Disgraced top bureaucrat Kathryn Campbell could be entitled to six figures a year upon retirement, with records indicating that she was working for the public service when staff still had access to its generous defined benefit superannuation scheme.
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The Canberra Times revealed exclusively on Thursday that Ms Campbell had been involuntarily suspended without pay from her lucrative AUKUS posting following the damning robodebt royal commission report.
But that doesn't mean that Ms Campbell - who was parachuted into the $900,000 a year Defence role last year - will be left out in the cold if her time in the public service comes to an end.
Former Finance Department deputy secretary Stephen Bartos said that, while it's "almost impossible to tell what any individual's likely superannuation entitlements are", given Campbell's pay and long career in the public service, it "has to be in the order of hundreds-of-thousands of dollars a year".
Records show that Ms Campbell has been working in the public service since at least 2002, though another bio published online says that she held a "variety of Branch Manager and Division Manager positions" within the Department of Finance from 1998.
Until mid-2005, public servants joined the generous public sector superannuation scheme. Those who joined the sector prior to July 1990 were eligible for the similar Commonwealth superannuation scheme.
Both of these are 'defined-benefit schemes', meaning that the superannuation someone receives on retirement doesn't depend solely on the contributions they've made throughout their career.
Instead the final amount - which can be paid as a pension, a lump sum amount, or both - is determined by factors like their employee contributions, average salary over their last three years of work, and their length of membership.
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Mr Bartos said that it's possible Ms Campbell opted not to remain in the PSS scheme or CSS. But he added that "a defined-benefit for life is really enormous as a benefit, worth many millions of dollars over the life of the pension".
Ms Campbell would still be entitled to an age pension, though this is means tested.
The former human services and social services department secretary came under fire in recent weeks after the robodebt royal commission report found that Ms Campbell, on the weight of evidence, gave misleading advice about the income-averaging scheme to federal cabinet.
Government employees can lose publicly-funded superannuation benefits if they are convicted of corruption and sentenced to more than twelve months in prison.
An unpublished section of the royal commission's report contains the identities of individuals who are recommended for referral for possible civil or criminal prosecution.
While the identities of individuals have not been made public, top silk Geoffrey Watson SC previously speculated to this masthead that public officials could potentially be charged with misconduct in public office, a criminal charge that carries up to five years in jail.
The Canberra Times is not suggesting Ms Campbell has been recommended by the robodebt royal commission or will face such charges.
The Department of Defence declined to comment on questions around Ms Campbell's superannuation or pension entitlements.
Justine Landis-Hanley
I'm a federal politics and public sector reporter at The Canberra Times, with an interest in integrity, regulation, and social services. Contact me with tips and feedback at justine.landishanley@canberratimes.com.au.
I'm a federal politics and public sector reporter at The Canberra Times, with an interest in integrity, regulation, and social services. Contact me with tips and feedback at justine.landishanley@canberratimes.com.au.
