This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Malcolm Turnbull’s flagship digital transformation agency was not used to help design Centrelink’s online compliance system, prompting criticism that it is no longer serving its intended purpose.

When the prime minister launched the then Digital Transformation Office in 2015, he pledged it would focus on improving the experience of Australians using government services online.



In a policy explainer on Turnbull’s website, the DTO’s role is described as one of a “digital champion across government”, an agency that would help government deliver its services online in a simpler, easier and more effective way.

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“The Digital Transformation Office will work with the government’s customers – the public and business – to design services that are of such high quality that users will actually seek them out,” the explainer said.



And yet the organisation, which has since become the Digital Transformation Agency, has had no involvement whatsoever in helping the Department of Human Services develop its more automated debt recovery system, which uses an online portal to interact with customers and relies heavily on data-matching to detect potential debts.



Last month the DTA’s interim chief executive, Nerida O’Loughlin, penned an all-staff email in response to criticisms aired by her predecessor, Paul Shetler, who said the Centrelink debt recovery crisis typified the government’s ongoing problems with delivering basic services digitally.

O’Loughlin told her staff that Shetler was speaking as a “private citizen” and was entitled to his view but that she disagreed with his comments about the organisation’s reduced role.

The email went on to say: “In terms of the Centrelink project, as the DTA had no direct involvement in it, I do not intend to make any comment.”

The lack of the agency’s involvement in such a significant project has prompted criticism from Labor. The shadow digital economy minister, Ed Husic, said the DTA had been “completely missing in action”, not just over the Centrelink debt recovery problems but also the census crisis and the Australian Taxation Office storage system failures.

Husic said the DTA, initially championed by Turnbull as communications minister, now appeared to lack any political direction or will. “Malcolm Turnbull’s gaze has gone elsewhere and no one else – [assistant digital transformation minister] Angus Taylor or anyone else – has driven this with any degree of intensity,” Husic said.

“There’s been no senior minister buy-in. There doesn’t seem to be any sense of urgency, that’s where I think that this is lacking. It’s not that the tech is not achievable, it’s that the political will is not there.”

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But a spokeswoman for Taylor said the DTA was now “working closely with DHS on digital delivery”. The spokeswoman said the DTA would soon support the development of all “significant programs”.

“The DTA was not involved in advising DHS on initial delivery of the Centrelink data-matching program,” the spokeswoman said. “However, the DTA is now working closely with DHS on digital delivery, the user experience and in ensuring Centrelink services are as simple as possible.

“The DTA was given additional powers when it was expanded as an agency late last year and will now be involved in all significant programs as they are developed. The agency is also currently establishing a capability to monitor and assist all significant programs throughout their delivery.”

Opposition to Centrelink’s debt recovery system has continued this week, spurred by a series of rallies across Australia.

On Wednesday the Victorian Council of Social Service released a parody video designed to show the unfairness of Centrelink’s debt recovery process. It likens the process to attempts to recover a fine for a decade-old video rental.

VCOSS (@VCOSS) Anybody else think this is unfair? This is what’s happening with Centrelink debts right now #notmydebt #fixthismess pic.twitter.com/9DRoPuxn2f

Its chief executive, Emma King, said the video was designed to show the “cruel fraud” that is taking place.

“Discussions about ‘debt clawbacks’ and ‘robo recovery’ can be very hard to follow but everybody’s been chased up for a late video at some point,” King said. “So now imagine you’re being pursued for a decade-old video carrying a huge fine and you must prove your innocence.

“That’s unfair in anybody’s book. We think people will be horrified when they learn what’s being done in their name.”