A spreadsheet created by junior officials analysed just 418 welfare cases and contained a fundamental error. Their bosses seized on it anyway and turned it into the robo-debt disaster.
It was a two-day off-site workshop in Adelaide in May 2014 when the essential elements of what would become the $4.7 billion robo-debt disaster first were hatched.
Armed with data from the Tax Office they began to model what that might look like, developing an elaborate, but ultimately erroneous spreadsheet that would be grabbed by bureaucratic bosses, eager to please their ministerial masters. Businesses, notably the banks, had long complained about the time and cost of responding to Centrelink requests for income information, and were keen to find a “deregulation” solution.
Instead of the clunky manual system, “non-compliers” would be “transitioned” to a yet to be built self-service portal, enabling their response through the portal.It was noted that self-service processes would be “leveraged off the currently high uptake in smartphone and mobile technology” and would be reliant on the development of a customer’s online account.High-level spreadsheet analysis
What it showed was that debts calculated using income averaging resulted in debts that were, on average, 13.06 per cent higher than those calculated using the manual compliance review process. The refinements still suggested a 13 per cent uplift and confirmed there was a $1.5 billion prize from debt recovery from those who had under-reported their incomes.The trouble was, the 13 per cent figure didn’t stack up. The analysis had been done on the high-risk cohorts that the historical manual reviews had targeted. By definition, they generated better returns for the departmental debt collectors than other risk groups.
The online compliance component made up $1.5 billion of the savings, the biggest saving measure of the entire 2015-16 budget. And the same figure the data analysts had come up with using their spreadsheets before Christmas.Campbell and Golightly were intent on delivering for their portfolio minister. A February note to Morrison confirmed the Social Services legal view that legislation was required.
Significantly, the plan went back to cabinet a further seven times over the next six years as ministers doubled down on the “welfare cheats”, increasingly expanding the net of possible non-compliers. Finance had the key role to develop the cabinet brief that details the costings and attested to the financials associated with the scheme. Remarkably, despite the huge size of the proposal, Finance was unable, or did not seek, to interrogate the data wonks’ spreadsheet that was the foundation for the scheme.
Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Labor’s ‘negative’ campaign will affect Fadden byelection: DuttonPeter Dutton says Labor’s focus on Stuart Robert’s robo-debt involvement will have an effect in Fadden, in the second of what could be three byelections this year.
Read more »
‘Robo-taxis’: US protesters disrupt driverless carsActivists in the US are protesting driverless cars by placing traffic cones on the hood, effectively disabling the autonomous vehicle. The protests began after these cars were rolled out in San Francisco and the California Public Utilities Commission will now gather on Thursday to vote on whether to allow “robo-taxis” to operate 24/7.
Read more »
At some point there will be a ‘reckoning’ in VictoriaGT Communications Director Gemma Tognini says at some point there will be a “reckoning” in Victoria because there has to be. “Not everybody can work for the public sector and you’ve got this state that is in deep, deep, deep in debt,” she told Sky News host Caleb Bond. Ms Tognini said people in Australia have options to take their businesses to a different state.
Read more »
Major bungle in first phase of Vic digital license rolloutThe technical error left many residents questioning whether their personal details had been stolen.
Read more »
Credit Suisse bankers eye exit packages as integration with UBS beginsUBS has opened the door for mostly junior bankers from Credit Suisse following the historic, $4.7b takeover of its former rival on Monday.
Read more »
Brutal axing as Blues make five changes for Origin IIIt's do-or die for the NSWBlues in State of Origin II at Suncorp Stadium. Coach Brad Fittler has today made some big changes to his side. emmalawrence90 9News MORE:
Read more »