Robodebt mother told she cannot claim $475 million compensation for son's death
Commonwealth lawyers exclude Jarrad Madgwick's mother from the $475 million robodebt settlement. They cite a technicality.
Kath Madgwick's son Jarrad died by suicide in 2019 at age 22. Jarrad saw a debt notice of $1,795 through robodebt.
Kath cannot claim from the historic $475 million settlement, Commonwealth lawyers say. Commonwealth lawyers argue Jarrad never got an official debt notice.
Jarrad only saw a provisional outcome in his MyGov portal before his death. The royal commission's report gave over a page to Jarrad's case.
It found how he learned about the debt was a key factor in his death. Services Australia says his debt was not calculated using the unlawful income-averaging method.
This method is the key test for settlement help, which covers about 450,000 victims. Madgwick says she will keep fighting to have her son's case recognized.
She wants to stop this happening again.
- $1,795
- Son's debt amount
- $475 million
- Settlement pool
- 2019
- Year of death
- About 450,000
- Victims covered
Why it mattersA legal detail excludes a family the royal commission itself highlighted as a robodebt tragedy. This raises questions about who the settlement really helps.
AustraliaThis reveals a potential gap in Australia's robodebt compensation scheme that may exclude other victims who received only informal notices or died before formal debt notices were issued.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 2 h ago
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