Public servants referred to federal police, the anti-corruption body or the public service inquiry for their role in the robodebt scheme have been placed on leave, some without pay, or suspended, Defence Minister Richard Marles has confirmed.
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But the senior minister, who is acting as prime minister until Anthony Albanese returns to the country, insisted the "real villains" were the politicians in charge, rather than the public servants named.
The Royal Commission into the unlawful robodebt scheme handed down its 990-page report on Friday, calling the former Coalition government's income-averaging program a "crude and cruel" policy, which made everyday Australians "feel like criminals".
In a sealed unpublished chapter, Commissioner Catherine Holmes recommended a number of individuals involved be referred to the Australian Federal Police, the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Australian Public Service Commission's inquiry for further investigation into their conduct.
Commissioner Holmes recommended those named in the sealed chapter remain unidentified to avoid jeopardising potential future investigations.
The first of those referrals were made on Monday, Mr Marles confirmed on Tuesday.
The acting prime minister on Thursday added those who had been referred this week had also been placed on leave or suspended.
Others had been placed on leave without pay.
"There were processes [in the report] that were recommended to be pursued. They began on Monday, literally the next working day, in terms of referrals of people to the APS Commissioner, to the AFP, to the National Anti-Corruption Commission," Mr Marles told ABC Radio on Thursday morning.
"In addition to that, decisions were taken in respect of all of those people about their ongoing status, be they on leave, on leave without pay, suspended, whatever the particulars were, and they varied from one person to another.
"Again, all of those decisions have been made. So, we've acted in respect of the Royal Commission."
In the publicly-released section of report, the commissioner chastised senior public servants for a lack of independence from government, calling it a "costly failure of public administration, in both human and economic terms".
Among those named are senior public servants, including the Defence Department's "special advisor" Kathryn Campbell and former social services department deputy secretary Serena Wilson.
Former prime minister Scott Morrison, and former Coalition ministers, including Alan Tudge, Christian Porter and Stuart Robert, have also been named as playing a key role in the illegal scheme.
The Canberra Times is not suggesting these individuals named in the public section are part of the group that have already been referred for investigation.
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Mr Marles said the blame should lie with the former Coalition government rather than those in the bureaucracy delivering on their requests.
"The guilty party here is the Liberal Party," he said.
"They are the ones that put in place the culture and the climate, and made the decisions which enabled the appalling gross maladministration that we saw in the handling of Robodebt to impact the lives of half a million Australians.
"That is where the blame lies and people need to have their focus on that."
Meanwhile, speculation is mounting over the future of Ms Campbell's role in the Defence Department.
The department has gone to ground since Friday, refusing to comment on her employment status or her position within the department.
A report by The Canberra Times highlighted she is paid a $900,000 per year salary, making her the third highest-paid official behind Chief of the Defence Force General Angus Campbell and Defence secretary Greg Moriarty.
But her ongoing role is unclear after the Nuclear-Powered Submarine Taskforce, of which she was a "special advisor" for, transitioned into the Australian Submarine Agency on July 1.
An organisation chart for the new agency, led by Vice-Admiral Jonathan Mead, shows no "special advisor" role in its executive management team.
It is otherwise unclear what Ms Campbell's role has been within the department since the start of July.
Nine newspapers over the weekend reported she had taken personal leave a day ahead of the report's release.
Sarah Basford Canales
I'm a federal politics and public sector reporter with an interest in national security, integrity and regulation. Contact me with general tips and thoughts at sarah.basfordcanales@canberratimes.com.au or confidential tips to sbasfordcanales@protonmail.com.
I'm a federal politics and public sector reporter with an interest in national security, integrity and regulation. Contact me with general tips and thoughts at sarah.basfordcanales@canberratimes.com.au or confidential tips to sbasfordcanales@protonmail.com.
