Posted: 2023-02-22 04:32:44

The Robodebt royal commission has heard the department responsible for managing the illegal debt collection scheme was run with a "command and control" management style and had a culture that stopped people asking questions about the legality of the program.

Former chief counsel at the Department of Human Services (DHS) Tim Ffrench today told the inquiry being held in Brisbane that if he had been in the top legal job at the department in 2017, he would have sought further legal advice about Robodebt following criticism from an eminent barrister about the lawfulness of the automated scheme.

Mr Ffrench was the chief counsel at DHS between 2019 and 2020.

The inquiry earlier in the day heard department lawyers in 2017 attended a legal conference where top constitutional silk Peter Hanks KC gave a presentation and warned Robodebt's method of calculating debts was illegal, because it involved income averaging.

Former DHS general counsel Matthew Roser on Wednesday told the commission legal advice was not sought in 2017 to provide clarity following Mr Hanks's keynote speech even though it generated "discussions" among senior lawyers.

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