NDIS fraud punished, Robodebt crimes rewarded

While small-time fraudsters are quickly being jailed for abusing the NDIS, Dr. Robodebt’s powerful architects still enjoy freedom, pensions and immunity, writes Michael King.

Three men appear in court in Sydney last october and learned they would spend the next 12 years behind bars for stealing $5.8 million from the National Disability Insurance Program (NDIS). Australian Federal Police (AFP) tracked their money through front companies and seized their BMWs, Porsches and gold bullion.

Somewhere in Canberra, architects Robodebt They collect their retirement.

They take it whenever they want

Open 19 NovemberAFP executed 33 search warrants across four states and deployed more than 250 officers, seizing 228 devices and 43 terabytes of data. They were deducted over $50 million due to alleged fraud. Operation Banksia It targeted a union that allegedly claimed $40 million in NDIS funds, including payments to participants who were in prison while the so-called services were provided. Operation Howell He went after another $7 million.

The Commonwealth spent $495 million over eight years. Fight Against Fraud program that mobilized multiple agencies and every state police force. They know how to do this. This ability occurs when targets wear tracksuits instead of ties.

There is not yet a 2024 Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) report It found that the NDIS until recently lacked basic fraud prevention. Manual reviews covered 0.4 percent of $41.85 billion in payments and detected noncompliance in more than half of those cases. The government chose to employ AFP officers to arrest individuals after the money disappeared.

State sanctioned theft

The coalition ran Robodebt with legal advice and publicly warned that the plan was in conflict with the law. Social Security Act. A 2014 opinion flagged the problems. law firm Clayton Utz In 2018 he told them the legal situation was as follows: ‘catastrophic‘. They kept the machine running.

Between 2015 and 2019, schema He collected $746 million by wrongfully pursuing 450,000 Australians for debts they did not owe. The automated system reversed the burden of proof; The victims were forced to prove their innocence by producing pay stubs dating back years, while dealing with an obtuse bureaucracy deliberately designed to intimidate them.

Rhys Cauzzo He was 28 years old when he died by suicide after receiving his notice. Jarrad Madgwick He was 22 years old. Royal Commission confirmed that seven families linked the deaths of their loved ones to this plan. People sold cars, emptied savings accounts and took out loans to pay off debts that never existed.

$475 million settlement (plus previous payments) brought total compensation to $2.4 billion. The Royal Commission made 57 recommendations.

No lawsuits were filed against anyone.

The glacial pace of elite accountability

Australian Public Service Commission was investigated. Some people received fines. Others were demoted. Nobody was fired. Nobody lost their pension. No one faced criminal charges.

National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) theoretically investigates six people referred to by the Royal Commission. But only after the Commissar Paul Brereton He initially refused to investigate, a decision that failed the “public test” so much that more than 1,200 people complained and the NACC’s own Inspector found Brereton had engaged in “misconduct”. The investigation finally began in February 2025, nearly two years after the conclusion of the Royal Commission.

Compare this timeline Operation Pegasus: Investigation opened in December 2020, arrests in April 2021, convictions and sentences in October 2024. Four years from investigation to prison.

Robodebt Royal Commission It ended in July 2023. As we approach two years without charges, the NACC is investigating itself for trying to protect the people it was created to investigate.

two systems

When the AFP seeks results, it tracks cryptocurrency on international exchanges and coordinates hundreds of officials in four states. Suspects can freeze assets before finishing breakfast. But when the target oversees an illegal scheme that steals 50 times more than the biggest NDIS fraud? Investigations are “complex.” Witnesses need to be handled “carefully”. Years pass.

Message: Rob the Commonwealth and you share a cell block. Become a Commonwealth and rob people? You will share your concerns about the Senate estimates and retire to the private sector with your pension intact.

The AFP’s NDIS investigations are important. Every dollar stolen from disability services is a dollar that cannot help someone in need. Fraud erodes these programs and gives ammunition to those who want to eliminate them.

But Robodebt didn’t just steal money, it also poisoned the public’s trust in the welfare system. It confirmed every cruel stereotype about welfare recipients as cheating and bludgeoning. This showed that the Government could terrorize you with illegal demands and face no consequences. Everyone who currently works with Centrelink and wonders whether the system will suddenly produce a phantom debt carries this trauma.

Until those responsible for Robodebt face the same justice system that jails NDIS fraudsters, until charges are laid, trials brought and accountability is achieved, we recognize that there are two legal systems in Australia: one for those who steal with power, the other for those who steal with power.

The AFP has proven it knows how to catch criminals who exploit vulnerable people. The only question that remains is whether they will be allowed to capture all of them or only those without parliamentary pensions.

Dr Michael King is an adjunct senior lecturer at the Australian Institute of Policing and Security at Charles Sturt University. The focus of their investigation is financial crimes.

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