NACC won't investigate robodebt referrals

In a statement on Thursday afternoon, the National Anti Corruption Commission (NACC) revealed it had "decided not to commence a corruption investigation as it would not add value in the public interest".

For the first time, the watchdog revealed six public officials had been referred to it, and that five of these people were public servants, who had been referred to the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC).

"The commission is conscious of the impact of the robodebt scheme on individuals and the public, the seniority of the officials involved, and the need to ensure that any corruption issue is fully investigated," the NACC's statement read.

"However, the conduct of the six public officials in connection with the robodebt scheme has already been fully explored by the robodebt royal commission and extensively discussed in its final report.

"After close consideration of the evidence that was available to the royal commission, the commission has concluded that it is unlikely it would obtain significant new evidence."

The statement also said the NACC would not be able to "grant a remedy or impose a sanction (as the APSC can)" for the impacts of the unlawful scheme.

"An investigation by the commission would not provide any individual remedy or redress for the recipients of government payments or their families who suffered due to the robodebt scheme."

It went on to stress the importance of the royal commission report, for communicating "lessons of great importance for enhancing integrity in the Commonwealth public sector and the accountability of public officials".

The Public Service Commission will release a final statement on 14 investigations into current and former public servants in the "next month or two".

Public Service Commissioner Gordon de Brouwer last week revealed that four current public servants had been found to have breached their obligations in relation to the scheme, in addition to three former public servants.

Agency heads have been given the power to decide on sanctions, which range from fines or reprimands to demotions.

The Public Service Commission's investigations into a further seven people are ongoing - two of whom are current public servants.

It is not yet known what details - if any - Dr de Brouwer will opt to reveal about individuals with adverse findings against them.

In the separate case of former Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo, Dr de Brouwer opted to publish the findings of an APSC inquiry into his conduct.

Commenting on that decision in February, Dr de Brouwer said the commissioner could take this step, where they are "satisfied that it is in the public interest and disclosure of a person's name is fair and reasonable".

The NACC's statement comes nearly a year after robodebt royal commissioner Catherine Holmes handed her 990-page report to the Governor-General in July 2023.

The report declared the unlawful scheme a "crude and cruel mechanism, neither fair nor legal", and recommended individuals be referred to bodies for further investigation.

The deadline for the report was extended from June 30, to July 7, 2023 in order for the commissioner to make referrals to the NACC, which had just begun operating.

The number of referrals, and identities of those referred, was not published in the report.

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The robodebt scheme operated under the former Coalition government, from 2015 until 2019, when the Solicitor General found it to be unlawful.

It automatically raised debts against social welfare recipients by comparing their reported income with averaged annual pay data from the Tax Office.

People who received debt notices were expected to prove that they were incorrect, demanding huge efforts to gather payslips and other evidence.