Mr Fluffy leak investigation closed without source being identified

ACT Public Service Commissioner Bronwen Overton-Clarke and Asbestos Taskforce boss Andrew Kefford called in Australian Federal Police investigators in June after the leaking of names and addresses from more than 1000 properties to a private communications company in Canberra.

The leak, announced to homeowners and the public on September 16, prompted a second version of the list of homeowners names and addresses to be provided to The Canberra Times within hours.

Ms Overton-Clarke said on Tuesday no links between the ACT public service and the company could be found, despite an investigation she described as "robust". The investigation included forensic IT and communications searches across the ACT government, as well as interviews with public servants.

The private company agreed to destroy all hard copies and electronic versions of the list. No evidence of the list being emailed from within the public service was found.

Any public servant found to have leaked the information faced sacking and possible criminal charges under ACT law, including fines and up to two years in prison.

They said there was no doubt the leaked information originated within the public service, either in the asbestos taskforce or another area of government. There have been no reports of inappropriate use of names and addresses from the leaked document.

The full list of Mr Fluffy properties in the ACT was made public by the government, without owners' names, on July 1.

Homeowners were told about the end of the investigation on Tuesday. Some used social media to express anger and disappointment that the source of the leak had not been found.

"We always knew it was going to be difficult, because it was a hard copy that was placed in a letterbox of a telecommunications company," Ms Overton-Clarke said. "We've been trying to work through whether there is any footprint of it having been electronically sent, and it hasn't.

"We've decided to close the investigation because people need certainty around that. We really understand that today will be disappointing for a large number of the householders," she said.

"We haven't had any reports of it being misused. It is still conjecture about the reasons that it was passed on, whether it was for helpfulness or another reason. We just don't know."

Mr Kefford said there had been no other leaks related to the Mr Fluffy buyback program.

"What we've adopted, and were doing before this, is developing a proper electronic document management system.

"It is enormously disappointing that this has happened because all bar the one person who was involved in this, all of the staff, be they on the taskforce or contractors working with us, are enormously dedicated to what we're doing," Mr Kefford said.

"They're working hard to deal with what is an enormously complicated set of circumstances and having intensely personal conversations with people. For those people who are wanting to do the right thing … this is enormously frustrating. Someone has stepped outside, motives don't matter, and done what they did."

Demolition of the first Mr Fluffy homes in Canberra began in June.