10.5281/zenodo.884117
https://zenodo.org/records/884117
oai:zenodo.org:884117
Henman, Paul
Paul
Henman
University of Queensland
The computer says 'DEBT': Towards a critical sociology of algorithms and algorithmic governance
Zenodo
2017
algorithm
welfare fraud
social security
Australia
procedural justice
2017-09-04
10.5281/zenodo.884116
https://zenodo.org/communities/dfp17
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
This paper uses Australia's automated processes to identify and recover social security over-payments as a case study to critically analyze the role of algorithms in government and public administration. The paper analyzes the algorithm in terms of: its performance with respect to its purpose; its role in public administration processes and principles; its impact on citizen-service users; and its role in politics. The paper concludes with a discussion of policy and public administrative principles that can be adopted for public sector governance and accountability with government by algorithm.