The People vs Robodebt: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

The People vs Robodebtis an emotionally charged political thriller which unravels the devastating human story behind one of Australia's greatest political scandals. 

In the long hot summer of 2016, the federal government's new Online Compliance Intervention scheme roared like a bushfire through Australian society. This automated welfare system soon became known as "Robodebt" and over the next three years, almost half a million Australians were hounded to pay back debts they did not owe. The system was later found to be inaccurate, unethical and illegal. Some people lost their savings, their homes, their marriages and a few lost their lives.  

How did such a "crude and cruel"[2] error-riddled scheme ever get off the ground, let alone run for years? 

A brave handful of Australians witnessed what was happening and took a stand. In The People vs Robodebt many of these people tell their full story for the first time.

Using a potent combination of gripping documentary story-telling with high end drama, the series follows the tireless and heroic efforts of these extraordinary people who fought against the system: the Robodebt victims and their angry families, the crusading social media activists, the whistleblowers and investigative journalists, the tenacious lawyers, as well as the forgotten victims of Robodebt: the Centrelink workers who bravely battled the system from within – their complaints falling on deaf ears.

Series details

• Title: The People vs Robodebt
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama
• Premiere date: 2025-09-24
• Final broadcast date listed: 2025-09-24
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Web channel listed by TVmaze: SBS On Demand
• Network country: Australia
• Typical episode runtime: 55 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 86732

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2025-09-24; final listed air date 2025-09-24; episode order: 3.

Source and licence

Adapted from The People vs Robodebt on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.