Key Points
- Kathryn Campbell has been involuntarily stood down from her AUKUS advisory role.
- Campbell was receiving an annual salary of $900,000 for her role as an AUKUS adviser.
- A royal commission found that Campbell gave misleading evidence to the cabinet about robodebt.
A senior public servant who oversaw the unlawful robodebt scheme has been stood down from her position at the Department of Defence following the royal commission findings.
Kathryn Campbell, who was previously the head of the Department of Human Services, has been involuntarily stood down from her advisory role at Defence, AAP has confirmed.
She was suspended without pay from 10 July, three days after the was tabled.
Campbell was made an adviser on the AUKUS security partnership in June last year, with a salary of $900,000 a year.
The commission found Campbell gave misleading evidence to cabinet about robodebt but stayed silent because then-minister Scott Morrison wanted to pursue robodebt and the government wouldn't be able to achieve budget savings without it.
While the commission said she was "likely to mislead because it contained no reference to income averaging or the need for legislative change", Campbell said it was an "oversight".
However, the commission said such claims were extraordinary for someone of her experience.
First scalp in robodebt fallout
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed the decision to suspend Campbell was made by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and "appropriate bodies".
Albanese said the royal commission identified failings within the public service and there was a need to respond.
"Most people who have a look at the human tragedy that was caused by robodebt and the findings of the royal commission are very, very clear about failings by the Morrison government, and indeed going back to when Scott Morrison was the minister," he told ABC Radio on Thursday.
Albanese did not say if the suspension would be permanent.
He said the government would respond in an appropriate way to the findings of the royal commission, which were "more damning than anyone was expecting".
Greens on the attack over Campbell's treatment
Greens social services spokeswoman Janet Rice said the suspension of Campbell was a welcome step.
"But it shouldn't end there - all those responsible for this brutal and illegal scheme, including Scott Morrison, must be held to account too," she said.
"The harm and trauma and deaths could have been avoided if not for the inhumane actions and lack of accountability from former prime minister Morrison on down, including senior departmental officials like Ms Campbell."
Greens senator Barbara Pocock said proper process did not appear to have been followed when Ms Campbell was transferred from foreign affairs to defence.
"She was given a golden parachute across into a job paid over $900,000 and it looks like it was all built backwards," Senator Pocock told Sky News.
"Here's a problem person, we have to get them out of the way, how do we create a job and how do we preserve their salary?
"Here we are looking at a principal architect of a process which caused so much damage, heartache and loss for families across our country," she said.
"It's cost a great deal of public money to create this employment for (Ms Campbell), it wasn't done by the book, it wasn't done in the way that most jobs within the public sector are created and that leaves a lot of questions to answer."
The Greens senator said she did not have plans to refer the Ms Campbell's defence appointment to the national anti-corruption commission.
