UOW Chancellor bypassed executive on salary decision, inquiry told
Level of intervention 'unlike anything' former exec had ever seen
The Chancellor of the University of Wollongong overrode a senior executive on a staff salary decision — while already under scrutiny for bypassing university management, ICAC has heard.
Sean Brawley, who served as deputy vice-chancellor of strategy and assurance at UOW until he was made redundant in October 2024, told Operation Scandi’s public inquiry Chancellor Michael Still’s conduct was unlike anything he had encountered in his previous career.
Still had already drawn concern for making direct contact with the university’s complaints manager, several levels below Brawley, without going through proper channels. The university’s Chief Integrity Officer contacted Brawley to flag the approach as inappropriate.
But it was Still’s intervention in a salary negotiation that produced the inquiry’s sharpest exchange of the day.
Salary sign-off refused
When Brawley signed off on a $200,000 offer for Dr Stacy Oon’s associate director governance role, former chief governance officer Alyssa White pushed for the top of the salary range. Chancellor Still then emailed directly in support of a $225,000 package. Brawley refused to sign the revised offer. The acting vice-president operations told him he had signed it under pressure from the Chancellor.
“Why is the Chancellor making this representation?” Brawley said when he saw the exhibit for the first time at the inquiry.
The salary paid to White herself also came under scrutiny. Her annual remuneration package was confirmed at $308,880 - almost $100,000 greater than the internal benchmark for the role of $217,675. The then vice-chancellor Patricia Davidson had committed during negotiations to more closely matching White’s University of Sydney package.
Brawley told the inquiry he was unaware, when he signed off on the appointments of Dr Oon and Jou-An Chen to the governance division in late 2023, that either had previously worked with White at the University of Sydney. An independent cultural review completed in April 2024 subsequently found White may have breached the university’s Code of Conduct and failed to comply with UOW conflict of interest policies in recruitment.
Brawley is expected to continue his testimony next week.
The KordaMentha timeline
Earlier in the day cross-examination by White’s counsel Peter O’Brien placed a key chronology on the inquiry record. The former vice-chancellor resigned on April 18, 2024. Professor John Dewar was appointed interim vice-chancellor on May 30, 2024. A memo authorising the commencement of the KordaMentha procurement process was endorsed on June 3 - three days later.
Dr Oon confirmed White had asked her to compile an accurate account of that timeline, which White then forwarded to Jordan Matthews, the then chief of staff to the Vice-Chancellor. Oon said there had been no attempt by White to falsify or alter the dates, and that when she pointed out the overlap between the two processes, White accepted it without objection.
Oon’s evidence on White’s intent was, however, expressly her own inference. When pressed by Commissioner Lakatos, she acknowledged her account of what White was thinking was based on her own reading of their close relationship, not on anything White had directly told her.
‘A toxic, unsafe space’
The two remained in personal contact until at least March 2026, when they met for a meal before attending a Pendulum concert together.
The most unguarded moment of the session came not from counsel but from Commissioner Lakatos, who asked Oon directly whether she still held White in high regard.
Oon said that question was “something I am actively working through with the help of a psychologist.” While she believed White had acted in what she genuinely considered the university’s best interests: “at some point in time the dynamics became quite toxic”. She described the working relationship as an “unsafe space” she was trying to understand with professional help.
Operation Scandi is investigating three related matters involving the University of Wollongong: whether Chief Governance Officer Alyssa White subverted recruitment processes for governance roles to benefit associates; whether Chancellor Michael Still, White, or others improperly awarded or influenced consulting contracts to Aspirall Consulting International; and whether Still or others failed to manage the conflict of interest arising from the appointment of Professor John Dewar as interim Vice-Chancellor while he remained a partner at KordaMentha, a firm the university subsequently engaged for more than $3.8 million in work.
The hearing is expected to run for approximately three weeks.
ICAC has made no findings in Operation Scandi. All individuals named are the subject of allegations being examined at a public inquiry.
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