After nearly three years, the robodebt report’s secret chapter has been unsealed. What does it reveal?

Officials named who drafted unlawful debt recovery scheme - and who royal commissioner referred to corruption watchdog for further investigation

For almost three years, 56 pages of the robodebt royal commission’s final report were kept secret as investigating bodies considered whether charges or further findings could be made.

The sealed chapter, as it would become known, was finally released to the Australian public this week after the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nacc) delivered its report into six people referred for potential corruption.

The release sheds light on the actions of the people involved in drafting Centrelink’s unlawful debt recovery scheme and why the royal commissioner, Catherine Holmes, believed they should be referred for further investigation.

What is the sealed section of the robodebt royal commission?

When Holmes handed down her scathing 1,000-page report into the “crude and cruel” robodebt scheme, she noted part of the report would have to remain hidden for a period.

This sealed chapter contained the names of public officials and one elected representative who Holmes had referred to the Nacc, the Australian federal police, the Australian Public Service Commission and the ACT Law Society for further scrutiny.

It was to remain confidential to prevent jeopardising any civil or criminal actions taken by the bodies.

The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, tabled the section in parliament on Thursday morning, thanking those who shared their experiences with the royal commission and who “campaigned tirelessly to raise the alarm bells about the robodebt scheme”.

“The government acknowledges the serious effects the robodebt scheme had on those affected and their families,” she said.

“I also acknowledge that the release of this chapter is likely to be challenging for many people.”

What does the sealed chapter say?

The sealed chapter contains the names of the public officials involved and a summary of what the royal commission found about their involvement in creating or running the scheme.

The former prime minister Scott Morrison is among the names referred to the Nacc. Holmes wrote that Morrison, then the social services minister, had not made “obvious” inquiries in 2015 with the social services and human services departments about why the income-averaging scheme using tax data would not require changes to the law.

“He failed to meet his ministerial responsibility to ensure that cabinet was properly informed about what the proposal actually entailed and to ensure that it was lawful,” the sealed chapter said.

The others referred to the Nacc were the former agency heads Kathryn Campbell and Serena Wilson, the former human services officials Mark Withnell and Annette Musolino, along with the former social services official Catherine Halbert.

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The sealed chapter also reveals Holmes referred Withnell to the federal police on the suspicion that he may have provided false testimony. The AFP wrapped up its investigation into Withnell in July 2024, saying it “did not identify sufficient admissible evidence to prove the alleged offender intended to mislead the royal commission”.

The sealed section also reveals the names of eight public servants, including Musolino, whose role or conduct in the robodebt scheme was referred to their agency heads for investigation. It is not known whether each were investigated, or if they were looked at as part of the APSC’s inquiry, which only named Campbell and the former agency head Renée Leon – the latter is not named in the sealed chapter as one of those referred.

Campbell, who remained a senior Aukus official until July 2023, was referred to the APSC for potential code of conduct breaches. In its September 2024 findings, the APSC named Campbell as one of two former heads who had breached the rules. The report found that she was culpable for 12 breaches, including a failure to “sufficiently respond to public criticism” and having “created and allowed a culture” that prevented issues from being considered.

Musolino, a former department counsel, and Anne Pulford, a social services legal officer, were also referred to the ACT Law Society to determine whether their conduct could amount to “unsatisfactory professional conduct”.

The ACT Law Society would not confirm the outcome of the royal commission’s referrals, saying it did not comment on regulatory matters.

How does the sealed chapter differ from the Nacc’s report?

The Nacc report, released on Wednesday, only looks at the six referrals the royal commission made to it. Over its 445 pages, the Nacc concluded only two of the six – Withnell and Wilson – had engaged in serious corrupt conduct.

The Nacc report found Withnell had known at “all relevant times” that automatic default averaging would be key to the robodebt process, known internally as the online compliance intervention program. That is also what Holmes determined in the royal commission.

Similarly, the report found that Wilson had intentionally misled the commonwealth ombudsman during an investigation in 2017 by not disclosing that 2014 advice concerning the use of income averaging to calculate social security entitlement may not be consistent with the current laws.

Neither Withnell nor Wilson will be referred for prosecutions as the Nacc found there was not sufficient evidence to prove their actions “beyond reasonable doubt”.

The Nacc found that Morrison had not engaged in serious corrupt conduct. Its report disputes the royal commission’s findings that it should have been obvious to Morrison that the income-averaging scheme proposal he took to cabinet in 2015 had omitted mentions of its illegality.

“Rather than being a reason to suspect a dishonest failure to inquire, the fact that Mr Morrison did not make further inquiries appears more probably consistent with him not having perceived there was a need to do so,” its report found.

Holmes had instead suggested Morrison failed to “meet his ministerial responsibility to ensure that cabinet was properly informed” about the proposal and to ensure that it was lawful.

In a statement this week, Morrison said: “The Nacc came to very different conclusions to the royal commission in relation to my conduct. The Nacc findings therefore validate my previous rejection of the conclusions made by the royal commission into my conduct on this matter.”

The Nacc also cleared Campbell of corrupt conduct. In one example of different findings from the royal commission, it found another public servant, the then deputy secretary Malisa Golightly, who has since died, “more likely than not” told PwC it was not required to deliver its final report into the scheme. By contrast, the royal commission found it was Campbell who had instructed PwC not to finalise the report, though the instruction was not documented.

That full PwC report determined the program would not deliver the projected savings, was producing a significant percentage of inaccurate debts and that it had been a failure.

Instead, the then human services minister, Alan Tudge, was shown a slideshow presentation without the full details, including the scheme’s deficiencies.

Does this close the book on the robodebt saga?

In a way, yes. The sealed chapter’s release and the Nacc’s final report were the only outstanding items after the royal commission report was handed down.

With the outcome of the Nacc, AFP and APSC referrals now complete, any further criminal or civil action will be up to individuals or groups.

The federal government agreed last September to pay $475m in additional compensation to roughly 450,000 victims of the robodebt scandal.

The total financial redress to robodebt victims is now more than $2.4bn, according to Gordon Legal, which launched the first class action in late 2019.

That figure includes $1.76bn in debts that were forgiven, cancelled or paid back by the government.