Robodebt Class Action Appeal Settlement
The Albanese Labor Government has today reached an historic agreement to settle Knox v The Commonwealth, an appeal from the original Robodebt class action settlement in Prygodicz v The Commonwealth.
The settlement of the appeal, which is still subject to approval by the Federal Court, would see the Commonwealth pay $475 million as compensation for the harms caused to eligible Group Members by the illegal and immoral Robodebt Scheme.
If approved by the Court, this would be the largest class action settlement in Australian history. The size of this settlement reflects the harm caused to vulnerable Australians by the heartless and disastrous policies of the former Liberal government.
This settlement would be in addition to the compensation paid following the original Robodebt class action settlement in late 2020, which comprised interest and repayments of wrongfully raised debts.
The agreement reached today also allows the Court to determine separate amounts for the Applicants’ reasonable legal costs (not exceeding $13.5 million) and for the reasonable costs of administering the settlement scheme (not exceeding $60 million).
Group Members do not need to take any action at this stage, other than ensuring their contact details are up to date with Services Australia. Further information will be provided once next steps are put in place by the Federal Court.
Quotes attributable to the Attorney-General, Hon Michelle Rowland MP:
“Today’s settlement demonstrates the Albanese Labor Government’s ongoing commitment to addressing the harms caused to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Australians by the former Liberal government’s disastrous Robodebt Scheme.
“The Royal Commission described Robodebt as a ‘crude and cruel mechanism, neither fair nor legal’. It found that ‘people were traumatised on the off chance they might owe money’ and that Robodebt was ‘a costly failure of public administration, in both human and economic terms’.
“Settling this claim is the just and fair thing to do.”