Nacc architect calls for robodebt investigation update, saying corruption watchdog has been ‘too secretive'

The Guardian

11-07-2025

A key architect of the National Anti-Corruption Commission has called for a public update on the investigation into the illegal robodebt scheme, warning community confidence in the watchdog and its commissioner, Paul Brereton, is on the line.
The independent MP Helen Haines, who helped craft legislation to establish the Nacc and has sat as a member of a parliamentary oversight committee, said it had been 'too secretive' in the first two years of operations, including over its investigation into the Coalition's welfare payment recovery scheme.
As many as 440,000 Centrelink recipients were hounded over alleged incorrect payments, based on faulty income averaging algorithms.
Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email
Haines, the MP for the Victorian seat of Indi, said it was disappointing the commission had not provided transparency over its U-turn on a decision to investigate six individuals referred by the robodebt royal commission, after an independent review into its initial refusal.
In February, the Nacc said five public servants and one public official would be investigated to determine whether or not they 'engaged in corrupt conduct'.
'It took 11 months for the Nacc to decide it wouldn't take an investigation in the first place,' Haines said.
'Then we really saw a damning report from the Nacc inspector that brought us to this situation where this is being reviewed. It took months to decide really whether that decision would be reconsidered by an independent delegate, and we're now five months since that all happened and we haven't heard any more. So again, that's disappointing.'
The Nacc's original decision not to investigate was heavily criticised, with its own watchdog, inspector Gail Furness, revealing she had received more than 1,000 complaints.
Furness released a report in October 2024 finding that Brereton was 'affected by apprehended bias' and should have 'removed himself from related decision-making processes and limited his exposure to the relevant factual information'.
The report found Brereton had appointed a deputy commissioner as a delegate to decide on the robodebt referrals due to a perceived conflict of interest with one of the individuals who was 'well known to him', which he declared. The Nacc noted the report contained 'no finding of intentional wrongdoing or other impropriety'.
Sign up to Breaking News Australia
Get the most important news as it breaks
after newsletter promotion
Brereton rejected calls to step down, suggesting 'an error of judgment' did not justify that move.
Haines said a public update on the investigation was appropriate, but she stopped short of calling for Brereton to step down.
'We're two years in and I think that the question of robodebt and the transparency around where the commission is at will, I think, determine just how much confidence the public ultimately has in the National Anti-Corruption Commission and in the stewardship of Commissioner Brereton.'
Haines made the comments in an interview for Guardian Australia's Australian Politics podcast, released on Friday. The Guardian has contacted the Nacc for response.
Last month the Nacc released a report revealing a senior home affairs department official had abused public office and misused internal information to get her future brother-in-law a job, including hiding their relationship and sharing interview questions with her sister. The woman was given a pseudonym and has not publicly commented on the case.