Mr Still said the proposal evolved from an earlier plan to expand former chief governance officer Alyssa White’s responsibilities, and carried a remuneration package of about $388,000.<\/p>\n
The inquiry heard Ms White herself helped develop structures for a new Vice-Chancellor’s Office, draft position descriptions, and prepare papers supporting the proposal.<\/p>\n
Driven by the incoming VC<\/p>\n
Mr Still agreed he knew Ms White wanted the role, but repeatedly maintained the proposal originated with incoming vice-chancellor Max Lu.<\/p>\n
Counsel Assisting Emma Bathurst asked whether it was Professor Lu who wanted Ms White appointed.<\/p>\n
“That must be true because otherwise it wouldn’t have been put forward in the way it was,” Mr Still said.<\/p>\n
“This was all done at the behest of Professor Lu,” he said.<\/p>\n
The inquiry heard UOW People and Culture executive Alison Bourke and general counsel Rebecca Lim raised concerns about the plan, including whether the position should be advertised.<\/p>\n
Ms Bourke also advised the proposal could not proceed until June because of industrial risks.<\/p>\n
![\"University](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783334891_931_41e4431f686701d32e3d9f2d7f467af6.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
The ICAC inquiry is examining allegations of favouritism, conflicts of interest and governance failures at the University of Wollongong. (ABC Illawarra: Sarah Moss)<\/p>\n
Mr Still accepted he wanted to know whether there was “a way around” waiting until then, but maintained he was seeking to progress Professor Lu’s preferred structure rather than secure the role for Ms White.<\/p>\n
Still denies conflict<\/p>\n
Mr Still said it did not cross his mind that having Ms White develop structures and papers for a position she hoped to occupy placed her in a position of conflict.<\/p>\n
He said Ms White was carrying out work requested by the incoming vice-chancellor rather than acting as the decision-maker<\/p>\n
Mr Still also denied suggestions he wanted Ms White to obtain the role, and had sought to influence senior university figures to achieve that outcome.<\/p>\n
The inquiry heard Mr Still regularly updated Ms White on discussions taking place behind the scenes as concerns about the proposal emerged.<\/p>\n
Text messages showed Mr Still describing the situation as “a little silly” after he was told Ms Bourke wanted to discuss concerns directly with him.<\/p>\n
Mr Still said he was referring to the way the issue had been raised, not the conflict concern itself.<\/p>\n
He also disputed aspects of Alison Bourke’s contemporaneous notes of meetings about the proposed role, rejecting suggestions they showed he was advocating for Ms White to obtain the role.<\/p>\n
![\"Building](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e4adc72c289e4bdd41f5d198d6a3af5a.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
The corruption watchdog has heard evidence about governance reforms, recruitment processes and a proposed executive role at the University of Wollongong. (ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale)<\/p>\n
Earlier, the inquiry examined Mr Still’s involvement in salary discussions concerning governance executive Stacey Oon.<\/p>\n
The inquiry heard Dr Oon was initially offered a remuneration package of $200,000 after being selected for a governance role.<\/p>\n
Emails and text messages showed Ms White lobbying for a higher salary and seeking Mr Still’s assistance.<\/p>\n
Mr Still rejected suggestions he had improperly intervened in salary negotiations, describing his involvement as providing “input” and maintaining he had not overstepped his role as chancellor.<\/p>\n
‘Engaged’ chancellor<\/p>\n
Mr Still told the inquiry he arrived at a university facing serious financial and cultural challenges and described himself as an “engaged” rather than a “hands-on” chancellor who wanted council to have greater visibility of day-to-day operations.<\/p>\n
The inquiry heard he was a strong supporter of Ms White, describing her as hardworking, intelligent and trusted, and backing her during a 2024 cultural review.<\/p>\n
Asked about complaints regarding her management style, he described her as “softly professional”.<\/p>\n
Mr Still will continue giving evidence tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former University of Wollongong (UOW) chancellor Michael Still has fronted the state’s corruption watchdog just days after resigning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,21,34323,8137,10360,247,34322,30819],"class_list":["post-45254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-ex-chancellor","tag-icac","tag-independent-commission-against-corruption","tag-sydney","tag-university-of-wollongng","tag-uow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}