The commission found: “Robodebt was a crude and cruel mechanism, neither fair nor legal, and it made many people feel like criminals. In essence, people were traumatised on the off-chance they might owe money. It was a costly failure of public administration, in both human and economic terms.”
Public Service Commissioner Gordon de Brouwer on Friday released the results of the investigation by a taskforce with independent reviewers that the commission established to examine the actions of a batch of public servants.
In a statement outlining the findings, de Brouwer said Campbell’s breaches related to “failure to act with due care and diligence” and not upholding the Australian Public Service’s values.
Among a list of failures, in 2017 she did not ensure internal and external legal advice was sought about the scheme, did not sufficiently respond to public criticism and some whistleblower complaints, and did not ensure her minister was fully informed of academic and legal criticism of the scheme.
Also, Campbell “created and allowed a culture that prevented issues about the Scheme from being properly considered” within the department.
She “caused the resumption of income averaging under the Scheme in August 2017 when she knew, or ought to have known, that debts raised pursuant to that process were potentially inaccurate”.
https://theconversation.com/two-former-federal-departmental-heads-breached-public-service-code-25-times-in-robodebt-scandal-238986written by Michelle Grattan.....
as usual a very clinical piece of journalistic excellence.
