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The Latest Breaking News from DSS

‘I can finally sleep at night.’ Former students, others react to boarding school closing

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After hearing that Agape Boarding School was closing its doors, many former students and Missouri lawmakers took a moment Wednesday to celebrate.

Tribune News Service

Despite findings he hurt students, Agape leader won’t go on state abuse registry for now

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Agape Boarding School’s longtime director won’t be placed on Missouri’s child abuse and neglect registry any time soon, a judge ruled Wednesday, despite several findings that he harmed students.

Tribune News Service

Scott Morrison tells Robodebt inquiry he was given 'very explicit advice' scheme didn't need legislation

Scott Morrison's evidence to the Robodebt inquiry becomes fiery as Commissioner Catherine Holmes asks the former prime minister if he understands parliamentary privilege.

ABC News

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Centrelink worker recounts ‘callous indifference’ from superiors after raising alarm about robodebt

Colleen Taylor tells royal commission that staff were told ‘not to interrogate’ injustices facing welfare recipients

The Guardian - AU

‘I don’t know’: Marise Payne unsure why advice for legal change to robodebt disappeared from policy plan

‘Essentially responsibility is always borne by ministers,’ the then human services minister tells royal commission into doomed scheme

The Guardian - AU

The Australian government had multiple chances to press ‘stop’ on robodebt – but didn’t

Legal advisers said again and again that the automated debt recovery scheme was unlawful. New evidence shows how the objections were overcome

The Guardian - AU

Former bureaucrat says 'give me a break', denies claims she misled watchdog over Robodebt

Catherine Halbert was questioned over her correspondence with the federal watchdog, in which she said she believed changes had been made in 2015 to ensure the proposal that became Robodebt was lawful.

ABC News

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Senior official denies ‘manipulating the truth’ to ombudsman over legality of robodebt scheme

DSS witness faces scrutiny at royal commission over involvement in robodebt plans and evidence given to watchdog’s 2017 investigation

The Guardian - AU

Robodebt royal commission paints a bleak picture of a public service willing to break the law

Disturbing evidence from the robodebt royal commission shows senior public servants ignoring clear warnings the program was unlawful.

Crikey

Former social services official told to ‘tone down’ robodebt legal concerns, inquiry hears

Andrew Whitecross says he fiercely criticised the proposal and questioned its legality in the scheme’s initial plan

The Guardian - AU

Bureaucrat told to 'tone down' Robodebt criticism, royal commission hears

Andrew Whitecross, then an employee at the Department of Human Services, agrees the policy which became Robodebt was a "radical departure" from compliance at the time.

ABC News

Robodebt royal commission told ‘misrepresentation may have made its way into the cabinet’

Bureaucrats from March 2015 insisted in documents that scheme would ‘not change’ how welfare overpayments were calculated, inquiry hears

The Guardian - AU

Who is protecting the Prince and Princess of Wales when they visit Boston?

Security of the senior royals is a top priority on any overseas trip

The Independent UK

The Robodebt royal commission has wrapped up for now. Here are some of the key takeaways

The Robodebt royal commission hears startling evidence with senior bureaucrats admitting they didn't follow legal advice, were too busy to raise concerns or didn't think it was their responsibility. Here's how the two weeks of hearings wrapped up.

ABC News

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The Guardian - AU

Conspiracy or stuff up? Robodebt royal commission probes how far up the chain of command blame falls

The first two weeks of hearings into the unlawful welfare scheme sought to answer a central question: how could this happen?

ABC News

Former Department of Human Services secretary tells royal commission she had a 'lack of curiosity' regarding Robodebt lawfulness

The top bureaucrat at the department responsible for the unlawful Robodebt scheme tells the royal commission it was a "significant failure of public administration".

ABC News

Finn Pratt confirmed Robodebt's lawfulness despite not taking legal advice, commission hears

The former Department of Social Services secretary signed a letter to the Commonwealth Ombudsman in 2017 saying the scheme was legal, despite not seeing any legal or policy advice or knowing how it worked, a royal commission hears.

The Guardian - AU

Robodebt likely a ‘stuff up’ rather than a ‘conspiracy’, former department boss tells inquiry

Royal commission also shown key 2015 document confirming Scott Morrison’s request for welfare ‘compliance’ measures

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ABC News

Senior bureaucrat Serena Wilson admits in Robodebt inquiry to breaching public servants' code of conduct

The inquiry hears Ms Wilson received advice in 2015 showing the illegal income-averaging proposal that became Robodebt was unlawful but it still reached then-social services minister Scott Morrison.

The Guardian - AU

Robodebt royal commission: official says she failed to tell Scott Morrison scheme could be unlawful

Serena Wilson says she lacked the ‘courage’ to speak up after being made aware of legal advice

The Guardian - AU

‘Watered down’ legal concerns included in robodebt briefing for Scott Morrison, inquiry hears

Earlier document warned proposed debt recovery measures would have ‘fundamental impacts on social security policy and legislation’, royal commission told

AAP

'Mystery' surrounds robodebt legal advice

A royal commission investigating the failed robodebt scheme is trying to determine how the scheme was rolled out contrary to policy and legal advice.

The Guardian - AU

‘A shameful chapter’: how Australia’s robodebt saga was allowed to unfold

Bombshell legal advice finally revealed this week was initially dismissed, discarded or overruled. The consequences for many have been tragic

The Guardian - AU

‘Unethical’: robodebt inquiry hears advisers were ‘almost immediately’ concerned by the initial plan

Former director of debt management compared proposal to so-called Dallas Buyers Club ‘speculative invoicing’ saga

AAP

Legal advice on robodebt not passed on

The royal commission has heard a government department failed to relay information about the unlawfulness of the robodebt income averaging calculation.

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