A long-running legal battle to access documents behind the Federal Government's botched Robodebt scheme will be back before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on Wednesday 25 August.
The case centres on early business plans and other documents produced by the Department of Human Services – now known as Services Australia – to justify the rollout of the Robodebt scheme.
These documents could reveal what Prime Minister Scott Morrison and senior ministers Christian Porter and Alan Tudge knew when they had responsibility for the program.
Human rights advocate Justin Warren first requested the documents under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws back in 2017.
When the department refused to release the documents, Mr Warren challenged the decision through the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, and won.
Services Australia appealed the OAIC's decision, and the Tribunal considered the appeal in June 2021. Wednesday's hearing is in relation to an application from Services Australia to reopen its case and introduce new evidence.
The case forms part of the Grata FOI Project and is being run pro bono by Maurice Blackburn.
