Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Social Services, Minister Gallagher. The Commonwealth Ombudsman found that in 2019 Services Australia became aware that its administration of child support was not compliant with the law, resulting in some parents who were legally entitled to child support not receiving it. The Ombudsman found that Services Australia made a deliberate decision not to apply the law as written and continued that practice for years. Minister, why was a government funded agency allowed to knowingly continue administering a program in breach of the law once that noncompliance had been identified?

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

I thank Senator Tyrrell for the question. This is an issue that we have talked about, and indeed we have discussed at estimates some of the issues that have arisen around the implementation of income support payments and areas where agencies have been advised that they are not in compliance with the law and where the policy intent is not necessarily supported by the legal framework.

Since coming into this portfolio, I have been discussing this with Services Australia but also the policy department under Minister Plibersek to consolidate all the areas where there are concerns. There are some where it's around legal compliance. There are others where it's around policy compliance. We're trying to pull that all together and work our way through how we are addressing each one of them. There are a number of areas, and we have fixed up a couple of those in the bill that was passed in December. There is another bill coming in—I think it's coming into the House next week—that deals with a number of other areas. I think there will be further amendments that we will have to bring to this chamber to deal with it where the understanding was that there weren't any legal compliance issues but where new advice has provided that there are. We are working through all of those.

It is not discretionary about whether government agencies follow the law. They must follow the law. Where there are issues identified, where compliance has been questioned or not supported by legal advice, then the job is to bring it here and deal with those matters and address them through amendments or by changing the way it's implemented through Services Australia.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Tyrrell, first supplementary?

Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, the Ombudsman found that this was not an administrative error or an IT failure but a conscious decision to continue a practice known to be unlawful. Does the minister accept that knowingly choosing not to apply the law is a failure of governance and, if so, who has been held accountable for that decision?

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

The issue that you talk about, which is covered by the Ombudsman report, dates back a number of years. Certainly, since I have taken the portfolio on, I have tried to coordinate and pull together all of the areas where there are concerns around the law and compliance with the law. I know Services Australia takes the Ombudsman's recommendations very seriously and is working to implement all of those recommendations. I am advised that all the recommendations will be implemented by the end of January.

There are further legislative amendments that I alluded to in my last answer that need to be prioritised and are being prioritised by the government, giving the relevant status to get those amendments in and before the parliament as soon as possible. But it is a big piece of work that we need to get done, and I imagine, as we continue, there will be other issues identified that get added to this coordination approach to deal with it. (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Tyrrell, a second supplementary?

Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

So no-one has been held accountable as yet. The ombudsman found that the Department of Social Services was aware of this unlawful administration by 2020, yet detailed briefings to ministers did not occur until late 2025, more than five years later. Is the minister saying she was not informed for five years about a known, ongoing breach of the law, or that she was informed and no action was taken? In either case, how is that consistent with ministerial responsibility?

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

That is my understanding—the issue was first uncovered in 2019. Obviously, we were not in government until 2022, and I did not get the government services portfolio permanently until May this year. Since coming into government and into this position, and being briefed on some of these issues, I have, with Minister Plibersek, pulled together a range of issues. There are issues around legal compliance, and there are issues that can be fixed without amendments to the law and that need to be dealt with, and we are dealing with those. We're also looking at impact on customers as a way of prioritising that. I think in the last estimates we advised the committee there were more than 144 areas that we were working on—this is certainly one of them, and it is being prioritised. But I can only answer for the time I have been in the job. I would say we are holding the portfolio agencies responsible. (Time expired)