Robodebt inquiry: evidence contradicts witness’s claim he didn’t know unlawful method was being used

Former Department of Human Services official tells inquiry he can’t explain emails and other documents he saw referring to use of income averaging

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A key witness at the robodebt royal commission has been shown evidence contradicting his claims he didn’t know the unlawful “income averaging” method was being used by Centrelink, the inquiry heard.

The commission is investigating why the Coalition program used so-called “income averaging” to raise hundreds of thousands of Centrelink debts between 2015 and 2019 despite Department of Social Services (DSS) lawyers warning it would be unlawful.