Robo-debt target says Morrison government sacked her after raising alarm

One of two senior public servants publicly blamed for their part in the robo-debt scandal says she was sacked after pressuring the former Coalition government to bring the welfare debt recovery scheme to an end.

Renee Leon’s intervention means both she and her predecessor as head of the Human Services Department, Kathryn Campbell, have questioned the public service watchdog’s findings.

Renee Leon, pictured in 2021, said she gave frank and fearless advice to the former Coalition government about the robo-debt scheme.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

In a report handed down last week, the Australian Public Service Commission apologised on behalf of the bureaucracy for the scheme, overseen by ministers including Scott Morrison, that issued automated debts to welfare recipients based on unlawful calculations. The resulting political scandal culminated in a royal commission.

Leon and Campbell were among 12 officials found to have breached public service rules in the watchdog’s probe, though the 10 others will remain unnamed.

The watchdog found Leon, now vice-chancellor of Charles Sturt University, failed to quickly inform her minister and colleagues of legal advice showing the calculation of debts was flawed.

Leon said robo-debt had been in operation for two years when she took over the department, and she sought legal advice from the solicitor-general.

“I acted as expeditiously as possible to convince a government that was wedded to the robo-debt scheme that it had to be ceased,” she posted on LinkedIn on Friday.

“When ministers delayed, I directed it be stopped. Two weeks later, my role as secretary was terminated by a government that did not welcome frank and fearless advice.

“Robo-debt was a failed policy, developed without a proper legal basis, that caused enormous pain for some of Australia’s most vulnerable people. I am disappointed with the way the Australian Public Service Commission has come to its decision.”

The National Anti-Corruption Commission opted not to investigate individuals referred to it by the robo-debt royal commission, upsetting victim advocates. The Public Service Commission’s inquiry may therefore be the final robo-debt probe, although the government could still release the names of public officials in a secret section of the royal commission’s report, inviting a new round of public scrutiny.

Former public service chief Martin Parkinson backed Leon, saying he had never questioned her integrity over two decades working with her.

“I have no doubt that her decision to terminate robo-debt, having exhausted efforts to test its legality, played a very significant role in her subsequent termination by the Morrison government,” he said.

Leon’s defence of her conduct came on the same weekend Kathryn Campbell, who headed departments involved in robo-debt from 2011 to 2021, told The Australian she rejected all findings from the royal commission into the scheme and accused Government Services Minister Bill Shorten of politicising her role in it.

The Public Service Commission’s report released on Friday found Campbell failed to respond to whistleblower complaints and investigate legal concerns and did not inform her minister of issues with the scheme. She was cleared of other allegations, including misleading cabinet, directing legal advice and failing to discharge her duties.

“There had been ministerial comments from Minister Shorten about me and no one else, just me. He drew parallels about problems with [former prime minister Scott] Morrison and I. He did try and connect me to Mr Morrison, so I thought there was a bit of an angle there,” Campbell said on Saturday.

Shorten castigated Campbell for launching a “furious tirade blaming everyone else” after she claimed she was “set up as the scapegoat”.

“Ms Campbell, you are not a scapegoat; you were involved in robo-debt. There were 430,000 scapegoats; they are our fellow Australian citizens who had unlawful debt notices raised against them by the most powerful institution in Australia,” he said on Friday.

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