The National Anti-Corruption Commission has today published its investigation report about the 6 individuals referred by the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme.
The referrals related to specific events during the development, approval and implementation of the Robodebt Scheme in 2015, 2017 and 2018. The Commission’s task was to determine whether the conduct of the 6 individuals amounted to corrupt conduct within the meaning of the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2022 (Cth) (NACC Act).
The Commission found that 2 of the 6 individuals engaged in serious corrupt conduct, and that the remaining 4 did not engage in corrupt conduct.
The Commission found that:
- Mr Mark Withnell engaged in serious corrupt conduct by intentionally misleading officers of the Department of Social Services during the preparation of a Cabinet submission in 2015
- Ms Serena Wilson engaged in serious corrupt conduct by intentionally misleading the Commonwealth Ombudsman during an investigation in 2017.
This was a complex investigation involving the examination of a large volume of material, including evidence obtained by the Royal Commission, documents produced under statutory notices, and evidence from more than 40 witnesses through interviews and hearings.
Deputy Commissioner Kylie Kilgour, who led the investigation team, said the Commission conducted the investigation in accordance with the NACC Act.
‘The report makes public the Royal Commission’s referrals and all the relevant evidence and basis for the Commission’s findings in relation to each of the 6 individuals. Publishing the report provides transparency as to how those conclusions were reached.’
The Commission has not made recommendations in this report. The Royal Commission made a number of recommendations directed to improving relevant processes, which have since been implemented. The Commission considers those measures sufficient to prevent the corrupt conduct that occurred from happening again.
In accordance with the arrangements made to conduct this investigation, Commissioner Brereton was not involved in the investigation and did not review any drafts of the investigation report or this media statement.
The full investigation report is available on the NACC website at nacc.gov.au.