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<\/p>\nIt was the $400,000-a-year position that was never filled, but it was enough to lead the NSW corruption watchdog to the executive suite of the University of Wollongong (UOW).<\/p>\n
Much of the evidence heard by an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) inquiry over the last three weeks has focused on the UOW’s governance department.<\/p>\n
The branch specifically tasked with ensuring the institution is run with integrity and transparency was at the centre of allegations about biased recruitment processes and suspect consultant engagements.<\/p>\n
It was a proposed role, titled vice-president strategy and executive affairs, that became the tremor revealing deeper fault lines.<\/p>\n
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Evidence before ICAC has examined recruitment decisions, consultant engagements and governance reforms at UOW. (ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale)<\/p>\n
By early 2025, UOW was in the midst of significant change.<\/p>\n
There was a necessary task, university executives claimed, to offset losses from a drop in international enrolments<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the same time, concerns about recruitment practices inside the university’s Governance and Policy Division were already circulating through internal channels.<\/p>\n Into that environment came a proposal for a new senior executive role that would sit directly beneath the vice-chancellor.<\/p>\n The annual salary was initially proposed at $388,000 but quickly grew to $400,000.<\/p>\n The ICAC heard draft organisational structures, position descriptions and remuneration papers were prepared as discussions continued about how the role would be established and filled.<\/p>\n Evidence from multiple witnesses suggested former chief governance officer Alyssa White was closely involved in developing the proposal and planned to take on the role herself<\/a>.<\/p>\n UOW’s chief people and culture officer, Alison Bourke, told the inquiry she became alarmed when the proposal arrived on her desk.<\/p>\n “I was shocked for various reasons,” she told the inquiry.<\/p>\n “That she was discussing the creation of a new senior executive role that she was putting forward [and] she would be the incumbent for \u2026 just how brazen almost it was.”<\/p>\n Ms Bourke told the inquiry those concerns were reinforced when chancellor Michael Still told her that people and culture’s role should be “to just do whatever a manager tells them to do”<\/a>.<\/p>\n Already, on her first day in the role on January 6, 2025, concerns about Ms White’s behaviour had landed on Ms Bourke’s desk.<\/p>\n She told the inquiry “a report had come through from the external whistleblower, complaints pertaining to the recruitment of Mr Matthew Dawkins”, she said.<\/p>\n Mr Dawkins was a friend of Ms White’s from Elderslie High in south-western Sydney.<\/p>\n He had a degree in commerce but worked as an electrician.<\/p>\n He was employed by Ms White in 2024 despite having no governance experience.<\/p>\n The ICAC heard allegations Ms White stacked the university’s Governance and Policy division with “close friends and former associates”.<\/p>\n The inquiry was told some candidates received “preferential assistance” including help with position descriptions, resumes, cover letters and interview preparation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Alyssa White, whose proposed executive role and recruitment decisions became a major focus of the ICAC inquiry. (ABC News)<\/p>\n Ms Bourke said around this time it became apparent the situation should be referred to the ICAC.<\/p>\n “My role in this was responding to a paper that I received from Ms White appointing herself to a senior executive role,” she said.<\/p>\n Others held concern too.<\/p>\n Interim vice-chancellor John Dewar described the proposal as “a very, very bad idea” and later warned that pursuing it could amount to “courting a disaster”.<\/p>\n Ms Bourke gave evidence that she helped change the proposal from what she viewed as an intended appointment of Ms White into a process requiring open recruitment.<\/p>\n A ‘traumatic event’<\/p>\n By January 2025, UOW was deep into its reform program and staff were bracing for announcements about job cuts.<\/p>\n Tensions were evident on campus, with the National Tertiary Education Union already questioning the university’s reliance on external consultants.<\/p>\n When the new executive role was advertised it attracted immediate concern from senior staffers and union representatives.<\/p>\n On February 21, a SafetyNet report gave institutional form to concerns that had previously existed as rumours, frustrations and private conversations.<\/p>\n The report by the chair of UOW’s Workplace Health and Safety Committee, Lisa Simmons, identified the establishment of the vice-president strategy and executive affairs position as a “traumatic event”.<\/p>\n It found the role “contributed to a poor organisational culture and a significant lack of trust in strategic decision making at UOW”.<\/p>\n The SafetyNet hazard report found the role created the “perception of poor organisational culture contributing to strained relationships, toxic environment and further erosion of staff morale, motivation and psychological fatigue”.<\/p>\n It transformed what was an internal debate into something larger.<\/p>\n The role itself would not survive, but the issues it exposed did not disappear.<\/p>\n Consultancy contract<\/p>\n During the inquiry, Ms White accepted she was heavily involved in developing and running the tender for an enterprise-wide review.<\/p>\n It was awarded to consultancy firm KordaMentha, in which interim UOW vice-chancellor John Dewar was a partner while he was engaged in discussions about the procurement process.<\/p>\n Ms White denied allegations she worked with chancellor Michael Still to structure the tender in a way that improved KordaMentha’s chances of securing the contract.<\/p>\n But Mr Dewar conceded to ICAC that the chancellor informed him the procurement process was designed in a way that KordaMentha would win the $3.8 million contract<\/a>.<\/p>\n Later in the inquiry Mr Still rejected suggestions the process was designed to favour KordaMentha.<\/p>\n Former UOW chancellor Michael Still arrives at the Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry. (ABC News)<\/p>\n What began as questions about a proposed executive position expanded into scrutiny of recruitment practices, consultant engagements, governance reforms and conflicts of interest at the highest levels of the university.<\/p>\n![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783761134_736_5bda05e5b22870e4aefc65d474a0cf8d.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Man](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e9775fddc20834f04920ca99e36105a8.jpeg\")
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