Anti-corruption body to reconsider robodebt inquiry after shock finding
The national anti-corruption commission will review its decision not to investigate six people associated with the former Coalition government’s illegal robodebt scheme, after a review found the body’s head engaged in misconduct.
The inspector of the National Anti-Corruption Commission reviewed the agencyâs decision not to pursue six people mentioned in the robodebt royal commission report, finding commissioner Paul Brereton didnât recuse himself after a conflict of interest.
A review of the decision not to investigate the robodebt referral should be done by an appropriate person, the watchdogâs inspector Gail Furness recommended.
Brereton declared he knew and had a close association with one of the people but failed to appoint a delegate and remove himself from the decision-making process, the inspector said.
As part of the review, a retired judge opined the decision âwas affected by apprehended biasâ.
It means a reasonable person may think the decision wasnât made in an impartial manner.
No suggestions of actual bias and no findings of intentional wrongdoing or other impropriety were made.
âIn light of the conflict of interest, the NACC commissioner should have not only designated a delegate but removed himself from the related decision-making processes and limited his exposure to the relevant factual information,â the inspectorâs report states.
âThis was not done.â
Brereton involved himself in the decision in a âcomprehensiveâ manner, the inspector found.
Stay informed, daily
This was an error of judgment and the commissioner engaged in officer misconduct, which was defined as not being unlawful but arising from a mistake of law or fact, the inspector said.
Between 2016 and 2019, the former coalition governmentâs scheme demanded and received more than $750 million from almost 400,000 Centrelink recipients.
Many welfare recipients were falsely accused of owing the government money and robodebt was linked to several suicides.
Want to see more stories from InDaily Qld in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily Qld as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily Qld". That's it.
