Robodebt boss Kathryn Campbell parachuted into $900K AUKUS job

Senior bureaucrats worked to move Kathryn Campbell into a new job as an adviser on AUKUS before the PM announced she was being dumped.

Former Department of Social Services Secretary Kathryn Campbell. Picture; AAP.

New documents show senior bureaucrats worked to move former DFAT secretary Kathryn Campbell into a new job with a $900,000 pay packet weeks before it was announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese she was being dumped and moved into another advisory role.

Senior staff including Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Glyn Davis and former Public Service commissioner Peter Woolcott exchanged correspondence about Ms Campbell’s salary expectations six days before her termination was made public.

Mr Woolcott wrote to Professor Davis on June 16, 2022 outlining that Ms Campbell’s new job “could be expected to match (the) current salary”, which was more than $892,000.

She was then appointed as a special advisor on the AUKUS submarine taskforce.

Ms Campbell’s new role with the Defence department has come under scrutiny after she was adversely mentioned in the recent report into the flawed Robodebt scheme.

Royal Commissioner Catherine Holmes found Ms Campbell – who was the Human Services secretary from 2011 to 2017 – sought not to go ahead with legal advice into the scheme.

The Commissioner also ruled that Ms Campbell repeatedly failed to act when the program’s flaws and illegality became apparent.