A former Australian prime minister is among 28 prominent people on a list of alleged paedophiles, a senator has claimed in urging a public inquiry into child abuse be expanded.


Veteran Liberal senator Bill Heffernan used parliamentary privilege during a Senate hearing to claim he was in possession of the "very disturbing" police document, which allegedly focuses on legal professionals.


"We have in Australia, sadly, a compromise at the highest of levels. There is a former prime minister on this list and it is a police document," he told senators late Tuesday. "It's not so much the secret that's the problem, it's when a group of people, such as the 28 people on this page, keep each other's secrets that the institution is compromised."