ANZSOG panel discussion: What public servants can learn from Robodebt, and what to do next

Robodebt has been the biggest scandal to hit the Australian Public Service (APS) in the 21st century, and the Royal Commission into the flawed program revealed serious weaknesses in the culture of the APS in regards professionalism, independence and accountability. 

The APS now needs to use Robodebt as a spur to revisit its culture and values, as outlined in public sector accountability and ethics expert Professor Emeritus Richard Mulgan’s recent report, Ten lessons for public servants from Robodebt. 

ANZSOG, in partnership with the Susan McKinnon Foundation and APO, is hosting a free online and in-person panel on 24 September to explore the lessons learned from the Robodebt Royal Commission and what actions can be taken by public servants for a more responsible, accountable and independent APS. Speakers will include report author Professor Richard Mulgan and former head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Professor Peter Shergold AC. 

The ‘Ten lessons’ report is the result of Professor Mulgan partnering with the Susan McKinnon Foundation to analyse the Royal Commission’s transcripts and findings. The analysis focuses on the distinct contribution of the APS and the behaviours and values manifest in professional practices of public servants. It does so through the lens of three accepted principles of responsible, ethical Australian public governance: independence, collaboration and accountability.  

The focus of much Robodebt reporting and analysis to date has been on the wider political context, set by ministers, and the structural failings of the APS and the recommendations made to remedy this.  

However, Mulgan argues that ‘institutional structure is only one element underpinning the culture of an organisation and that arguably more important ‘are the deep-seated values that animate the behaviour of individuals and determine the collective performance of an organisation such as a government department’.  

His analysis of the Royal Commission transcripts and findings reveals how the cumulative behaviours of individuals and the collective norms enforcing them laid the foundations for Robodebt. He explains that features of this failure included: urgency, meaning speed compromised thoroughness and resourcing; a reinforcing of positive narratives and aversion to constructive criticism; and key meetings not being recorded and deliberate obfuscation and silence, enforced by a culture of not delivering bad news. The end result was that ‘departmental advice tended to be neither frank nor fearless’. 

The report explains that an institutional structural focus alone risks downplaying the extent to which Robodebt was a product of the broader public service culture and can, in turn, only offer a partial solution to restoring the integrity of the APS.  

It offers ten practices for public servants that were found wanting or could have helped avoid the Robodebt tragedy, grouped under three connected themes: 

Independence 

1.Lawfulness is a bedrock value for public servants 

2.Truthfulness is a bedrock value for public servants 

3.Public servants should keep an accurate record of significant events and advice 

4.Hasten slowly 

5.Department leaders should set a proper balance between responsiveness to ministers and independence from them 

Collaboration  

6.Cooperation and collegiality are essential to good administration 

7.Other APS departments and agencies should be treated as colleagues not rivals 

8.Public servants should welcome input from non-government stakeholder organisations 

Accountability 

9.Public servants should build a culture of openness and accountability 

10.Public servants should be openly accountable to individual members of the public to whom they are providing services 

The report is intended to encourage clear, direct thinking about the relationship between an action and public sector values. Senior public servants can use the lessons as a checklist of practices in the day-to-day work of government, but link these to broader integrity concepts. The supporting analysis provides stimulus for professional learning.  

If you want to join the free  Ten lessons for public servants from Robodebt panel session, you can attend in person in Canberra from 10-11.30am on Tuesday 24 September, or join online.   

In-person places are limited, and both in-person and online participants need to register here in advance.  

Emeritus Professor Richard Mulgan

Emeritus Professor Richard Mulgan is a Professor Emeritus at the Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University. Prior to his retirement in 2008, he was a professor of Public Policy at the Crawford School of Public Policy, and before that he was a Professor of Political Studies at Otago and Auckland Universities. 

Richard’s academic interests include public administration, and issues relating to public sector accountability, governance, integrity, and transparency. He was on the 1985-86 New Zealand Royal Commission that recommended Mixed Member Proportional representation for elections to the New Zealand Parliament, and his 2000 article ‘“Accountability”: an ever-expanding concept?’ was selected as one of the twelve most influential articles in the last 25 years of the leading British journal Public Administration. Richard has also published works including: 

• Holding Power to Account: Accountability in Modern Democracies (2003) 
• Politics in New Zealand (3rd ed) (2004) 
• Making Open Government Work (2014) 

Richard taught courses on public sector ethics and public management in the Master of Public Policy and Master of Public Administration at the Crawford School of Public Policy, and regularly publishes in publications such as The Mandarin. 

Professor Peter Shergold AC FRSN 

Peter Shergold is Chair of the Australian Research Council, the James Martin Institute for Public Policy, Opal Healthcare, the NSW Education Standards Authority and Australia for UNHCR. He was a senior public servant for 20 years, including 5 years as Secretary of Prime Minister and Cabinet. For 12 years he was Chancellor of Western Sydney University, he now sits on the Board of the Susan McKinnon Foundation.