The Commonwealth watchdog has been given stronger powers to try prevent a repeat of the former government’s unlawful debt collection scheme.

Public servants and agency heads will have a statutory duty to help the Commonwealth Ombudsman, while anyone who withholds reasonable facilities and assistance could be in breach of an offence under new laws that passed Parliament late on Wednesday.

This would mean the watchdog, whose job is to ensure government entities and prescribed private sector organisations act with integrity, was able to conduct “full, independent and transparent” investigations, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said.

“The Albanese government is committed to improving public trust in government,” he said.

Between 2016 and 2019, the former Coalition government’s robodebt scheme recovered more than $750 million from almost 400,000 people.

Many welfare recipients were falsely accused of owing the government money and the program was linked to several suicides.

The robodebt royal commission’s final report found that some officials and agencies attempted to mislead the ombudsman and impede its investigation into the scheme.

In response, the Labor government has committed $2.3 million over four years to allow the office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman to handle complaints and undertake investigations.

It has also made several other changes to implement the royal commission’s recommendations. They include imposing stronger and more rigorous scrutiny on public service agencies, strengthening protections for whistleblowers and creating the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

While most of the reforms have been welcomed, doubt has been cast over the NACC’s effectiveness after the federal anti-corruption watchdog head Paul Brereton was found to have engaged in misconduct by not investigating six people associated with robodebt.

-AAP