Introduction

Putting an end to a 9-month quest, the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) has appointed Amanda Cattermole as its new CEO. By the end of September, Cattermole will take over the position which was previously filled by the interim CEO Bettina McMahon since February 2020 after Tim Kelsey’s resignation. Tim served the agency as its CEO for 3 years before leaving. 

Amanda Cattermole – the new CEO of the ADHA

Most recently, Cattermole was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Services Australia. Previously, she also stepped into the role of Services Australia CEO on an interim basis and held other deputy secretary roles at the Australian agency when it was known as the Department of Human Services.

Dr Elizabeth Deveny, ADHA Board Chair says that Amanda is held in the highest regards across the public health and service sector and brings a depth of knowledge and capability with her to the role of the CEO and that too at a time when digital health has never been more important.

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Services Australia, robo-debt and the refund

During Amanda’s tenure at Services Australia, the agency started a data-matching program of work that witnessed the issuing of automatic debt notices to those citizens who were in receipt of the welfare payments through the Centrelink scheme.

Commonly known as robo-debt, the program by Services Australia automatically compared the incomes declared to the ATO against income declared to Centrelink which resulted in debt notices and a 10% fee of recovery being issued whenever a disparity in data was detected by the system.

One big error in this system was that it wrongly calculated a recipient’s income basing fortnightly pay on the annual salary rather than the cumulative 26-week snapshot of what the recipient was paid. Services Australia admitted to getting about 470,000 debts incorrect and since then the agency said it needs to refund about A$721 million back to the Australian citizens.

Conclusion

Amanda Cattermole’s appointment as the new CEO of the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) marks a significant milestone in the agency’s leadership. With her vast experience, including her role as COO of Services Australia, she is poised to lead ADHA at a crucial time in digital health innovation. Her past involvement in the controversial robo-debt program also highlights her complex history, including efforts to address and refund those affected by the system’s errors. As Cattermole takes the helm, her expertise will play a vital role in shaping the future of digital health in Australia.

FAQs

  1. Who is Amanda Cattermole?
    Amanda Cattermole is the newly appointed CEO of the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA). Before this, she was the COO of Services Australia and has held various senior roles within the Australian public service.
  2. What is robo-debt?
    Robo-debt was a controversial program run by Services Australia that used data-matching to automatically issue debt notices to welfare recipients based on discrepancies between income declared to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and Centrelink.
  3. What went wrong with the robo-debt program?
    The robo-debt program made significant errors by calculating welfare recipients’ income based on annual salary rather than the correct 26-week snapshot, leading to incorrect debt notices being issued to around 470,000 people.
  4. How is Services Australia addressing the errors made by the robo-debt program?
    Services Australia has acknowledged the mistakes and is in the process of refunding A$721 million to the citizens who were wrongly charged through the robo-debt system.
  5. Why is Amanda Cattermole important to ADHA?
    With her deep knowledge of public health services and digital initiatives, Amanda Cattermole is seen as a capable leader who will drive the digital health agenda forward, an area that is crucial for improving healthcare services in Australia.

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