One of the nation's top bureaucrats is refusing to tell the Senate if he is being investigated over possible law breaches.
Australian Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd would not say if he's being investigated over a reported possible breach in relation to emails sent to a right-wing think tank.
"I am not going to disclose or comment, yes or no, whether there is an investigation being conducted," Mr Lloyd told a Senate committee on Monday.
Labor senator Penny Wong said Mr Lloyd was in danger of being held in contempt.
"You can't do that, the Senate has made clear you can't do that," Senator Wong said.
Mr Lloyd was involved with the Institute of Public Affairs before being appointed commissioner and freedom of information requests for his emails to the IPA have been rejected in some cases.
Senator Jenny McAllister said the FOI requests were rejected because they could prejudice an ongoing investigation into a possible breach of the law.
But Mr Lloyd refused to comment on whether he or his office are being investigated.
He said if he was investigating someone he would not reveal that information publicly but Senator Wong said that didn't apply in the Senate committee.
"I know it's embarrassing for you but you don't actually have the option of simply saying, 'I'm not going to talk about it'," Senator Wong said.
Under Senate committee rules, witnesses cannot refuse to answer questions.
Senate President Scott Ryan chose not to step in to help Mr Lloyd and ask that he be given immunity from answering the question.
But he said Mr Lloyd may be able to apply for immunity if he can show that not answering is in the public interest.
Mr Lloyd was allowed to seek advice on whether he can avoid revealing if he is under investigation.
It was also revealed he sent an email to the head of the IPA the day after his most recent appearance before an estimates committee, noting that it had resulted in extra publicity for the think tank.
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