When the Ombudsman's Office began investigating Centrelink's automated debt system in January 2017, it sent the Department of Human Services a draft outline of the report it had not yet written and invited comment.
A departmental officer told colleagues: "Having read the report outline I think the department has been given a great opportunity to effectively co-write the report with the Ombudsman's Office."
Later drafts went to the department in Word format so changes could be made in tracked changes. The Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme found that some departmental wording went into the final report, including a line it described as "a DHS talking point". It concluded that the process gave rise to "a reasonable perception" that the department was allowed to influence the report "in order to further DHS's own interests, thus compromising the independence of the investigation".
The Commission's advice for the future was practical: if a draft must be shared with an agency, send a PDF.
Source: Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme, Report, chapter 21.