UOW governance chief resigned days before corruption inquiry opens, ICAC told
First day of hearing continues
The University of Wollongong’s chief governance officer resigned just two days before a public corruption inquiry into her conduct opened, the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption heard on Monday.
Counsel Assisting the Commission, Emma Bathurst, told the opening day of Operation Scandi that Alyssa White, who held the role of Chief Governance Officer and Secretary to the Council, tendered her resignation on Saturday, June 20, two days before today’s hearing began.
White had been in the role since October 2023. The inquiry is examining allegations that she repeatedly used that position to subvert UOW’s recruitment processes for the benefit of her friends and former associates.
Bathurst told the Commission the evidence was expected to show White’s conduct included creating positions within the university’s Governance and Policy Division with specific individuals in mind, editing candidates’ applications before submission, sharing interview questions with favoured applicants in advance, and sitting on selection panels without properly declaring her close personal relationships with the candidates.
‘All guns blazing’
The alleged pattern of conduct spanned at least 10 separate recruitment processes over roughly two years, Bathurst said, describing the number of instances as giving rise to concerns the conduct was systemic.
Among the evidence expected to be heard was a message White sent to a colleague after a round of successful appointments, in which she wrote she could now plan “knowing we have all guns blazing.” In another exchange, after a childhood friend with no prior governance experience was selected for a role, White allegedly told him he would need to make clear to colleagues “we don’t know each other when you start”.
The opening address also detailed an alleged attempt by White to create a new Vice President, Strategy and Executive Affairs role, a position the evidence is expected to show she had effectively earmarked for herself, at a proposed salary higher than her existing package. That process was deferred after internal concerns were raised by senior university figures, unions, and media scrutiny.
Bathurst was careful to note the Commission does not allege that most of the individuals recruited through these processes engaged in corrupt conduct. She described them, in the majority of cases, as beneficiaries rather than participants.
Operation Scandi is also examining allegations relating to the improper award of consulting work to Aspirall Consulting International - a firm whose chief executive is alleged to have been a personal friend of Chancellor Michael Still - and to the management of conflicts of interest arising from the appointment of Professor John Dewar as interim Vice Chancellor while he remained a partner at consulting firm KordaMentha.
Still stepped aside from the chancellorship on June 5, pending the inquiry’s completion.
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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