Will Anthony Albanese’s government be up for reform to address issues found in Robodebt royal commission

Institutional failure extended, it seems, even to the Commonwealth Ombudsman who while denied the files by departments did not press hard enough, was too timid to express even a modest concern about the legality of the scheme despite its suspicions.

The Commission’s findings on ministerial responsibly or the possible the lack thereof, will no doubt be one the highlights of the report.

Did the parade of different ministers know what was going on and fail to act? Did ministers meet the standard test, “I did not know, I was not told, I should have asked”?

Regardless of the final report, this royal commission has already done lasting political damage to the Coalition – to its very legitimacy to govern.  Certainly, more damage than previous Coalition inquiries into Labor administrations.

This is because this royal commission has revealed real evidence of maladministration, waste, political interference, incompetence and indifference to people on such a large scale.

Its real impact, though, is how it has highlighted long running concerns about the Australian public service. This includes its increasing politicisation, the loss of permanent tenure, disappearance of an independent central personnel body, its over-responsiveness to its political masters and how power has moved too much to the ministerial office. 

While the royal commission’s final report will address the robodebt issue, the wider problems and behaviours it smoked out go beyond its narrow remit.

They are issues that go beyond both the Coalition and the robodebt program but are entwined and embedded in our current system of government which both sides of politics have nurtured and exploited to their advantage over the years.

No single royal commission can address all those issues. It will require more wide-ranging changes.

The Albanese government may have nailed the Coalition on the robodebt program, but in so doing has inadvertently exposed wider problems and given itself a task that any incumbent government will find difficult to address as any reforms must mean greater transparency and less political control.

Is the Albanese government up for it?