Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Technical Changes No. 2) Bill 2025. This bill is another example of the Albanese Labor government's commitment to fairness, accountability and decency in the way we administer social security. It shows again that Labor does what the Liberals never do. We face up to problems honestly, we fix them properly and we always put people first.

This bill addresses the legacy of income apportionment, a technical method used from the early 1990s to 2020 to calculate debts when pay slips didn't specify which workdays they applied to, and the courts have confirmed that this practice had no valid legal basis. It was never used by this government, but it's our responsibility, now we are in government, to fix this and to do this fairly and in a cost-effective way.

I want to be clear that this is not robodebt. It wasn't a deliberately cruel revenue-raising scheme disguised as compliance. It was technical error that Labor is resolving. Robodebt, by contrast, was an unlawful scheme run by the former Liberal government. It relied on automation instead of evidence. It ignored all the warnings and treated vulnerable people like criminals. It destroyed lives. It shattered public trust. That shame belongs squarely to the Liberal and National parties of this place. Labor is not repeating their mistakes. Where they broke the system, we are rebuilding it. Where they acted with secrecy and arrogance, we're acting with transparency and compassion. This bill reflects careful, evidence based work by the Community Affairs Legislation Committee, the Department of Social Services and Services Australia in turning a complex legacy issue into a fair, workable solution,

On that note, I would also like to acknowledge the Minister for Social Services, Minister Plibersek, for her leadership on this piece of legislation. It actually shows what good government looks like. It's grounded in evidence, guided by compassion and focused on results. This legislation is about respect for the people caught up in a confusing system and for the idea that Australians doing it tough deserve fairness. They don't deserve to live in fear.

Behind every debt notice is a person and a family. They're not a statistic. This bill introduces a proportionate resolution scheme. Depending on the size of their debt, affected Australians will receive between $200 and $600, while debts under $200 will be wiped entirely. More than 6,000 people will see their debts cleared all together. To ensure that fairness reaches people and that no-one is left behind, the government is funding Economic Justice Australia and ACOSS to help people understand and access their payments. This bill also clarifies the law so we don't waste years and billions of dollars recalculating tiny, decades-old debts. That's responsible fiscal management—fair to people and fair to taxpayers.

For the first time in over 30 years, the small debt waiver threshold will rise, from $50 to $250. Let me repeat that: we are raising the small debt waiver threshold from $50 to $250, preventing 1.2 million petty debts from ever being raised. And that's amazing. Australians will no longer be chased for amounts that cost more to recover than they're actually worth, and Services Australia staff will be able to focus on helping those who truly need support. I think that that's what we can agree to across this place.

Together these reforms strengthen integrity, efficiency and humanity, making the system work better for the people that it serves. Those opposite talk about value for money, yet, under their watch, we saw the most wasteful, cruel welfare administration in Australia's history. Hundreds and millions were spent defending robodebt in court, and hundreds and millions more were spent on compensation once their own illegal scheme collapsed. Labor is rebuilding the capability they destroyed, restoring the professional Public Service and ensuring that decisions made about people's livelihoods are being made by trained public servants, not algorithms.

Our goal is clear—a social security system that is fair, transparent and efficient, delivering good outcomes for both its recipients and for taxpayers. This bill delivers exactly that. It ensures that Australians who have done nothing wrong aren't left in limbo because of administrative errors from decades ago. It gives Services Australia the clarity it needs to move forward and demonstrates that this government deals with legacy issues quickly, fairly and very sensibly.

As a proud Yamatji Noongar woman and senator for Western Australia, I know fairness must reach every corner of our country—from the city suburbs to the most remote communities. I have spoken to people who rely on social security to keep their family, to recover from illness and to get back onto their feet. For them, even a small debt can mean sleepless nights and shame, made worse in remote or Aboriginal communities by language and distance. And that is why this bill matters. It delivers fairness, rebuilds trust and reminds Australians that their government sees them, values them and will never weaponise the social security system against them.

Labor will always protect the integrity of the system without punishing those who rely on it. We will work to fix what's wrong, and we'll do that fairly. That's the Labor way—responsible, compassionate and focused on the people. For those reasons, I commend this bill to the Senate.