“It is not acceptable that an agency knows for years that it is not following the law and chooses to continue not following the law. The rule of law and trust in government are dependent on agencies complying with the law.”

That is the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s conclusion on a fresh legal failure still hanging like a bad smell over the system after the robodebt royal commission exposed senior officials pursuing unlawful policy outcomes.

Unambiguously titled “Following the law is not optional: An investigation into the actions of Services Australia and the Department of Social Services to address an ongoing issue of non-compliance with the law”, the report cuts against the earlier misuse of bureaucratic trust in the ombud’s office to smother a scandal as it unfolded.