Did you know algorithms can make decisions on behalf of ministers?

Australian law explicitly allows computers to make important decisions previously made by the ministers or staff of at least 11 federal government departments. This has been going on since at least 2001, well before the age of algorithms, and yet there remains little clarity about exactly what decisions are being entrusted to the computers. As best we can tell, the first legislation allowing computers to automatically make important decisions with real impact on people's lives was the Social Security (Administration) Act -- which also happens to be the critical piece of legislation that allowed the most high-profile and controversial automated government program so far, Centrelink's'robodebt' endeavour. The legislation giving computers decision-making power over social security is very short and, as these things go, easy to understand. It was introduced in 2001 along with a slew of other provisions around debt recovery.