Stuart Robert MP, in his role as the minister for the national disability insurance scheme and minister for government services, has released a statement that said “the Morrison government takes its responsibility for upholding the integrity of Australia’s welfare system seriously”.
He indicated that Services Australia will refund all repayments made on debts raised wholly or partially using income leveraging of ATO data, with refunds to also be made for interest charges and any recovery fees paid on related debts, as use of average incomes was found to not be sufficient under law for the pursuit of debts.
Mr Robert said Services Australia has identified 470,000 debts that were raised wholly or partially using income averaging of ATO data.
Those debts have impacted 373,000 Australians.
The backdown will see refunds commence in July and continue through the 2020-21 financial year.
The total value of refunds – including all fees and charges – is estimated to be $721 million.
Individuals who did make payments through the robodebt scheme have been told that they do not need to do anything right now to obtain a refund for a debt that was raised wholly or partially using the ATO data, but that further information will be provided soon.
From 1 July, Services Australia will be actively contacting affected individuals.
The government has not raised any debts wholly or partially using averaged ATO income data since November last year.
More to come.
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