Ten years ago I was a new lawyer working in welfare rights at a community legal centre when Robodebt arrived.

Most know the story. An automated debt recovery scheme. Hundreds of thousands of unlawful debts. Then a royal commission followed by public apologies, compensation payments, careers ended, reputations damaged.

But when I think about Robodebt, I think about people whose lives were destroyed.

I think about the clients who sat across from me clutching debt notices they did not understand. They assumed if a government department said you owed money, you must have done something wrong.

One of the most troubling aspects of Robodebt was that so many warning signs existed. Community legal centres, welfare rights advocates, academics and social security specialists all raised their concerns.

Yet the scheme continued for four years.

It’s no longer 2014. I’m now the CEO of the same community legal centre. We operate disability advocacy services, disability discrimination legal services and NDIS appeals advocacy, among other services.

I’m a decade older, hopefully wiser, certainly more experienced and less willing to accept assurances that “there will be human oversight” simply because a government says there will be.

That is why I am increasingly concerned by the direction of NDIS reform.

The government has defended its move to bring........

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