Senior public servant under scrutiny at robodebt inquiry appointed head of Aukus project office

Kathryn Campbell, one of the senior public servants being questioned at the robodebt royal commission, has been appointed head of the Aukus joint project office at the Department of Defence.

Labor put its stamp on the public service when it won the election, moving Campbell out of the role of head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, promised not to sack public servants and said at the time that Campbell would be given a senior role in the defence portfolio.

The government was not explicit about the precise role, and reports in the Australian newspaper in July said Labor was set to announce Campbell as head of a new Advanced Strategic Research Agency (ASRA).

Guardian Australia understands Campbell is lead of the Aukus joint program office within the Department of Defence.

This role is separate from the nuclear-powered submarine taskforce headed by V-Adm Jonathan Mead.

The three countries are also collaborating on advanced technologies, including hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence, and undersea intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities.

Campbell, a former head of the Department of Social Services and, before that, Department of Human Services, is one of the senior public servants who have come under extensive questioning at the royal commission into the robodebt scheme.

Guardian Australia reported last week that an internal whistleblower wrote to Campbell on 7 February 2017 raising concerns about the robodebt scheme.

Campbell repeatedly defended the scheme at parliamentary committee hearings. The royal commission has yet to make any findings against anyone. Its final report is due by April.

Guardian Australia attempted to offer Campbell a right of reply via lawyers representing the commonwealth at the robodebt royal commission.

Aukus was a key topic in meetings senior ministers held in the US this week.

The defence minister, Richard Marles, joined the defence secretaries of the US, Lloyd Austin, and the UK, Ben Wallace, for talks at the Pentagon on Thursday.