source : the age
A $2 million fund for “council-approved initiatives” at the University of Wollongong was used to promote an executive’s friend with the approval of the chancellor despite that action not being a council-approved initiative, the ICAC has heard.
The public inquiry into the University of Wollongong began its third week on Monday with Michael Still, who on Friday quit his post as chancellor of the besieged institution.
The corruption watchdog is probing whether governance officer Alyssa White or others subverted recruitment processes to employ her friends and whether Still or others had improperly awarded work to a consulting firm called Aspirall Consulting.
The three-week public hearing is also examining how the university managed interim vice-chancellor and KordaMentha partner John Dewar’s appointment and the conflict of interest with his consulting firm.
More than 10 per cent of the initiatives fund was spent on promoting Dr Stacy Oon – a former colleague of White’s who admitted to ICAC that she had received significant help from White while being promoted – to a job with a $225,000 salary despite objections from the university’s HR team and former staffer Sean Brawley.
Text messages and emails tendered on Monday showed that White and Still had discussed at length how Oon’s salary – characterised by HR as “fair, equitable and in line with the market” – could be bumped up further; he also sat on the panel for her promotion for the first time.
Still told ICAC on Monday he didn’t think he was overstepping and had acted in the best interests of the university.
Still also played a pivotal role in White’s attempts to secure a $50,000 pay rise in 2024 as the executive sponsor of a paper detailing her as having “unparalleled expertise” and “visionary leadership”. White wrote the paper.
White was not promoted to the $389,000 role but remained on a salary of more than $300,000 a year until she quit the role two days ahead of the ICAC public hearing.
In an email ahead of her appointment to the job, White emailed Still asking if she should “reduce the paragraph about my skills and be more bland there”.
When HR head Alison Bourke flagged her concerns about promoting White, Still texted White that he hoped Bourke “hasn’t drunk too much Kool-Aid”.
In a file note from the conversation, Bourke said that Still had told her “process prevents the right decision”. He also said “definitely not” to advertising the role, her note said.
Still said he recalled the conversation differently and was “absolutely sure” he did not kibosh advertising.
He also denied saying that process prevents the right outcome.
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