Former Onkaparinga Council boss Mark Dowd suddenly leaves his role as CEO of Disability Living

The former Onkaparinga Council boss who presided over an expenses scandal and was found to have committed misconduct has left his latest job after less than a year.

Former council boss Mark Dowd, who was found to have committed misconduct while at the helm of Onkaparinga Council, has left a disability housing provider less than a year after being appointed its chief executive.

The board of Stepney-based Disability Living informed staff last Friday by email that Mr Dowd, the chief executive officer, and the organisation’s general manager of service delivery Kate Mason had departed “effective immediately”.

But Disability Living’s chair Sandra Di Blasio would not comment on the circumstances of their departures.

“I can confirm that they have both gone but I can’t give details or circumstances,” she said when contacted by The Advertiser. “We have got a process for a replacement but for everyone it is business as usual.”

Ms Di Blasio said the pair were away from the office for a “short time” before their exit from the NDIS registered charity.

In the email to staff, a copy obtained by The Advertiser, Ms Di Blasio said the organisation would “work to inform our clients of Mark and Kate’s departure”.

“If you are asked about it, you should confirm it but please do not discuss details or engage in speculation,” she wrote. “We appreciate and understand this (news) may come as a surprise.”

Mark Dowd with former Onkaparinga Council Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg and visiting Chinese delegate in 2013.

Former Onkaparinga Council chief executive Mark Dowd has left his latest post with Disability Living less than a year into his tenure.

Mr Dowd and Ms Mason started working for Disability Living in August 2020, according to their LinkedIn profiles.

Mr Dowd’s contract came 10 months after he and the council “mutually agreed” to part ways ending an eight-year tenure which was dogged by expenses scandals.

His October 23, 2019 council resignation came a month before SA Ombudsman Wayne Lines found that council staff had committed maladministration by wasting thousands of ratepayers’ dollars on entertainment, flowers, expensive accommodation, and even a roof climb at Adelaide Oval between 2014 and 2016.

At the time Mr Lines said it appeared there had not been a “pattern of misconduct on behalf of any individual”.

In August 2019, Mr Lines found Mr Dowd had separately committed misconduct when he accepted a partially paid for trip to Brisbane by a software company seeking a contract to upgrade the council’s computer systems.

Mr Dowd had denied any wrongdoing. In February 2018 he repaid the council $6818 for a joining fee to prestigious Kooyonga Golf Club.

Disability Living was founded in 1984 and provides support to more than 460 clients and employs nearly 300 staff, according to its website.

The Advertiser has attempted to contact Mr Dowd and Ms Mason for comment.

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