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A review by rotheche
Mean Streak: a moral vacuum & a multi-billion dollar government shakedown by Rick Morton
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Mean Streak is an in-depth examination of Australia's Robodebt scandal, an act of bastardry by the then-Australian government that targeted some of the country's most vulnerable by telling them they 'owed' the government hundreds or thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars because they had cheated on their unemployment benefits.
In many - or most - cases, either the debts never existed, or they were vastly smaller than claimed. That the debts were raised at all happened because of an automated system that took annual income data from the Australian Taxation Office and averaged it over 12 months. The problem with this is, unemployment benefit is paid fortnightly, and that's how any income is assessed too - fortnightly. So if you worked for nine months of the year, and then lost your job, had no other income other than unemployment benefits, this data matching/averaging process would raise a debt, because it would show income across the whole 12 months. It was a ridiculous idea, borne of desperation for advancement and budget savings.
Rick Morton's rage at what robodebt's architects perpetrated against some of Australia's most vulnerable people leaps off the page; it's visceral, and deserved. Rank and file Centrelink assessors were flagging early on that this method of assessing income was not tenable, lawyers issued opinions that was illegal under the social security act, and it still rolled on.
It's a detailed, furious read; nearly 450 pages (500 if you count the responses included from those responsible, which the book encourages you to do) detailing five years of ducking accountability, massaging language and twisting or avoiding the facts to get this scheme off the ground and keep it going.
Everyone in the Australian public service should read it; everyone who manages policy or ever has the choice between writing "This thing is broken" and "This thing may present challenges" should read it.
In many - or most - cases, either the debts never existed, or they were vastly smaller than claimed. That the debts were raised at all happened because of an automated system that took annual income data from the Australian Taxation Office and averaged it over 12 months. The problem with this is, unemployment benefit is paid fortnightly, and that's how any income is assessed too - fortnightly. So if you worked for nine months of the year, and then lost your job, had no other income other than unemployment benefits, this data matching/averaging process would raise a debt, because it would show income across the whole 12 months. It was a ridiculous idea, borne of desperation for advancement and budget savings.
Rick Morton's rage at what robodebt's architects perpetrated against some of Australia's most vulnerable people leaps off the page; it's visceral, and deserved. Rank and file Centrelink assessors were flagging early on that this method of assessing income was not tenable, lawyers issued opinions that was illegal under the social security act, and it still rolled on.
It's a detailed, furious read; nearly 450 pages (500 if you count the responses included from those responsible, which the book encourages you to do) detailing five years of ducking accountability, massaging language and twisting or avoiding the facts to get this scheme off the ground and keep it going.
Everyone in the Australian public service should read it; everyone who manages policy or ever has the choice between writing "This thing is broken" and "This thing may present challenges" should read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Classism