A message from Head of Taskforce
Dr Gordon de Brouwer
Australian Public Service Commission
Dear Commissioner
I present the Final Report of the Centralised Code of Conduct Inquiry Taskforce. The purpose of the Taskforce was to support the Independent Reviewers to inquire into whether current and former Australian Public Service Agency Heads and employees associated with the design and delivery of the Robodebt Scheme breached the Australian Public Service Code of Conduct.
The Taskforce commenced its work in July 2023. We were given twelve months to complete our work, which reflected the complexity of conducting a relatively large number of independent, yet interconnected inquiries. Inquiries into current and former APS employees, excluding former Agency Heads, were completed in early July 2024. Inquiries into former Agency Heads were finalised following the commencement of the Public Service Amendment Act (No 2) 2024 on 26 August 2024 that clarified the authority of the Public Service Commissioner to inquire into alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct by both former and current Agency Heads and validated the inquiries that had been close to completion prior to the commencement of the amendments. This report captures the outcomes of, and insights from, the inquiries into current and former APS and former Agency Heads.
Procedures for conducting Code inquiries are well established within the APS. An important principle for the work of the Taskforce was that, to the greatest extent possible, existing policies and procedures should be relied upon for the purposes of conducting the inquiries. The APSC Misconduct Guide provides the parameters for undertaking Code inquiries within the APS, including guidance on procedural fairness. Despite the uniqueness of the task, we adhered to the requirements of the Misconduct Guide. This meant that we provided respondents with opportunities to respond to and submit relevant information at every stage in our inquiries.
We also responded to requests by respondents for time extensions. These requests were the result of difficulties encountered by respondents in accessing archived documents to prepare their responses, health and wellbeing concerns, absences from Australia, and competing professional and personal priorities. These requests were accommodated as often as possible to ensure respondents were in the best position to fully participate in the inquiries.
Adherence to the highest standards of procedural fairness and a genuine commitment to the wellbeing of respondents and witnesses meant that the inquiries were not able to be completed quickly but were certainly conducted thoroughly.
This report reflects the outcomes of those inquiries as well as insights relevant to the broader APS.
Yours sincerely,
Jamie Lowe
First Assistant Commissioner
5 September 2024