Kathryn Campbell tells the Robodebt royal commission that a document put to Cabinet failed to mention the need for legislative change.
abc.net.au/news/robodebt-cabinet-document-misleading-kathryn-campbell/102064104The senior bureaucrat who oversaw the rollout of Robodebt says she made a "significant oversight" when she submitted a potentially misleading document to a cabinet committee.She is the former secretary of both the Department of Human Services and the Department of Social ServicesThe royal commission into the illegal scheme is holding its final week of hearings in Brisbane this week.
Kathryn Campbell is the former secretary of both the Department of Human Services and the Department of Social Services and was in the top job at DHS during Robodebt's inception in 2014.After a morning of short "yes" and "no" answers to Justin Greggery KC's questions, Ms Campbell conceded due to an "oversight" by her, a document was put to the Expenditure Review Committee which could have been misleading.
The inquiry saw emails which showed a document had been edited by someone at DHS to remove references to the need for legislative change to make sure Robodebt's income averaging methodology complied with the law."Is it your evidence that a document that was capable of misleading a subcommittee of Cabinet went unnoticed by you despite your involvement in those earlier briefings [about the scheme that became Robodebt]," Mr Greggery asked.
"Was there pressure placed on me to attend the ERC and say no legislation was required? No," Ms Campbell said. "So, you're saying the drafting of this document, to the extent that is misleading, was not the result of pressure?" Mr Greggery asked.
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