In 2017, 22-year-old Shannon Moore from East Kurrajong came to me distressed at the threat of legal action over a $2,500 Centrelink debt. She was one of the people stung in the early mail-outs of what has come to be known as robodebt—debts that were often in error and were issued to people without a human being doing any checking of their accuracy. Shannon's was for youth allowance payments while she was studying full-time, and she'd done everything right in alerting the agency to changes in her study and work arrangements.
We now know that this scheme caused terrible harm to hundreds of thousands of Australians like Shannon, and that, in too many cases, a debt notice preceded a suicide or suicide attempt. I have personally spoken to individuals and family members about the serious impact the robodebt process had on their mental health. We learnt in the Senate hearings this week that 2,030 people died after receiving a robodebt notification.

So I don't think an apology that implies 'if hurt was caused' is enough. We know that more than hurt was caused. I don't think an apology that fails to acknowledge the scheme was illegal is enough. We know it was illegal. I don't think an apology that comes five years too late is enough. In that time, up to $1.5 billion has been unlawfully taken from the Australian people by their government. So we need an apology from the Prime Minister that is unqualified. His name was on the media release announcing this policy. We need him to say he is sorry and admit he was wrong.<