Kathryn Campbell

Appointment to AUKUS On 31 May 2023, Senator Jacqui Lambie questioned Greg Moriarty on his appointment of Campbell to the $900,000 job as a supervisor for the AUKUS nuclear submarine project, specifically because she had been the central figure in the Robodebt scandal. Although Moriarty said that at the time he appointed Campbell there was no Royal Commission, her responsibilities for Robodebt were already well-known, as were her denials including to Senate Estimates. Lambie described Campbell's appointment as a disgrace. Campbell was suspended without pay from the role three days after the release of the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme.

Robodebt controversy Beginning in 2016, while Campbell was the Secretary of the Department of Human Services (DHS), the DHS welfare program Centrelink became embroiled in a debt recovery controversy, commonly referred to as Robodebt. Robodebt was the subject of an investigation by the Commonwealth Ombudsman, two Senate committee inquiries, the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme, and an inquiry by the Australian Public Service Commission, at all of which Campbell was required to testify. The Robodebt scandal was described by The Mandarin as the "defining controversy" of Campbell's public service career, and she has been described as a "disgraced top bureaucrat" in The Canberra Times.

Appearing before the first Senate committee inquiry in March 2017, when the controversial program was still active, Campbell shifted the blame to victims of Robodebt saying "they had not engaged" with Centrelink and this was the reason for false calculations and the ongoing debt chasing for over 500,000 Australians; all of those served with debts have since had their debts removed and voided. Campbell said that refinements needed to be made, though the Robodebt system should continue." Reporting on Campbell's testimony, political commentator Jack Waterford placed considerable blame on Campbell, saying "she put pleasing ministers ahead of duty to the public, the public interest and public service values.” At the second Senate hearing in July 2020, Campbell controversially denied that people had died by suicide as a result of receiving the unlawful automated debt recovery notices, refusing to accept that suicides attributed to the scheme were in fact caused by it. The mother of one man who died by suicide after receiving a Robodebt notice responded by saying "I wanted five minutes with [Campbell] for her to tell me how she knows my son better than I did." The Royal Commission later confirmed that people had died by suicide as a result of Robodebt. In her third and final testimony, Campbell admitted it was her Department's "significant oversight" that led to cabinet being misled, though denied it was deliberate. Timothy Ffrench, who was chief counsel at DHS, testified that Campbell was largely to blame for a culture that meant the Robodebt scheme’s legality was not checked earlier.

Renee Leon, who took over Campbell's role at DHS in September 2017, told the Royal Commission of deep cultural problems at senior levels at the department under Campbell. She testified that staff had been very fearful of Campbell and "the reward and punishment culture" that she promoted, as well as her practices of aggression and public shaming. Leon told the inquiry she once had a "collegiate" relationship with Campbell, though became aware that Campbell was deliberately undermining her with Stuart Robert, the then responsible Minister. Leon testified that her predecessor “took credit” for the Robodebt scheme, and that Campbell was “rewarded” for being more responsive to the coalition government’s policy agenda than other department secretaries, and that she, and many others, believed that Campbell’s elevation to the role of the secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade "was a very big reward for someone who had no background in diplomacy."

The findings of the Royal Commission were "scathing" and "damning" of Campbell. It noted her policy proposal for the scheme mentioned nothing about the income averaging method it relied on, nor the fact legislative amendments would be required to allow this, despite the fact Campbell was aware of both, concluding that Campbell intentionally misled cabinet with the proposal. It also found her choice to not continue correspondence regarding legal advice surrounding the scheme was "motivated by a concern that the unlawfulness of the Scheme might be exposed to the Ombudsman in the course of its investigation", and that she had also made false statements regarding Robodebt to the public. suspended without pay from the Australian Public Service. Campbell resigned from her role at the Department of Defence later that month. Following Campbell’s resignation, the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) issued a statement, saying her suspension and resignation was welcomed by CPSU members, and describing Campbell as a "fervent advocate of a scheme that devastated the lives of hundreds of thousands of people across this country."

In 2024, an inquiry into Robodebt by the Australian Public Service Commission found Campbell's actions had breached the APS Code of Conduct twelve times, and six overarching allegations were recorded. Campbell was reported to the inquiry for failures "to ensure internal and external legal advice about robodebt, failing to respond to public criticism and whistleblower complaints, ignoring legal issues raised publicly by the Australian Institute of Administrative Law, creating a culture where ‘aggressive and abusive behaviour’ by a deputy secretary went unaddressed, and causing the resumption of income averaging when she knew that method to raise debts was potentially inaccurate." Campbell claims she was "scapegoated" and was innocent. Bill Shorten responded by saying "Ms Campbell, you are not a scapegoat; you were involved in Robodebt". Following the public release of the report, the CPSU called for Campbell’s Officer of the Order of Australia to be revoked, stating: "Kathryn Campbell is not someone who is deserving of honours or accolades of any kind. She deserves consequences."

In 2025, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) investigated six individuals referred to it by the Royal Commission, and published their findings in March 2026. While two of the six people investigated were found to have engaged in corruption, Campbell and others were cleared of such allegations. The NACC disagreed with some of the Royal Commissions findings, concluding that there was a "reasonable possibility" Campbell's failure to detect issues with Robodebt was not deliberate, and also concluded there was insufficient evidence to support the Royal Commission's finding that Campbell had instructed public servants to cease obtaining external legal advice on the scheme in 2017.

Awards Campbell's awards include:

University of Southern Queensland 2011 Alumnus of the Year. Conspicuous Service Cross (CSC) in June 2010 for outstanding achievement as the Commanding Officer of the Sydney University Regiment. Appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2019 Australia Day Honours in recognition of her "distinguished service to public administration through senior roles with government departments, and to the Australian Army Reserve". Awarded a Bar to her CSC in the 2022 Australia Day Honours for "outstanding achievement as the Commander of the 2nd Division".