Former prime minister Kevin Rudd and ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
However the story implied the former prime minister ignored critical safety concerns when the document actually referred to financial risks associated with the scheme. It also emerged the cabinet paper had already been made public and was not a new document,as the ABC suggested.
A furious Mr Rudd - who was cleared of any wrongdoing at the royal commission - launched legal proceedings,and the ABC quickly rewrote the story and said it never intended to"suggest that Mr Rudd recklessly ignored critical risks before the deaths of four young installers"or"that he lied to the royal commission that examined those deaths".
Ms Guthrie wrote to Mr Rudd in late April asking that he accept her apology"as a genuine reflection of the ABC's concern over the matter and the harm it caused".
ABC boss Michelle Guthrie's apology letter to former PM Kevin Rudd.
The managing director - who has been forced to defend the broadcaster following a series of other editorial bungles - said there had recently been"much change and reorganisation at the ABC".
"But clearly we have also made a number of mistakes concerning our content during that period,"she said.
"Stories were published which hadn't received the editorial scrutiny they needed,and weren't up to our standards. It is important those mistakes are acknowledged and that we continue to drive change to strengthen processes,improve accountability and boost the quality of our coverage."