Calls for the resignation of Charles Sturt Vice Chancellor Renee Leon are increasing after the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) found she breached public service rules 13 times.
Leon oversaw Robodebt as Secretary of the Department of Human Services between 2017 and 2020 and was appointed to lead Charles Sturt in 2021.
The 14 month investigation found 12 public servants breached their obligations with many demoted or fined for their role in implementing and enforcing the policy that was ultimately found to be illegal.
The scheme cost the lives of multiple Australians who were sent false debt notices from Centrelink asking them to pay thousands of dollars back to the government.
The APSC found that Leon made misrepresentations to the Commonwealth Ombudsman in 2019 and slowed down the legal advice the Department received from the Solicitor General.
Leon argued the investigation violated the Public Service Act but the Albanese government passed legislation that made findings against Department Secretaries an explicit part of the act.
The NTEU is calling on Leon to resign, arguing that these findings show she is unfit to lead a public university.
A spokesperson for the University told Honi Soit that “Charles Sturt University fully supports Vice-Chancellor Professor Renée Leon in the wake of recent comments about the Robodebt program.”
NTEU General Secretary Dr Damien Cahill said that he was shocked that no action was being taken by the University.
“Renee Leon must resign immediately. Her role as Vice Chancellor at CSU is untenable after these damning findings.
“The Chancellor’s claim that Ms Leon has the full backing of the university completely ignores the fact staff want the ViceChancellor to resign.”
Leon rejected the findings of the inquiry in a statement, saying that she “acted with integrity” and followed all rules during her 30 years in the public service.
She said she was “disappointed with the way the Australian Public Service Commission has come to its decision and I stand by the actions I took to get definitive legal advice and bring the Robodebt program to an end.”
Leon noted that the Royal Commission into Robodebt did not refer her to the APSC or the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Public Service Commissioner Gordon de Brouwer, who delivered the findings, said that during interviews with public servants, like Leon, there was a lack of self-reflection.
“It appeared that few actively considered the ethics of the scheme during its inception and implementation, as opposed to whether it could be defended on legal or policy grounds.”
In a damning assessment of the Department she led, Brouwer said that “as a general proposition, even the most experienced public servants demonstrated an inability or unwillingness to have difficult conversations while preserving relationships within and between Departments and with their Ministers.”
NTEU National President Dr Alison Barnes agreed with the CSU branch that Leon’s position was untenable.
“A public university should not be run by someone found to have breached public service rules more than a dozen times through their role in one of the greatest public policy disasters in Australian history,” she said.
“The Chancellor’s immediate defence of Ms Leon after the public service commissioner’s report was released raises serious questions about university leadership’s attitude to governance, integrity and accountability.”
