Former prime minister Scott Morrison will have to live with the consequences of Robodebt on his conscience, Education Minister Jason Clare claims.
As the fallout from the royal commission into the failed debt recovery scheme continues, federal police and the national anti-corruption commission are considering evidence against unnamed individuals.
Its findings, which were handed down on Friday, found former coalition ministers including Mr Morrison dismissed or ignored concerns about the legality of the scheme.
Mr Morrison has rejected suggestions of wrongdoing or that he misled cabinet, saying the report of the inquiry is "based upon a fundamental misunderstanding of how government operates".
But Mr Clare said those responsible for the scheme should have acted "in a human way" to shut down the scheme once it was evident debts were wrongly being sent to people.
"Scott Morrison and all of these ministers and bureaucrats are going to have to live with this on their conscience for the rest of their lives," he told Sky News on Sunday.
"This wasn't just one or two cases, this was half a million Australians who got a bill they didn't owe ... taxpayers had to fork out over a billion dollars to fix this mess."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday Mr Morrison had lacked contrition over his role in Robodebt.
But Nationals leader David Littleproud rejected calls for the former prime minister to step down from federal politics in the wake of the royal commission's findings.
"The report has singled them out but it hasn't actually necessarily said they should resign and those ministers actually are no longer there as ministers," he told Nine's Today program.
"(Robodebt) wasn't executed appropriately, it was appalling the way they've done it, and the commission of inquiry, I think now, should be something we learn from but to make sure that this sort of public policy doesn't happen again."
The report contained a sealed section not publicly released, which recommended senior figures behind the scheme be referred for civil and criminal prosecution.
Mr Clare said while the list of names would be known eventually, proper process needed to take place.
"You don't want to do anything which is going to prejudice a criminal proceeding or prejudice civil action," he said.
Federal minister Linda Burney, who was previously an opposition human services spokeswoman, said there needed to be consequences for the people involved in Robodebt.
"The commissioner has said this was cruel, it was unlawful and it made innocent people feel like criminals," she told ABC's Insiders.
"We knew the algorithm was unjust and unfair, and that there was no human involvement in it. This is a shocking indictment of it not being stopped."
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has accused the government of trying to politicise the release of the royal commission findings.
"(Government Services Minister Bill Shorten) is a political animal and he's used every opportunity to milk out whatever political advantage there is to the Labor Party out of this particular issue and the prime minister's doing the same," he said on Saturday.
Lifeline 13 11 14
beyondblue 1300 22 4636
