Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, , 9:46:31 to 9:52:00
Discussion on the statute of limitations for debt recovery and the implementation of RoboDebt Royal Commission recommendations regarding legislative reform.
Topics: Social services, Integrity
Speakers: Hon Katy Gallagher, Senator Penny Allman-Payne, Matt Flavel, Michael Lye
Thanks very much, Chair. Um what is the current statute of limitations on social security debt recovery?
Uh Senator, as you know, there is no statute that was removed um back in 2017 through legislative amendment.
And who removed it?
As in which government or who well, I assume it was the coalition government at the time.
Thank you. Um is the department aware of the article reported by Yahoo Finance and also by Nine News, headlined centre-link and a quote, hounding Australians to pay back billions in debt calculated by unlawful method. Um the article references a single mum named Jody, who was previously subjected to Robodebt and has now been hit with a debt notification from payments received up to 12
Uh I've not I'm generally aware of some of the reporting around um matters to do with income apportionment and raising of debts.
Okay. Um the RoboDebt Royal Commission made a recommendation, recommendation 18.2 to reinstate the limitation of six years on debt recovery, which the government accepted in principle. In its response, the government said that they will carefully consider options for legislative reform, including appropriate statutory limitation periods for the raising and recovery of social security debts. Has the department received any instruction from the minister to provide options for legislative reform?
So I can just jump in a bit uh here and see if officials have anything else to add. But work is underway to develop options to essentially to give effect to the principles of the recommendation, specifically around fairness and proportionality in social security and family payment debt administration. Um as you know, Senator Orman pain as part of the broader debt reform, the threshold for small debt waiver increased to 260 on the first of July 2026, which has reduced unnecessary stress for individuals with small debts. Um in addition, as you know, those social security bills keep coming through to the parliament and will keep coming as we're working through a whole range of issues and amendments. Um the expansion of the special circumstance waiver provisions enacted in December 2025 provides additional safeguards that give services Australia extended powers to waive debt in individual cases where recovery would be inappropriate, including in cases involving family and domestic violence, coercion or financial abuse.
Can I ask in relation you said that um options are being looked at? Um have any options been provided to the minister at this point.
Senator, we wouldn't normally comment on like we're we're obviously as the minister said we're looking at actively at these issues that you would expect. It's an area of live interest, but we don't normally comment on uh advice to government.
Well, maybe a question for the minister, and I I guess I'm asking Minister because I've asked this for the last four years of estimates given that the government came uh to government saying that they would do this, and we're now four years in, and I guess I'm wondering what the whole Hold up is given that we previously had a limitation of six years consistent with most other areas of the law. So I would have thought that given that it used to exist and it was the coalition who got rid of it, that it's not that complicated to actually reinstate it. And I'm I guess I'm I'm trying to understand what the hold-up is on this particular reform, particularly given that it was a recommendation of the of the Robo Debt Royal Commission.
Well, we are continuing to implement recommendations of the Robo Debt Royal Commission, as you know, and we've I think we've had two bills in the last year that I can think of, probably in the last six months or so that we have got through the Senate with a range of reforms, and that work continues. But as I said, there are some because of the legislation that's passed, uh though that expansion of special circumstances waiver is uh is there, and I can say that in 25-26, 14,624 debts were waived under that those arrangements.
Is it the intention of the government to finalise this outstanding recommendation before the end of this term of government? Because that will have been two terms that you've had to implement this reform?
Well, work is underway, uh Senator Orlman Payne. I can't I can't go further than that. Um because that would, you know, legislation and decisions about that would have to go through our processes before I could be any more definitive on that. But I know that that Senator Um Minister Plibersek is you know doing a lot of work around the reform legislative reform programme as I am. We're working together on some of that, and it's not just around debt, it's around legal compliance and a whole range of other areas, as you know. Um so it is a busy legislative space for the government.