‘Crude and cruel’ scheme: robodebt royal commission report recommends civil and criminal prosecutions

Recommendation of referrals included in sealed chapter' of 1,000-page report with findings handed to federal government and released publicly

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The crude and cruel" robodebt scheme has resulted in a recommendation that unnamed individuals be referred for civil and criminal prosecutions, the royal commission has revealed.

The commissioner, Catherine Holmes, submitted her report to the government on Friday and revealed it contained a sealed chapter" that recommended referrals of individuals for what it labelled a costly failure of public administration". The report said robodebt was neither fair nor legal".