Labor's employment minister rep admits that payment suspensions "cause harm", but they're "an important part" of the (unlawful) mutual obligations system, because

"At the end of the day we want ppl to get off payments and find a job"

gross 'best form of welfare is a job' stuff from the ALP here

"If they don't deliver, they don't get paid,"

The first flagrant lie from the employment department in today's senate estimates hearing about the welfare cops who profit from poverty. No doubt there will be much more bullshit to come!

In estimates, Senator Allman-Payne quotes the Department director (below), & says:

"You can't be confident that the foundation on which [the TCF] is built complies with the legislation & yet we're all comfortable w/ continuing to allow ppl to have payments suspended"

For the first time, the Deloitte report also publicly maps out the business rules of the jobseeker punishment system

Here's the tech the government inflicts on poor ppl every day - everyone is subject to it: single mums, ppl with disabilities, homeless ppl

Here is a current DIRECTOR within the Department effectively blowing the whistle to Deloitte that the system doesn't demonstrate "natural justice"

The Robodebt vibes here are off the charts and I'm begging media to cover this

What certainly isn't AI is the interviews Deloitte conducted with guilty bureaucrats and executives inside the Department. Here is one of them saying their system disproportionately-incorrectly punishes First Nations people

Imagine receiving this advice from your independent assurance review, and still operating the system in question as is. That's what the Federal government is doing, currently -- at the expense of hundreds of thousands of participants

This now brings us to WHAT (apart from AI errors) is in the report

Deloitte could NOT provide assurance the system aligns w/ legislation, saying it "impairs" the Department's ability to defend the lawfulness of TCF decisions before a court, or tribunal. Big ramifications there

Why did the Department have to outsource a basic review to Deloitte in the first place? Because they do not know how their own system -- which is unlawfully punishing ppl -- actually works. And haven't documented its processes

Here is the Secretary, in February, confessing that

An FOI I put in at the start of the year found that senior officials at the Department of Employment were aware of these significant issues in 2020, but refused to act

It took until DECEMBER 2024 to get Deloitte to review the system & report back

The Deloitte report was received by the Department last year but was not publicly released until almost 12 months later

DEWR tried to hide it as long as possible — not because of AI errors — but because it documents the widespread unlawful administration of Mutual Obligations

Now that the Deloitte report, about the government's unlawful administration of mutual obligations, is making international headlines, it's worth looking at what's actually in it (apart from AI slop) and WHY it was actually commissioned

A thread👇

i have been bullied over here by @maximumwelfare.bsky.social