Scott Morrison has apologised for any “hurt or harm” caused by his government’s robodebt scheme, but the practice looks set to continue.

The Federal Government’s data-matching ‘robodebt’ scheme has been found to have unlawfully raised hundreds of millions of dollars in alleged debts from welfare recipients. ‘

The automated debt program caused untold stress to thousands of people already on the margins. Some were wrongly told they owed the government thousands of dollars because of mistakes they made in reporting their own income. This pushed many into deep despair, distress, and in some cases, suicide.

The Prime Minister says he deeply regrets “any hardship that has been caused to people in the conduct of that activity”.

But he made no indication that the practice would end.

“The business of raising and recovering debts on behalf of taxpayers is a difficult job and it deals with Australians in many very sensitive circumstances,” he said.

Mr Morrison said he had instructed government agencies to be “sensitive to people’s circumstances”, and that if there were lessons to be learned from the botched, unlawful and borderline abusive scheme, “they will be learned”.