TheRobodebt schemewas an unlawful[1][2]method of automated debt assessment and recovery implemented under theAbbott governmentand employed by the Australian government agency,Services Australia, as part of itsCentrelinkpayment compliance program.[3][4][5]Put in place in July 2016 and announced to the public in December of the same year,[6][7]the scheme aimed to replace the formerly manual system of calculating overpayments and issuing debt notices to welfare recipients with an automated data-matching system that compared Centrelink records with averaged income data from theAustralian Taxation Office.[5][6]
