Corruption watchdog will not further investigate public officials over robodebt scheme
The national corruption watchdog has announced its decision about six public officials referred over their questionable conduct in the illegal robodebt saga.
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The national corruption watchdog will not be investigating any of the six public officials referred over their questionable conduct in the illegal robodebt saga.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission on Thursday revealed its decision almost one year after a royal commission had found the debt recovery scheme was “neither fair nor legal” and referred individuals named in a “confidential” chapter of the report for further investigation.
The NACC reviewed the “extensive” material from the royal commission and concluded it would not be pursuing the individuals for corrupt conduct.
“In the absence of a real likelihood of a further investigation producing significant new evidence, it is undesirable for a number of reasons to conduct multiple investigations into the same matter,” the NACC statement said.
“This includes the risk of inconsistent outcomes, and the oppression involved in subjecting individuals to repeated investigations.”
Five of the six public officials are also under the microscope of the Australian Public Services Commission, which — unlike the NACC — can impose sanctions, including firing them.
The NACC said it was “conscious” of the personal impact of the robodebt scheme, but did not have the power to provide any victims or their families “remedy or redress”.
“The Commission has therefore decided not to commence a corruption investigation as it would not add value in the public interest,” the statement said.
However the corruption body said the outcomes of the royal commission contained “lessons of great importance” for improving integrity in the Commonwealth public sector and the “accountability of public officials”.
“The Commission will continue through its investigation, inquiry, and corruption prevention and education functions, to address the integrity issues raised in the final (robodebt) report, particularly in relation to ethical decision making, to ensure that those lessons are learnt, and to hold public officials to account,” the statement said.
The decision was the first major announcement by the NACC since it was formed by the Albanese Government in July 2023.
The former Coalition government launched robodebt in mid-2015 aiming to save billions of dollars.
Debt notices were issued to Australians through a process known as income averaging, which compared fortnightly income reports by Centrelink recipients with annual tax office data.
More than $750 million was wrongfully recovered from 381,000 people.
The royal commission heard evidence of bureaucrats ignoring questions and advice about the legality of the scheme.
The robodebt royal commission final report criticised the scheme as a “crude and cruel mechanism, neither fair nor legal” that had continued to operate due to “venality, incompetence and cowardice”.
Royal commissioner Catherine Holmes made 57 recommendations and also referred individuals for criminal and civil prosecution.
The recommendations included adopting more face-to-face services, reviewing how Services Australia interacts with its customers, a six-year limit on debt and an audit body for automated decision making.
The Albanese Government agreed in full or in principle to 56 of the recommendations, rejecting one that called for significant changes to the Freedom of Information Act.
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Originally published as Corruption watchdog will not further investigate public officials over robodebt scheme
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