A confidential document about the former government's illegal debt collection scheme could be unsealed after being hidden from the public eye.
The robodebt royal commission's final report, handed down in July 2023, painted a scathing portrait of a scheme that was unfair, unreasonable and targeted some of the most vulnerable Australians.
However, one of its chapters has not seen the light of day.
Commissioner Catherine Holmes recommended it remain sealed and not tabled with the rest of the report "so as to not prejudice any future civil action or criminal prosecution".
It is believed to have referred six public servants for criminal or civil prosecution, but these matters are now complete.
On Thursday, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus revealed the government was proposing to publish the chapter "in the interests of transparency and accountability".
The federal government had planned to table the chapter in the House of Representatives during the sitting week, but the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) could soon investigate the six people named in the document.
The government will now seek advice from a member of the commission to ensure the document's publication does not prejudice its decisions.
Between 2016 and 2019, the former coalition government's scheme recovered more than $750 million from almost 400,000 people.
Many welfare recipients were falsely accused of owing the government money and robodebt was linked to several suicides.
The Labor government has made several changes to implement the royal commission's recommendations including reforms to impose stronger and more rigorous scrutiny on public service agencies.
"Robodebt was a shocking betrayal and failure of lawful treatment towards vulnerable people who needed support from the government," Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said.
"We can never fully undo the harm, but we can at least promise those who went through it and everyone else - never again."
Robodebt has returned to the spotlight after the federal anti-corruption watchdog head faced calls to stand down in October when he was found to have engaged in misconduct by not investigating six people associated with the scheme.
The inspector of the commission has recommended it appoint an appropriate person to reconsider whether the six people should be investigated.
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