Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

To be clear, robodebt and income apportionment, although they're often put together, are quite different from each other. I want to make that point clear. In relation to the work that's underway, Minister Plibersek and I are dealing with a lot of issues that have been identified around the legislative framework and how it's put into practice. Where those issues arise, governments have to deal with them.

Income apportionment hasn't happened since December 2020—I think it's December 2020—so this is not a current problem. But we are cleaning it up. We are trying to deal with it and make sure that the legislation aligns with practice. In dealing with that, yes, on income apportionment, we have had to go back 30 years and deal with the fact, which has become clear as of December 2020, that the way it had been done for 30 years was inconsistent with the legislative framework. So we're dealing with it and we're trying to deal with it in the fairest way. We're dealing with it in terms of some of the changes we're putting in place on debt recovery and waiving debts. I agree that the trust of people who receive income support payments is essential, and part of trying to ensure there's trust in the system is dealing with problems when they arise. That's exactly what we're trying to do here today.

I've already said that retrospective legislation is not something that anyone who comes into this chamber is happy to do, but there are times when it is the most appropriate course of action to deal with a problem that has affected millions over 30 years and to deal with it in the most reasonable and careful way. That's what this bill does.