AUSTRALIA | Automation: …when the law is changed but the system isn’t

On 6 August 2025, the Commonwealth Ombudsman released an investigation report into the cancellation of income support payments to welfare recipients involving automatic decisions to cancel income support - without consideration of the job seeker’s circumstances.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman’s recommendations provide lessons for all agencies to ensure automated decision-making systems are aligned with law and policy and are subject to ongoing testing and assurance to ensure decisions are lawful, fair and reasonable. 

The report can be found here and in the download section below.

Source: The Office of the Commonwealth and ACT Ombudsman, Australia