"...Concerns over the scheme's central method, income averaging, were first raised in the media in late 2016.

The Coalition government repeatedly defended the program, which continued to operate until 2019, falsely accusing hundreds of thousands of welfare recipients of owing money to Centrelink.

Ms Miller said there was a "proliferation" of negative media coverage in late 2016 that was "growing and growing and growing" but it was "predominantly in the left-wing media".

"We weren't too concerned because it wasn't unusual that the left-wing media were attacking us regarding social policy," she said.

(...)

"The prime minister [Malcom Turnbull] was unhappy with the escalating media issue around this [Robodebt] … we were trying to contain it," she said.

"I developed a crisis media strategy at the request of the minister – he was very firm with me that I needed to shut this story down.

"That involved … placing stories with the more friendly media, the right-wing media, about how the Coalition was actually catching people who were cheating the welfare system."

"But we had a continued crisis in the left-wing media that wasn't seeming to die down," she said.

Ms Miller said the government released personal information of Robodebt "case studies" to the media to deter more people from speaking out.

"The minister requested the file of every single person who appeared in the media … you could see the exact transactions that they'd had with Centrelink.

"This would send a clear message … that maybe consider it [going to the media] twice.

"There were less people speaking out in the media which was our intention."

'It's a disgrace' Former acting national manager of Department of Human Services Bevan Hannan at Robodebt royal commission. He said he became "quite upset" watching earlier public hearings because "it became apparent that people [at the department] knew that aspects of the Robodebt scheme were unlawful".

"There was an opportunity in January 2017 to put a stop to it," Mr Hannan said. "

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The media is never on the leftist side.