Documents held by Services Australia about the former Coalition government's botched robodebt scheme may finally be released after a five-year freedom-of-information battle.
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The Federal Court on Friday overturned a tribunal decision refusing to release ten business case documents prepared by the department, which it had claimed were cabinet-in-confidence.
The documents, if released when the case is reheard by the AAT, could reveal what advice the then Department of Human Services gave to Scott Morrison when he was preparing to launch the scheme as social services minister in 2015.
They are also expected to cast light on what information Mr Morrison later had as prime minister, and what his ministers Christian Porter and Alan Tudge knew.
![There are signs Prime Minister Anthony Albanese may run a Robodebt scare campaign ahead of the next election. Picture by Gary Ramage There are signs Prime Minister Anthony Albanese may run a Robodebt scare campaign ahead of the next election. Picture by Gary Ramage](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/234480217/3a01bb36-95bf-4b56-8af1-d7374fd28fba.jpg/r0_0_4000_2249_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
In the judgment for the case brought by transparency campaigner Justin Warren, the Full Court found there had been a serious denial of procedural fairness by the AAT, which had incorrectly interpreted the law on the Cabinet document exceptions.
Mr Warren welcomed the legal victory as a win for government transparency. "(Robodebt) was a deliberate, systematic process of abuse conceived in secret and executed with malice," he said in a statement.
"The only way we can prevent this from happening again is by keeping a close eye on what the government is doing at all times."
Opposition Leader says 'there are lessons from robodebt'
On Friday, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton acknowledged that the Coalition must learn from the robodebt scandal, which unlawfully raised $1.8 billion in debts against about 435,000 Australians between 2015 and 2019.
"I think there are lessons to learn," Mr Dutton told reporters. "We want to make sure that we've got appropriate use of taxpayers' money and where that money is wasted, or where somebody has falsely claimed, then there's a debt to the Commonwealth ... But there are lessons from robodebt. We can certainly learn from that experience."
The Commonwealth settled a class action against it in the Federal Court in 2021, agreeing to pay $1.8 billion to the scheme's victims.
There are signs the Albanese government may seek to use robodebt to run a scare campaign ahead of next year's federal election.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said last month that Mr Dutton "needs to come clean [about] whether the Coalition will go after the most vulnerable with robodebt".
Tribunal made the wrong call, court finds
Justin Warren sought access to the documents in 2017, which had earlier been unsuccessfully pursued at Senate estimates, under FOI laws but was refused access.
After years of legal challenges, the AAT decided against granting Mr Warren access in December 2022. He appealed to the Federal Court last year.
The AAT decision to deny access was made by Deputy President Peter Britten-Jones, a former South Australian barrister appointed to the tribunal in 2016 by then attorney-general George Brandis.
He is among hundreds of tribunal members who will soon have to reapply for their jobs as the AAT is replaced with the new Administrative Review Tribunal.
Applicants will have their suitability to serve as members of the new Administrative Review Tribunal assessed by an independent panel and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will have the final say.