UOW Corruption Allegations: White Admits Subverting Recruitment Processes

The woman at the centre of serious corruption allegations involving the University of Wollongong (UOW) sent a text boasting about securing jobs for former colleagues at a time when the institution was "broke".

Alyssa White spent a second day in the witness box as the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) continued examining allegations she stacked the university's Governance and Policy Division with "close friends and former associates".

The corruption watchdog has heard some candidates received "preferential assistance" including help with position descriptions, resumes, cover letters and interview preparation.

The recruitments occurred during a period of significant upheaval at UOW, with governance reforms underway and a major restructure that would ultimately lead to hundreds of jobs being cut.

The inquiry heard by December 2023, just four months after starting at UOW, Ms White had secured roles for former University of Sydney colleagues Lucinda Wright, Brendan Hook, Stacey Oon and Joanne Chen.

'Greatest achievement'

On December 16, in texts shown to the inquiry, Ms White texted her long-time high school friend Matthew Dawkins celebrating her success.

Ms White told the inquiry that her "spirits were definitely high" at the time.

"I was hopeful, I'd started in the organisation, I'd been supported by the vice-chancellor and the chancellor to get those recruitments across the line," she said.

"I think that the spirits of the team that was in place was that the time was starting to change, that there was opportunity."

Counsel assisting the commissioner Emma Bathurst began today focusing on Dr Oon's appointment.

Ms White accepted Dr Oon had received an advantage over other candidates and agreed her conduct had "significantly undermined" the integrity of the recruitment process.

Ms Bathurst then worked through a fresh series of appointments involving friends, former colleagues and associates in 2024.

By April, Ms White conceded she was aware there was an investigation by UOW into concerns about her conduct in earlier appointments.

One of the appointments was Lachlan Wood, the husband of a long-time friend, for governance and policy coordinator.

The inquiry was shown an email titled "my big dumb resume" as Ms Bathurst worked through Ms White's role in assisting him before his recruitment to the university.

The inquiry heard Ms White had reviewed Mr Wood's resume and later helped him prepare for the job interview.

The inquiry heard Ms White removed herself from Mr Wood's recruitment panel after concerns emerged about earlier appointments, although she rejected a direct suggestion the investigation prompted the decision.

Ms White agreed she installed Dr Oon as chair for the panel but remained involved behind the scenes, advising on interview questions, referees and recruitment decisions before later admitting she had "definitely compromised the process".

Ms White also agreed she assisted the applications of high school friend and primary school teacher Kayla Powell, former colleague Rosetta Biasi and another high-school friend, Matthew Dawkins, an electrician with no university governance experience before being recruited into the division.

'Entirely lacking in transparency'

Ms White agreed the recruitments were "entirely lacking in transparency" and involved "repeatedly favouring a select few candidates", all of whom were friends or associates.

She also accepted she had "knowingly and repeatedly" breached the university's recruitment and selection policy, conflict of interest policy and code of conduct.

'Why did you do it?'

The inquiry also heard Ms White accepted it had become a regular practice to provide interview questions to friends and associates before recruitment processes.

Ms Bathurst challenged Ms White on why she repeatedly assisted candidates she believed could have won the jobs on merit alone.

"Why did you do it, then?" she asked.

Ms White also agreed she had deleted the WhatsApp application a number of times over the years, including before ICAC seized her phone, describing it as something she mainly used for dating and overseas travel.

As the hearing concluded, Ms Bathurst suggested Ms White had repeatedly failed in her duty to properly manage conflicts of interest.

"By repeatedly subverting recruitment processes, you've breached that duty, correct?" Ms Bathurst said.

"Yes," Ms White replied.

She will continue giving evidence on Friday.