Ex-Deputy Crown Solicitor Gaby Jaksa awarded $990,000 state government consultancy contract five weeks after leaving job

ONE of the state’s top legal advisers, who registered a consultancy business while employed by the State Government, was awarded a $990,000 taxpayer-funded contract five weeks after leaving his six-figure post.

One of the projects Gaby Jaksa worked on as a consultant for the Department of Steve Development was the Adelaide Oval redevelopment.

ONE of the state’s top legal advisers, who registered a consultancy business while still employed by the State Government, was awarded a $990,000 taxpayer funded contract five weeks after leaving his six-figure post.

The Advertiser can reveal that former Deputy Crown Solicitor Gaby Jaksa — whose final day of employment was September 4, 2015 — was hired through his company Gus Commercial Consulting on a three-year contract starting October 12, 2015 to provide commercial consultancy services to the Department of State Development.

ASIC searches show that Mr Jaksa, who earned more than $250,000 as deputy crown solicitor, is sole director and secretary of Gus Commercial Consulting which was registered on August 18, 2015.

The contract between Mr Jaksa and DSD did not go out to tender but was agreed through “direct negotiation”.

A spokeswoman for the State Development said that Mr Jaksa has so far been paid $61,792 to provide consultancy services on a “number of significant projects”.

“Mr Jaksa has a distinguished public service record with the Crown Solicitor’s Office and has previously provided advice on several major projects such as the Adelaide Oval Redevelopment and the new Royal Adelaide Hospital,” she said.

“He also has been closely involved in the work of both the Olympic Dam Task Force and the Port Pirie Transformation Task Force.

“His unique experience and intimate knowledge of these projects and other proposals under consideration by the Department made him an exceptional candidate for this specialised commercial advisory role.

“Rather than engage Mr Jaksa as a fulltime employee, the Department only required his consultancy services to be available on a case-by-case basis.”

She said that contract negotiations between Mr Jaksa and the DSD began after Mr Jaksa’s last day of employment.

According to the publicly available contract details, Mr Jaksa is to provide “strategic business and legal consulting including the preparation of commercial documents, transaction negotiation and dispute resolution, complex acquisition planning, evaluation operational management planning and contract and risk management”.

The DSD spokeswoman said the terms and conditions of Mr Jaksa’s contract were negotiated pursuant to Public Sector regulations and determinations of the Office for the Public Sector.

Under his contract, Mr Jaksa is paid $385 an hour for a minimum 64 hours a month and $330 an hour for “approved services” in excess of those 64 hours.

Mr Jaksa confirmed the details of the contract and the date of his departure from the Crown Solicitor’s office.

He would not comment further about the timings of negotiations between himself or the reasons behind his departure from the Crown Solicitor’s office.

“The Department of State Development has provided a response ... I’m happy with that at this stage,” he said.

A spokeswoman for DSD said a decision on whether to extend Mr Jaksa’s contract would be made at an “appropriate time”.