Professor Gabrielle Appleby

So there have been complaints about not necessarily him undertaking that role,

but not being transparent and not telling, for example, the CEO of the NAC, not telling the Attorney General, not telling his deputy commissioners, that he was in fact continuing to have that role.

So we've known for a while that there's another ongoing investigation into his conduct and specifically handling of conflicts of interest.

What we now know is that the commissioner had received a draft report.

So it had got to the stage of a sort of the investigation is largely concluded and he had received a draft report and he had made submissions in relation to that draft report.

It's not yet released.

We don't know what the findings were.

But the inspector also indicated yesterday in estimates there has been a further investigation in relation to the commissioner's conduct, which we weren't aware of until this week.

We're not sure of the nature of that investigation, but that will be the third time that the inspector has investigated a complaint made about the commissioner's conduct.

Well, without knowing what the reports say, it's hard to know that.

I think that his resignation letter actually says a lot, which is he feels that the continued focus on him as commissioner is a distraction from the work of the NAC.

And as I said, I think that's right, regardless of what the findings are from these further reports.

there has been a lot of focus on.

His failing to step away from the referrals in relation to the Robodebt Royal Commission meant that the actual investigation of those complaints against senior public servants and even a minister took...

months, years longer than they would otherwise have had done.

And of course, all of the victims of the Robodebt scandal waiting for those findings.

So there certainly was a focus on Commissioner Brereton and how he handled himself, as opposed to a focus on the work of the commission doing those investigations, resolving those issues for the people involved.

It's a hugely important question, Natasha.

The Attorney General has indicated that she will undertake a merit-based process to try to find that person, but it's just going to be so important that both the right person is found, but also that there's a process that we can all see transparently is genuinely independent and merit-based.

The current commissioner, Paul Brereton, was appointed by government largely behind closed doors.