Australia's NDIS Gets a Government App With Blockchain But No Ethics (zdnet.com) 47
An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet: Good news, disabled Australians! You'll soon be getting an app that will implement a welfare compliance regime designed by the people who brought you robo-debt. But don't worry, it'll have blockchain. No, this isn't good news at all. What makes it worse is that it's clear the government wants to extend technology-driven compliance to all Australians, with an emphasis on cracking down on your mistakes, not theirs. Kathryn Campbell, Secretary of the Department of Social Services, says the long-term plan is to have one app for all Commonwealth government services. "One to rule the world," she said last month, apparently oblivious to how evil that sounds.
Senators are already worried that the disability app, intended to be used by participants in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to claim expenses against their support plan, will go the way of COVIDSafe: Millions of dollars spent on technology that doesn't really do the job. The intention was to fix a poor web experience, and allow claims to be made from a mobile device. But instead of simply creating a better website, in 2018, the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) joined forces with CSIRO's Data61 and the Commonwealth Bank to trial blockchain-based smart money that would magically know whether the expense was legitimate or not. According to the CEO of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), Martin Hoffman, that pilot app has been "very popular and well-received," and the feedback has been "extremely positive." The app will be "fully available in the coming months, first on Google Play and then Apple's app store," he said. "Given the horrendously complex NDIS environment, defective processes and vulnerable people, there needs to be considerable caution in the application of blockchain technology," wrote former NDIS Technology Authority chief Marie Johnson in a submission [PDF] to the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on the NDIS. "Blockchain in itself -- as with other technology innovations -- does not address fundamental design and human rights issues. Ethics is paramount. The involvement of the Commonwealth Bank itself raises further ethics issues, given the value of participant data; the size of the market; and the yet to be realized emarket honey pot of data, funds and services."
You can view the detailed "Making Money Smart: Empowering NDIS participants with Blockchain technologies" report here (PDF).
Senators are already worried that the disability app, intended to be used by participants in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to claim expenses against their support plan, will go the way of COVIDSafe: Millions of dollars spent on technology that doesn't really do the job. The intention was to fix a poor web experience, and allow claims to be made from a mobile device. But instead of simply creating a better website, in 2018, the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) joined forces with CSIRO's Data61 and the Commonwealth Bank to trial blockchain-based smart money that would magically know whether the expense was legitimate or not. According to the CEO of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), Martin Hoffman, that pilot app has been "very popular and well-received," and the feedback has been "extremely positive." The app will be "fully available in the coming months, first on Google Play and then Apple's app store," he said. "Given the horrendously complex NDIS environment, defective processes and vulnerable people, there needs to be considerable caution in the application of blockchain technology," wrote former NDIS Technology Authority chief Marie Johnson in a submission [PDF] to the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on the NDIS. "Blockchain in itself -- as with other technology innovations -- does not address fundamental design and human rights issues. Ethics is paramount. The involvement of the Commonwealth Bank itself raises further ethics issues, given the value of participant data; the size of the market; and the yet to be realized emarket honey pot of data, funds and services."
You can view the detailed "Making Money Smart: Empowering NDIS participants with Blockchain technologies" report here (PDF).
sad it is highlighted as blockchain (Score:3)
Re: sad it is highlighted as blockchain (Score:2)
They don't explain it. It sounds like it's being used to create a closed market. If I give you cash for medical expenses, you could just go buy alcohol. Unless you use some system of debt. This essentially removes the debt but adds some point if exchange. You could go to the doctor, pay with this block chain currency, and then have the doctor exchange with the government for the cash. It also adds a layer that authenticated these transactions, so things like medicad fraud become harder. If manufacturers ar
Re: sad it is highlighted as blockchain (Score:4, Interesting)
People in Australia dont pay for the doctor with anything its free. Im sorry you have no idea how Australia functions you are not qualified to make these sort of statements.
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Listen here cunt, it's an example of an exchange. You are right I do not know how the Australia health system functions but the flaw you outlined hardly nullifies my whole statement.
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Sounds fair. Sorry your comment was downvoted. Hope this is reversed.
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As an Australian, I think the statement that our healthcare system is free to be gross oversimplification that is misleading. Large parts of the Australian healthcare system are free but large parts are not free. There's a thriving private health care system in Australia alongside the public system. There's a reason that 44% of Australians have private health insurance to supplement their free health care. Our system isn't really rational, it's a political compromise. One party gets into power and tweaks th
Re: sad it is highlighted as blockchain (Score:2)
The political flip flop is the same in America.
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That's fair but healthcare normally involves a market. It also mentions the NDIS and validating expenses, so clearly some money is being exchange somewhere. Even if the services are provided through social services, the government still needs to compensate the providers somehow. Authenticating both the production of goods and the legitimacy of the transactions can be secured using block-chain which is my main point.
I also see the comment about human rights, so I agree there is more going on here but as you
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For me, its obvious you are appraoching this as american where its all about the money
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Listen here cunt,
You do understand the Australian language however.
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99% of the world wishes they lived in Australia.
Ha! Citation needed.
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> You could go to the doctor, pay with this block chain currenc People in Australia dont pay for the doctor with anything its free. Im sorry you have no idea how Australia functions you are not qualified to make these sort of statements.
So Aussie doctors are just paid with unicorns and rainbow farts, huh? Cool. That explains all the guys in scrubs I saw begging on the street corners.
(For a minute I thought that you were saying that Australians pay their doctors through some government funding scheme, but I'm glad you clarified that it's all "free'!)
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Are you that slow you cant tell the diff between the patient and the doctor ? > That explains all the guys in scrubs I saw begging on the street corners.
There are basically. no beggars or homeless people in Australia unlike america where you see them on a very many street corners. LA prolly has mor ehomeless in their CBD than Australia has in the entire country.
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Yes, we do. We pay for it with these things called "taxes". Of course, since the current government wants to do away with this system in favour of something more like what the USAians use (fuck only knows why), the amount doctors are able to claim from the government and the actual cost of running a medical practice have grown increasingly out of step over the last 20 years or so, which means it is far more common to have to pay extra when you go to the doctor than it used to be, or even should be.
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Really i had no idea, i mean i must be a fucking idiot not to figure that out. Its even stated on my tax return but i guess i cant read.
> Of course, since the current government wants to do away with this system in favour of something more like what the USAians use (fuck only knows why), the amount doctors are able to claim from the government and the actual cost of running a medical practice have grown increasingly out of step over the
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Reminds me of the US VA (Score:2)
Re:Reminds me of the US VA (Score:4, Funny)
That's because they didn't use blockchain. These vets should have bought Bitcoin. I transferred my retirement fund to Bitcoin when it was $20. Now I have my pick of the best doctors in the world, and I don't need the VA. Hell, I have my own Navy. Elon Musk was so impressed he gave me free Starlink. I'm posting this 200 miles out from Oahu right now.
It's not too late, veterans. Sell whatever property you may have got through the G.I. bill and move your funds into Bitcoin. You'll beat decades worth of real estate appreciation in just three months. What are you, stupid? Why do you like being poor?
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When you are #1 in the world at everything, why does any other place matter. /s
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Gun massacres & homeless people ?
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Incarcerated too... Come on, don't you know that the measure of power is in how many people you can lock up?
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Kathryn Campbell, Secretary of the Department of Social Services, says the long-term plan is to have one app for all Commonwealth government services.
It's Aus government software, it'll cost tens if not hundreds of millions, be years late, and not work. So there's nothing to worry about really, apart from it wasting your tax money.
MyGov takeover bid? (Score:4, Insightful)
the long-term plan is to have one app for all Commonwealth government services.
Yes, because the other one-to-rule-them-all, MyGov (http://my.gov.au), works so well.
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Yes, because the other one-to-rule-them-all, MyGov (http://my.gov.au), works so well.
You jest, and sure the website has its warts. But it is largely far better than what came before. Mind you I don't think blockchain will improve it.
Robo-debt explained (Score:4, Informative)
The [welfare services] Online Compliance Intervention (OCI) program from 2016 automatically compared the income declared to the Australian Taxation Office against income declared to [welfare services], which resulted in debt notices, along with a 10% recovery fee, being issued whenever a disparity in government data was detected.
The comparing of tax records has been happening for 20 years, originally part of the National Identity Card which was scrapped but they kept the data-matching because it would recover 135M$ of fraudulent payments. The real recovery was 30M$ and people on welfare for less than 11 months, getting a "please explain" because their annual income was more than their welfare payments.
The presumption of guilt in the policy, caused the scheme to be cancelled in 2020.
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$30M still seems like a decent return? The presumption of guilt though is a bit shitty.
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Why do we need caution because of NDIS? (Score:3)
Sure disabled people and complex processes add an extra layer, but here's a simplified version of that statement:
Don't bolt pointless fucking blockchain on everything. At least private industry has largely moved on from the 2018 retardation. Now we just need governments and fintech to move on as well.
What's the ethical conundrum with blockchain? (Score:2)