Former coalition ministers, including ex-prime minister Scott Morrison, were found in a royal commission report to have dismissed or ignored concerns about the scheme’s legality.

Mr Morrison and his colleagues have rejected any wrongdoing.

Coalition frontbencher James Paterson described robodebt as an “incredibly regrettable event” that should not have happened.

“We’ve welcomed the report and apologised to the victims of robodebt and we’ve taken it very seriously,” he told reporters in Canberra.

Senator Paterson said the coalition would consider measures brought forward by the government in a bipartisan way.

“What action individuals choose to take as a result of this inquiry is a matter for them, and I’m sure will follow the usual legal processes involving government proceedings,” he said.

The inquiry’s commissioner Catherine Holmes has referred a number of unnamed people involved in the scheme to police and other authorities for possible civil and criminal action.

Class action lawyer Peter Gordon’s firm has written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese requesting compensation for the “systematic dishonesty” uncovered by the inquiry.

Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said he was “perplexed” by the responses of some of the former coalition ministers.

“I don’t know why these ministers are running around acting like they’re out of the woods yet,” he told reporters on the Gold Coast on Tuesday.

“This was a shameful scandal in Australian political history.”

Mr Shorten flagged the former ministers could face legal action from victims who could “sue them individually”.

“I think having former prime minister Mr Morrison say he did nothing wrong makes it very hard for the opposition to be taken credibly,” he said.

Ms Holmes wrote in her report there was no practical way of setting up a compensation scheme for robodebt victims, but recommended lifting the rate of welfare payments.

Mr Shorten said the level of fraud in the system was tiny and welfare recipients should not be seen as “villains”.

The former government settled the class action lawsuit in 2020 for more than $1 billion after a court ruled the automated debt recovery scheme was unlawful.

Parts of the royal commission report have been referred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission, which has received hundreds of referrals since it began operating on July 1.