This bill is currently before Parliament.
Welfare & housing
The bill would change family assistance, social security and student assistance laws in response to outstanding recommendations from the Royal Commission into the Robodebt SchemeThe unlawful welfare debt recovery scheme that used automated income averaging and became the subject of a royal commission..
The bill was introduced because the RobodebtThe unlawful welfare debt recovery scheme that used automated income averaging and became the subject of a royal commission. royal commission found the scheme was largely based on an unlawful use of social security law and recommended legislative changes to prevent similar failures. The sponsor and supporting crossbench MPs argued that, more than two years after the final report, key legal safeguards were still missing, especially around respectful service, automated decisions, vulnerability, compliance activity and debt recovery.
RobodebtThe unlawful welfare debt recovery scheme that used automated income averaging and became the subject of a royal commission. grew from welfare compliance automation into a major public-administration failure, with later reporting and the royal commission focusing on unlawfully raised debts, weak legal assurance and harm to vulnerable people. By 2025, crossbench MPs argued the response still needed statutory guardrails: clearer duties to treat social security recipients respectfully, stronger human oversight of automation, fairer debt waiver rules and limits on old debt recovery.
The collected record did not include substantive criticism of the bill itself or any recorded opposition speeches. The main critical material came from the sponsor and supporters, who argued that the government had moved too slowly on RobodebtThe unlawful welfare debt recovery scheme that used automated income averaging and became the subject of a royal commission. royal commission recommendations.
Senator Penny Allman-Payne introduced this bill. Supportive speeches so far have come from Greens, some crossbench members.
Did it become law?
Not yet
Final passage
No final vote yet
The bill has not yet completed passage through Parliament.
Days since introduction
288 days
Updated 10 June 2026.
Meaning
The bill would change family assistance, social security and student assistance laws in response to outstanding recommendations from the Royal Commission into the Robodebt SchemeThe unlawful welfare debt recovery scheme that used automated income averaging and became the subject of a royal commission..
It would add duties for the Secretary administering social security law to avoid stigma and shame, make online, phone and in-person contact easier, explain processes in plain language, and act with sensitivity to financial and other stress.
People would have to be told when a decision was automated and how to seek review. Some automated decisions would need human review before taking effect, including payment cancellations, debts of $2,000 or more, discretionary decisions, review decisions, and garnishee requests to the Australian Taxation Office.
The bill would broaden debt-waiver rules. It would require waiver of any part of a debt caused solely by Commonwealth administrative error, and make it clearer that debts linked to family or domestic violence, duress or coercive control can be waived.
It would reinstate a six-year time limit on starting social security debt recovery, extend several Crisis PaymentA short-term social security payment for people in specified crisis situations, such as leaving prison, family violence or humanitarian arrival circumstances. claim windows from 7 to 14 days, and require an independent yearly review of compliance activity with a report tabled in Parliament.
This Bill amends the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999, Social Security Act 1991, Social Security (Administration) Act 1999, and Student Assistance Act 1973 to respond to a number of outstanding recommendations of the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme.Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Responding to Robodebt) explanatory memorandum
Item 12 also introduces section 220AB which sets out new positive duties which apply to the Secretary when administering the Act, which are drawn from the expectations set out in recommendation 10.1 of the Robodebt Royal Commission.Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Responding to Robodebt) explanatory memorandum
Item 14 introduces a requirement at subsection 223(1A) for human oversight of certain automated decisions before these decisions come into effect. Decisions which would trigger this requirement include: the cancellation of a payment or benefit; the raising of a debt of $2,000 or more; the exercise of a discretion; the review of a decision under Part 5 of the Act; or making a garnishee request or another similar arrangement to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to recover a debt.Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Responding to Robodebt) explanatory memorandum
Items 1 to 3 amend the administrative error waiver provisions... to remove limiting conditions on debt waivers, and simply require that the Secretary must waive debts where those debts were solely the result of administrative errors made by the Commonwealth. Items 4 to 10 amend the special circumstances waiver provisions... to better allow waivers in circumstances of family violence.Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Responding to Robodebt) explanatory memorandum
Item 11 repeals section 93B which provides for no time limit on a debt recovery action and replaces it with a new section 93B which reinstates a six-year time limit on the commencement of a debt recovery action. Items 15-18 extend the timeframes for recipients to apply for crisis payments from 7 to 14 days... Item 24 inserts a new requirement that compliance activity undertaken under this Act be reviewed every 12 months, and that a report be prepared for the Minister and tabled in the Parliament within 15 sitting days of receipt by the Minister.Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Responding to Robodebt) explanatory memorandum
Context
RobodebtThe unlawful welfare debt recovery scheme that used automated income averaging and became the subject of a royal commission. grew from welfare compliance automation into a major public-administration failure, with later reporting and the royal commission focusing on unlawfully raised debts, weak legal assurance and harm to vulnerable people. By 2025, crossbench MPs argued the response still needed statutory guardrails: clearer duties to treat social security recipients respectfully, stronger human oversight of automation, fairer debt waiver rules and limits on old debt recovery.
RobodebtThe unlawful welfare debt recovery scheme that used automated income averaging and became the subject of a royal commission. foundations take shape
AFR reporting later traced the essential elements of the scheme to a Human Services compliance workshop in Adelaide.
Australian Financial Review ↗Government halts key RobodebtThe unlawful welfare debt recovery scheme that used automated income averaging and became the subject of a royal commission. element
The Morrison government stopped a central part of automated welfare debt collection after pressure and before further court challenges.
Australian Financial Review ↗Royal commission findings sharpen reform debate
Public reporting on the royal commission described RobodebtThe unlawful welfare debt recovery scheme that used automated income averaging and became the subject of a royal commission. as developed without regard to social security law, reinforcing calls for legal and administrative safeguards.
Australian Financial Review ↗Ombudsman finding renews automation concerns
Helen Haines told Parliament the Commonwealth Ombudsman had found 964 JobSeeker payments were unlawfully terminated between April 2022 and July 2024 because of IT glitches in automated compliance settings.
Second reading speech ↗Senate bill seeks RobodebtThe unlawful welfare debt recovery scheme that used automated income averaging and became the subject of a royal commission. safeguards
Senator Penny Allman-Payne introduced the bill to put parts of the royal commission response into social security, family assistance and student assistance law.
APH bill page ↗Legislative route
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
Key criticism
The collected record did not include substantive criticism of the bill itself or any recorded opposition speeches. The main critical material came from the sponsor and supporters, who argued that the government had moved too slowly on RobodebtThe unlawful welfare debt recovery scheme that used automated income averaging and became the subject of a royal commission. royal commission recommendations.
No criticism cards are shown because the available sources support a bill-focused page, not a debate about opposition to the bill.
Further sources
Votes
No recorded votes have been found yet for this bill.
Parliamentary debate
Start here — lead voices
Penny Allman-Payne supports the bill as a way to act on RobodebtThe unlawful welfare debt recovery scheme that used automated income averaging and became the subject of a royal commission. royal commission recommendations she says remain unfinished.
Read in Hansard ↗Andrew Wilkie supports the bill as long-delayed legislative reform after the RobodebtThe unlawful welfare debt recovery scheme that used automated income averaging and became the subject of a royal commission. royal commission.
Read in Hansard ↗Helen Haines supports the bill as unfinished RobodebtThe unlawful welfare debt recovery scheme that used automated income averaging and became the subject of a royal commission. reform.
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
1 speaker · 1 support
“I am pleased to be joined by advocates and members of the crossbench in urging Labor to finally honour the victims of Robodebt and bring about these protections for people who rely on income support.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
2 speakers · 2 support
“The community has been waiting over two years now for the federal government to enact significant legislative reform following the final report of the royal commission into robodebt.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I second the motion. I'm proud to rise in support of the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Responding to Robodebt) Bill 2025, moved by my friend the member for Clark.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
Senate · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Senate · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
