Proposed Legislation Requires Senior Public Servants to be Held Accountable for Robodebt
The government is implementing new legislation that will authorize the Australian Public Service Commissioner to investigate former agency heads.
The Albanese government is rushing to amend the law to hold someone accountable for the Robodebt scheme that was in operation between 2015 and 2019.
This scheme led to the government unlawfully imposing $1.76 billion (US$1.17 billion) in debts on 443,000 individuals. A number of suicides were linked to the stress caused by the demand for payment.
Following the release of the Robodebt Royal Commission report in July of last year, adverse findings were made against multiple senior public servants, including former Department of Human Services secretaries Kathryn Campbell and Renée Leon.
Moreover, six unnamed individuals were referred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), with five of them also being referred to the Australian Public Service (APS) Commission.
At that time, the APS Commission, which had formed a taskforce to handle code of conduct referrals, indicated that 16 individuals had been notified of being under investigation.
Reports suggest that among those being investigated were current public servants mentioned in the report’s sealed section, former employees referred by their agency heads, and former agency heads referred by the minister overseeing their department.
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Stephen Sedgwick, together with Department of Health deputy secretary Penny Shakespeare, was chosen as an independent reviewer.
The APS Commissioner was nearing the end of investigations into former agency heads with regard to their actions during the Robodebt era.
No Action by Anti-Corruption Commission
The NACC declared in June of this year that it would take no action against individuals referred to it by the Royal Commission, raising the possibility of no one being held accountable for what Commissioner Catherine Holmes described as a “crude and cruel” scheme, a major breakdown in public administration, and an “extraordinary saga” of “venality, incompetence, and cowardice.”
Therefore, one year and one month after the release of the Royal Commission’s report, the government has announced its intent to take “decisive action to ensure accountability of former senior public service leaders” by introducing legislation permitting “an express power for the Australian Public Service Commissioner to investigate former agency heads for alleged breaches of the APS Code of Conduct and make determinations.”
Minister for the Public Service Katy Gallagher stated that the amendments had been “fast-tracked to clarify that former agency heads can be held accountable for breaches of the Code of Conduct while in their role, similar to current and former APS employees.”
“Agency heads are obligated to adhere to the Code of Conduct and should be answerable for their actions, and it is crucial for these investigations into individuals referred by the Robodebt Royal Commission to be wrapped up expeditiously,” Gallagher emphasized.
“This legislation will ensure that senior public servants are unequivocally responsible for their behaviors as leaders in public service, even after leaving their positions.”
Gallagher condemned the Robodebt scheme as a “shameful chapter” in public administration that the government is committed to never repeating.
In November of 2023, the government either agreed or agreed in principle to all 56 recommendations of the Royal Commission.
