Government Services Minister Bill Shorten says robodebt-affected families feel "accountability is emerging" following Monday's news top bureaucrat Kathryn Campbell - who oversaw the unlawful scheme - had resigned from her six-figure public sector job.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Shorten, addressing the Australian Financial Review's Government Services Summit on Tuesday, avoided talking directly to Ms Campbell's situation, but said he had spoken to families overnight "who had very strong views".
"I think some families feel [there] now appears to be some measure of public accountability, which the Albanese government understands people want to see," Mr Shorten said.
"We also want to build from here. And what would be good is if we could meet in 10 years time and just say, 'how could that have ever happened?'."
Mr Shorten went on to say he thought Colleen Taylor - a former Centrelink worker who spoke up against the debt-raising scheme - should receive a Public Service Medal.
"Maybe someone could do a swap," he added, to dark chuckles from the audience.
The royal commission fallout continues
Ms Campbell has come under intense scrutiny after the royal commission found that, on evidence, she gave misleading advice to federal cabinet about the unlawful scheme.
The Canberra Times last week revealed that she had been suspended without pay from her $900,000-a-year AUKUS job, making her the first known senior head to roll in the wake of the royal commission into robodebt.
The Department of Defence released a short statement on Monday afternoon revealing that Ms Campbell had since resigned from the position altogether.
The fallout from the royal commission has continued, with an Australian Federal Police spokesperson confirming to this masthead on Monday it had received a report of crime from the commission.
Robodebt royal commissioner Catherine Holmes, in her report, recommended several individuals be referred to to the Australian Federal Police, Australian Public Service Commission, National Anti-Corruption Commission and ACT Law Society for civil action and criminal prosecution.
The identities for these individuals have not yet been made public. The Canberra Times does not suggest that Ms Campbell has been referred for civil action or criminal prosecution.
Calls for greater oversight
Mr Shorten also used his keynote address on Tuesday to talk about the "need to embed ethical oversight in the government services", and call on public sector employees to act as watchdogs.
"We need ... those who respect the process, but won't remain blindly faithful to institutional arrogance to secure their next promotion," Mr Shorten said, pointing to Ms Taylor as a model example.
"How do we find these people? She actually helped redeem the reputation of Australia's public service."
READ MORE:
The Community and Public Sector Union, among other demands, has called on Services Australia to apologise to staff, who were forced to collect debts under the unlawful robodebt scheme.
But Services Australia Chief Executive Officer, Rebecca Skinner, also speaking at Tuesday's summit, said the agency was still in the process of "gathering insights" about how best to apologise to staff.
"We're doing a range of programs across the agency where we're gathering what insights and how our staff would like us to engage as part of that process of apologising and understanding what it is they need as part of the organisation's response," Ms Skinner said.
"So we're putting that together now and then will work out exactly how that takes place at the time we understand to the best possible way what we would be talking to staff about."