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34-532: After being granted a TPV, refugees are required to reapply after three years, in case conditions change in their homeland. TPV holders are eligible for only some of the special settlement services funded by the Commonwealth to assist new arrivals in Australia. Unlike permanent visa (PV) holders, TPV recipients have no family reunion rights and no right to re-enter the country if they depart Australia. TPV holders do have

68-634: A class-action suit challenging the legal foundations of the Robodebt scheme, and in June 2021 it was announced that the class action had been successfulll and Justice Bernard Murphy had approved a settlement that the ABC reported was worth at least $ 1.8billion to the people wrongfully pursued as a result of Robodebt, and an additional amount of $ 8.4million was owing to Gordon Legal for their work. On 29 May 2020, Stuart Robert , Minister for Government Services announced that

102-715: A government agency of the Department of Social Security under the trading name of the Commonwealth Services Delivery Agency in early 1997. Following the passage of the Commonwealth Services Delivery Agency Act 1997 , the Centrelink brand name came into effect in late 1997. Offices were established nationally to manage services to people in need of social security payments. On 1 July 2011, Centrelink, together with Medicare Australia ,

136-424: A Tasmanian pensioner was asked for financial records dating back almost 18 years. The Robodebt scheme also normalised a Centrelink process that reversed the onus of proof that any claimed debt was factual; Centrelink did not require its staff to verify and prove that the information being used to raise the debt claims was accurate. Instead, the individual accused of the debt (often a bogus or wildly inflated figure)

170-602: A call centre operating contract by Centrelink is Stellar, a subsidiary of the Nevada-registered U.S. company Stellar LLC. Following the re-election of the Morrison Federal government in May 2019, the Department of Human Services was renamed Services Australia . In 2016, Centrelink began using a new automated technique (later found to be fatally flawed and unlawful) for reconciling welfare recipients' records against data from

204-554: A process that had previously seen 20,000 debt recovery letters issued per year, this new automated data-matching technique, with less human oversight, saw that number increase to 169,000 letters during July-December 2016. Critics and opponents of the automated process revealed and documented that the errors in the system, which became known colloquially as 'Robodebt' (a title later used officially), had coerced welfare recipients into paying either nonexistent debts, or debts that were vastly larger than what they actually may have owed, with

238-412: A range of government payments and services for retirees, the unemployed , families, carers, parents, people with disabilities, Indigenous Australians , students, apprentices and people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and provides services at times of major change. The majority of Centrelink's services are the disbursement of social security payments. Centrelink commenced initially as

272-425: A subsequent inquiry hearing, and it was again taken on notice. Despite numerous and widespread concerns being raised about Robodebt, the 2018 Australian federal budget indicated that the data matching scheme would be expanded further. In February 2019, Legal Aid Victoria announced that they would challenge the method that Centrelink uses to calculate a person's income, with a spokesperson for Legal Aid stating that

306-512: Is responsible for the general administration of the tax system and the ATO. The Commissioner of Taxation and three Second Commissioners of Taxation are each appointed for a term of seven years. The Commissioner and Second Commissioners are eligible for re-appointment after each term. The overall strategic direction of the organisation is set by the ATO Executive Committee, which is composed of

340-586: The Land Tax Assessment Act 1910 – to break up the large estates. George McKay was appointed the first Commissioner of Land Taxation on 11 November 1910. The first tax return forms were issued on 10 January 1911 so that landholders could be assessed for their land tax liabilities. The tax was not popular, but a High Court of Australia challenge to the land tax found the law to be constitutional. The associated land valuations were contentious with more than 1,800 appeals and objections received by

374-540: The Australian Business Register , delivering the Higher Education Loan Program , delivering many Australian government payments and administering key components of Australia's superannuation system. During the colonial period of the 1800s, a number of landholders had secured large tracts of arable land in Australia. After the states federated in 1901 to form the Commonwealth of Australia,

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408-767: The Australian Government . The ATO has responsibility for administering the Australian federal taxation system , superannuation legislation, and other associated matters. Responsibility for the operations of the ATO are within the portfolio of the Treasurer of Australia and the Treasury . As the Australian government's principal revenue collection body, the ATO collects income tax , goods and services tax (GST) and other federal taxes. The ATO also has responsibility for managing

442-653: The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in order to allegedly uncover fraud and overpayment, thus facilitating the scrape-back of these alleged debts from clients. In January 2017, it was reported that the scheme was touted to save the government $ 300m and consideration was also being given to recovery action against Centrelink clients on both the Aged Pension and the Disability Support Pension, which allegedly could have raised A$ 1 billion in revenue. In

476-462: The 'robo-debt' debt recovery scheme was to be scrapped by the Government, with 470,000 wrongly issued debts to be repaid in full. The total sum of the repayments is estimated to be A$ 721 million . Opposition Government Services spokesperson Bill Shorten criticised the Government's lack of apology for the scheme, citing the psychological harm to many of those issued with debt recovery notices. While

510-432: The ATO employs an average of 22,022 people. In the 2012–13 financial year, the ATO collected revenues totalling $ 313.082 billion in individual income tax, company income tax, goods and services (GST) tax, excise and others. Former employee Richard Boyle has alleged that there was a culture within the ATO to increase the use of garnishee notices , which allow the ATO to access funds in the bank accounts of taxpayers. This

544-507: The Commissioner, three Second Commissioners, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Service Delivery Officer, and Chief Finance Officer. These roles are currently held by; Furthermore, the ATO's operations are managed through five groups which are led by members of the executive. These groups are: Groups are further divided into business and service lines (BSLs) which are responsible for the delivery of group priorities. The Commissioner of Taxation

578-531: The Commonwealth's main source of revenue was derived from indirect customs and the excise on duties on locally manufactured and imported goods. The Labor Andrew Fisher government was elected at the 1910 federal election and was concerned about large swathes of the country being under-utilised. The government introduced the first federal tax laws – the Bank Notes Tax Act 1910 , the Land Tax Act 1910 and

612-422: The Robodebt scheme as both fundamentally flawed and unlawful, making adverse findings against the ministers responsible for its oversight as well as a number of senior public service officials, all of whose actions the commission found to be reprehensible. Australian Taxation Office The Australian Taxation Office ( ATO ) is an Australian statutory agency and the principal revenue collection body for

646-725: The TPV applicant undergoing health and ASIO/AFP security checks. On 18 October 2013, the Abbott government announced the re-instatement of the TPVs. On 2 December 2013, Labor and the Greens voted in the Senate to disallow the return of TPVs. On 11 September 2014 the High Court ruled the issuing of TPVs without the appropriate legislative powers invalid. To overcome the High Court objections, on 5 December 2014, legislation

680-433: The answering of calls and then keeping their clients 'on hold' for extended periods, sometimes lasting for many hours, as well as subjecting these calls to frequent random hang-ups. Numerous allegations of callous & heavy-handed tactics by Centrelink & its contracted private debt collectors resulted in reports that some recipients had been psychologically traumatised and that there had been consequent suicides, including

714-584: The calculation method used was "crude" and failed to take into account the variation in work periods and hours that many recipients had to juggle, thus rendering any income & consequent debt claim as false. Nine months later in November, the federal government settled the case and admitted that the figures produced by Robodebt's income averaging algorithm (for calculating people's income & consequent debt) were "not validly made" and were unlawful. In September 2019, Gordon Legal announced their intention of filing

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748-485: The creation of the 'Robodebt' moniker). The injustice was further compounded by the ongoing failure of Centrelink call centres and office staff to respond and act within any reasonable time to investigate and correct the bogus debt accusations targeting so many of its clients, with Centrelink's telephone call centres having long become perennially notorious for either failing to be contactable by phone (with all lines often permanently engaged for days on end) or for automating

782-466: The federal Labor Party was in opposition prior to the May 2022 federal elections, it committed to establishing a Royal Commission to investigate the Robodebt scandal and, following Labor's return to government as a result of their winning that poll, the new Albanese Labor government announced the establishment on 18 August 2022 of the Royal Commission which, in its final report of 7 July 2023, denounced

816-483: The first Australian Government agency to introduce a virtual assistant using artificial intelligence on its website (see Artificial intelligence in government ). Rob Heferen was appointed Commissioner of Taxation and Registrar of the Australian Business Register on 1 March 2024. The Australian Taxation Office has been headed by thirteen Commissioners of Taxation: The Commissioner of Taxation

850-458: The granting of permanent protection visas (PPVs) to all refugees who had established a claim for protection in Australia were introduced into the federal Parliament in August 2008. From that date, a person applying in Australia for refugee protection was granted a PPV. Individuals who held a TPV became eligible to apply for a Resolution of Status Visa, which was akin to a PPV, which was granted subject to

884-573: The middle of 1913. In his first year, commissioner McKay had underneath him 105 tax officers, assessed approximately 15,000 land tax returns and collected £1.3 million to £1.4 million. Over the next decade, the government introduced several new taxes, mainly to cope with the massive cost of Australia's collecting revenue to fund participation in World War I. By the end of the decade, the department employed 1,565 people and collected approximately £10.45 million in taxes. According to its 2013–14 Annual Plan,

918-411: The misuse of the asylum process by unauthorised arrivals . Refugee advocates described TPVs as a cruel way to treat people which left asylum seekers with an uncertain future. The granting of a TPV prevents a refugee from applying for permanent protection. The Rudd government committed itself to abolition of TPVs as part of its Budget 2008–09 announcements made in May 2008. The regulations providing for

952-532: The real amount often being a trivial sum of a few dollars or nothing at all. Some welfare recipients were required by Centrelink to make repayments for the fabricated debts while having to simultaneously engage in official reviews and legal challenges to the sham debt claims. In some cases, the debts being pursued dated back further than the standard Australian Taxation Office and Centrelink mandates for Australian taxpayers and beneficiaries to retain their financial documentation (normally 5 years). In one related case,

986-417: The right to work and have access to job matching by Centrelink . They are also eligible for Special Benefit, Rent Assistance, Family Tax Benefit, Child Care Benefit, Medicare , Early Health Assessment and Intervention Program, torture and trauma counselling, and English as a second language classes (for TPV minors only). The scheme was controversial, with the government claiming it was a necessary response to

1020-411: The tragic case of Corey Web, who had been vulnerable and struggling to repay a Robodebt when he took his own life in 2017. In March 2017, the Robodebt program was the subject of a Senate committee inquiry, where the department was asked how many people had become deceased after receiving a letter under the debt recovery program. After the question was taken on notice, the department was asked again in

1054-465: Was integrated into the Department of Human Services as a result of the Human Services Act, 2011 (Cth), with the department retaining the brand name as part of its set of master programs. In 2016, Concentrix , a business services company and subsidiary of U.S.-based SYNNEX Corporation , was one of the companies awarded a contract to operate call centres for Centrelink. Another company awarded

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1088-461: Was investigated by the Inspector-General of taxation, Ali Noroozi. Noroozi's findings included concerns that small businesses were not given enough time to react to a garnishee notice before having their funds seized. The ATO was criticised for attempting to suppress Boyle's revelations with a non-disclosure agreement and accusing him of 66 offences related to breach of privacy. The ATO was

1122-489: Was passed to reintroduce TPVs to specifically deal with the backlog of 30,000 asylum seekers yet to be processed left by the former Labor government. The legislation was passed by the Coalition government with support of the cross bench in the Senate. Centrelink The Centrelink Master Program , or more commonly known as Centrelink , is a Services Australia master program of the Australian Government . It delivers

1156-454: Was required to prove they did not owe the funds, often with no access to their financial records that had frequently been lost, destroyed, or legitimately disposed of as authorised by the governmental policy requirements for record retention. Human interaction in the fact-checking and dispatch of the debt letters was extremely limited, with the process relying on a ubiquitous level of automation based on fatally flawed software algorithms (prompting

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