Lessons from Centrelink: Seven steps to undoing anger caused by automation

"Around the world there have been debacles caused by automation. A Michigan government agency wrongly accused 20,000 people of fraudulently seeking unemployment benefits. Imagine the angry clients!

Centrelink started the year badly. An upsurge of complaints about its over-zealous, frequently inaccurate robo-debt collection methods might hopefully spell an end of misplaced bureaucratic faith in automation — and prompt a review of who really should be targeted in the quest for recouping dollars.

The Age’s economic editor Peter Martin described the debacle as a worrying reversal of the “innocent until proven guilty” premise on which our laws are based. It’s certainly a misapplication, or non-application, of good governance principles.

Looking at this mess from the perspective of Centrelink’s staff, there are nevertheless ways to overcome the anger towards any organisation left mopping up afterwards." Read more

Eve Ash Startup Smart 14 Mar 2017