First to go: Key robodebt figure quits $900,000 job after damning findings

A top public servant has become the first head to roll over the robodebt scandal.

Kathryn Campbell headed the Human Services Department when the robodebt scandal broke. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

KEY POINTS:

• Kathryn Campbell has resigned from her $900,000 a year Defence job after robodebt findings.
• Campbell 'failed to act' over the scheme's illegality and misleading nature, the report found.
• She was stood down without pay three days after the report's release.

This article contains references to suicide/self-harm.

Kathryn Campbell has become the first major figure to step down over the damning robodebt royal commission, quitting her $900,000 a year job at the Defence Department.

Earlier this month, Defence confirmed Campbell was suspended without pay three days after the tabling of the report, which ruled she "did nothing of substance" when made aware of the scheme's illegality.

In a brief statement on Monday, it revealed she has left the organisation entirely.

"Defence can confirm it has accepted Ms Kathryn Campbell’s resignation from the Department with effect from Friday 21 July 2023. Defence will not provide further comment on this matter," the statement said.

Campbell initially denied robodebt had caused suicides, and later told the royal commission she believed the scheme was lawful. Source: Supplied / Royal Commission into the robodebt scheme

In blistering findings delivered this month, royal commissioner Catherine Holmes ruled the "crude and cruel" robodebt led to suicides after making victims feels like criminals and "dole cheats".

She found Campbell, who headed the Human Services Department when the scandal broke, knew of the scheme's "misleading effects" but "chose to stay silent".

It found Campbell had "failed to act" when given opportunities to seek legal advice over robodebt's use of income averaging.

Campbell had since been hired as an adviser on the AUKUS alliance by Defence, where she was one of the public service's top earners.

Testifying to the royal commission, Campbell denied deliberately misleading cabinet or welfare recipients and claimed she assumed the scheme was lawful.

In July 2020, she told a Senate inquiry that claims that robodebt had caused suicides as "not correct".

"I do not accept that people have died over robodebt," she said.

Defence Minister Richard Marles declined to comment.

Campbell the first to go

Campbell has become the first figure responsible for robodebt to resign over the scandal.

She faced repeated calls from the crossbench to resign, but is yet to comment publicly since the royal commission's findings were published.

Scott Morrison, who was social services minister and then prime minister while the scheme was live, categorically rejected negative findings against him, and remains in parliament.

Scott Morrison has faced calls to resign after the robodebt royal commission's damning findings. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch

But he has also faced calls to leave, both from within and outside his own party.

"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 report found.

Other former Coalition ministers singled out for criticism by Holmes - including Alan Tudge, Stuart Robert, and Christian Porter - had either retired or announced their retirement before the rulings.

Readers seeking crisis support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged up to 25). More information and support with mental health is available at beyondblue.org.au and on 1300 22 4636.

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