The Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme has been extended. 

The royal commission has been given an extra three months to complete its deep dive into public service maladministration, ministerial influence and dodgy debt collection by the end of the financial year, June 30.

This moves the release date of the royal commission’s final report well beyond the May federal Budget, which could allow the government to proactively fund responses to the long string of Australian Public Service governance, oversight and record-keeping issues identified.

“Royal Commissioner Catherine Holmes AC SC advised the Government that a short extension was needed and the Government has agreed. The Royal Commission will now deliver its report on 30 June 2023,” attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said.

“The Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), has amended the Letters Patent to extend the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme.

“The Government acknowledges the considerable work of Commissioner Holmes and her team to date and looks forward to receiving the Royal Commission’s final report,” Mr Dreyfus said.

Meanwhile, some change is already afoot, with the Secretaries Board (Prime Minister and Cabinet) revealing that a new APS Integrity Taskforce has been created to find and fix many of the “significant issues” emerging from the robodebt royal commission.