Glenys Beauchamp was a combative witness at the Aged Care Royal Commission as her department was severely criticised for showing little empathy for aged care residents' journey. 

The outgoing Secretary (pictured above centre) – who had stepped down in January ahead of her retirement on February 28 – had been drafted back in to remain in her role while her successor Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy dealt with the Coronavirus outbreak.

But Ms Beauchamp is now in the spotlight over her revelation to the Senate inquiry into the sports rorts affair that she destroyed all her personal notebooks – including notes taken during a sports grant teleconference between her, the former Sport Australia chief Kate Palmer, and its board chairman, John Wylie, after Ms Palmer learned of the colour-coded spreadsheets being used by former Sports Minister Bridget McKenzie’s office to award the grants.

The Secretary says she had no record of the meeting because she destroyed the notes while cleaning out her office at the end of January.

“As a private citizen, I should not have notebooks and things after midnight tonight,” she stated. “They’re just my scratchings that I provide down in a notebook of things I might have to follow up on, and just a reminder to me.”

Under the Commonwealth archival law, some records must be kept, but those considered to be of “low importance” can be destroyed.

Picture Credit: ABC