Two former public servants referred to the anti-corruption watchdog by the royal commission into robodebt have been found to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct, while former prime minister Scott Morrison has been cleared.
The long-awaited report into possible corruption linked to the illegal income averaging scheme, published on Wednesday, covered the six referrals made by Royal Commissioner Catherine Holmes in 2023, which were restricted from public view in a sealed chapter.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission investigation, which began in February 2025 after an independent reviewer said it should happen, examined the actions of the five former public servants and the former prime minister in relation to the development, approval and implementation of the robodebt scheme in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
Attorney General Michelle Rowland thanked the Nacc and said the federal government would take steps to postpone the previously sealed chapter.
The commission’s findings singled out former Department of Human Services official Mark Withnell for intentionally misleading Department of Social Services officials during the preparation of a cabinet presentation in 2015.
Former social services under-secretary Serena Wilson was also found to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct by intentionally misleading the Commonwealth Ombudsman during an investigation in 2017.
Nacc Deputy Commissioner Kylie Kilgour said the release of the report “provides transparency into how those conclusions were reached.”
The other four names mentioned in Nacc but who had not engaged in any corrupt conduct included Morrison, Kathryn Campbell, Annette Musolino and Catherine Halbert.
The report found that Morrison’s failure to detect misleading advice from the department was due to the social services and human services departments failing to warn him and other ministers that new laws were required.
Guardian Australia has contacted Morrison for a response.
Campbell was one of two appointed by the Australian Public Service Commission in 2024 after it found twelve public servants, including Campbell and former department head Renée Leon, breached the code of conduct 97 times during their participation in the robodebt program.
More details to follow
