Renee Leon’s intervention means both she and her predecessor as head of the Human Services Department have rejected the public service watchdog’s findings.
The welfare agency is asking police to trawl through people’s metadata and in some cases crack their passwords to find out if they’re in a relationship.
If we are honest,welfare and dole recipients are treated as outsiders and therefore,in the eyes of our political leaders,don’t really count.
What the former PM told the royal commission on Wednesday was not remarkable. But the rambling delivery style was a reminder of how out of touch he can be with his surroundings and why he flopped in the nation’s top job.
A seven-month royal commission will examine who dreamed up the robo-debt scheme and how complaints and concerns were handled.
A report the government used to argue robodebt refunds were calculated properly revealed “learner” staff performed the complex task of assessing who was entitled to a refund.
Labor and the Greens are disappointed Kathryn Campbell is moving on from her role in the Department of Social Services without what they see as a full explanation of the robodebt saga.
Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers has indicated Australia’s welfare bill would not rise significantly under a Labor government,with the opposition instead proposing to use national cabinet to work with state and territory leaders to tackle disadvantage.
Employers say they’re unlikely to use a new hotline to report unemployed people who turn down jobs while critics say it’s open for abuse.
National editor Tory Maguire and political reporter Katina Curtis delve into the cashless welfare card controversy and why the government has temporarily extended the scheme.
Centre Alliance senator Stirling Griff abstained from a series of votes in the early hours of Thursday morning,giving the government the numbers it needed.