tax refund back whilst it was being appealed. So I tracked down and uploaded all my rental info again, along with bills to support why I needed the money back. 

I also emailed several politicians, including my local member Tanya Plibersek. The only one I heard back from was Senator Rachel Siewert, the Greens Senator from WA, who has been doing great work campaigning against the shitty Robodebt system. Her office has been absolutely lovely, and will raise my case with a review officer.

And I started getting angry. How very dare they just announce a debt and take my money. Right at tax time - suspicious much? How can a stupid computer algorithm raise a debt and take my money with no chance for me to appeal first?

This Thursday 25 July I rang Centrelink again. The debt recovery team told me I'd have to speak to the families line. The families line weren't entirely sure why the debt had been raised, but they seemed to think it might be related to my child care percentage from 2015-2017. So now if I want to challenge the debt, I have to try and prove how often my son was in my care years ago, in the period immediately after the end of my marriage, when I was forced against my will to leave my son with his father. As the 2.5 hour call came to an end, they also told me my case wasn't being appealed from the call six days prior, but they'd raised an appeal now, and oh yeah, you can't get any money back in the meantime.

And that was where I lost it. 

I have to go back to the most painful time in my life - separated from my child, one of the worst things that can happen, a horror so raw I mostly block it from my mind - and try to prove the pitiful amount of time I got to spend with him, when I wish it had been all the time. 

I felt the life I had built for myself, working, budding as a stand up comedian, a lovely home, hope when I haven't had hope for so long - crumbling away. I had worked so hard for nothing. I was rewarded for having a go by the government making my money go away. 

I am broke until I get paid in two weeks - I'm not asking for anything and I'm not crowdfunding. I want my money back. The trouble is I can't even precisely challenge the debt because no one can tell me the data mismatch that triggered it. No one can tell me exactly what the debt is for. The government won't divulge the discrepancies in data matching they look for, for fear people will exploit it.

They're free to exploit us though. All of us. Robodebt is extortion. No other organisation can decide you have a debt, refuse to fully explain it, and steal your money leaving you scrambling to work out why let alone get it back.

Right now I'm waiting. Waiting for the appeal, waiting for my complaint to be responded to*, waiting in hope Senator Siewert's office can get somewhere I haven't been able to. And I'm at an advantage here. I have a degree in social policy and a decent knowledge of the political system. What of the people who don't have that particular bureaucratic literacy? Robodebt targets the vulnerable, and worse; it targets those who have been on government payments and gone on to working, stealing what they earned away.

Sometimes I feel like I'll end up like this guy. I don't want to. I don't want any of this. I just want my money back. People have mentioned legal action, class actions; I'm not thinking that far ahead. I'm so heartsick sometimes I'm battling one hour at a time, and even if I get my money back it's been so utterly shitty.

* If you have received a Robodebt, do make a formal complaint. The government has used the low rate of complaints to prove "the system is working". Thousands of complaints might get their thumb off the scale a bit.