Background
In Amato v Commonwealth of Australia, Deanna Amato challenged a welfare debt raised through the government’s automated “Robodebt” income-averaging program, which calculated debts by averaging Australian Tax Office income data without verifying actual earnings. The Federal Court issued consent orders declaring the debt notice and garnishee action invalid and unlawful under the Social Security Act 1991 (Cth). The Commonwealth conceded that the automated method lacked a lawful basis, effectively ending use of pure income-averaging to raise debts.
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‘…the debt and garnishee notice issued to the applicant were not lawfully made under the Social Security Act.’ This acknowledgment established that automated income-averaging, without human verification, was incompatible with statutory requirements, setting a landmark precedent for administrative accountability in automated decision-making and prompting wide governmental redress and program suspension.
See also: Australian Ombudsman, Services Australia’s Income Compliance Program Report (2021)