Former robodebt investigator becomes emotional after learning documents were withheld by department

I find it upsetting,' former senior assistant ombudsman Louise Macleod says to inquiry

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A former investigator from the commonwealth ombudsman's office broke down as she told a royal commission she feels like a failure" because she could not convince her superiors to publish her legal criticisms of the robodebt scheme.

The commission is seeking to understand the role of the commonwealth ombudsman, whose report identified a number of process flaws in the scheme but stopped short of declaring the income averaging" debt calculation process unlawful. The report was used by the Coalition to defend the scheme over several years.

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