Second interviewer quits over charged public servant scandal

SENIOR Department of Premier and Cabinet employee who interviewed sacked and charged IT boss Veronica Theriault has resigned.

Sacked chief information officer Veronica Theriault

• Senior Premier’s department worker sacked, charged with dishonesty
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A SENIOR Department of Premier and Cabinet employee who was part of a three-person panel that hired a top public servant on allegedly fake credentials has resigned.

ICT Transformation executive director Sinead O’Brien resigned on Friday after an investigation into the circumstances that led to former chief information officer Veronica Theriault being employed.

In September The Advertiser revealed Theriault, right, had been sacked and charged with dishonesty offences. The Independent Commission Against Corruption has since revealed it is conducting a wider investigation into the process that led to her hiring.

DPC chief executive Don Russell yesterday confirmed Ms O’Brien had resigned.

“Following the dismissal of the former DPC chief information officer, I conducted a review of the selection process,” he said. “This review highlighted that greater scrutiny is required in the verification and checks on senior appointments.”

It is claimed Theriault faked qualifications and work backgrounds to get the job and acted as her own referee under an alias. Her brother, Alan Corkhill, has also been charged by ICAC after getting a lucrative contract reporting to her.

Mr Russell said he had implemented measures “to bolster the recruitment checks placed upon senior appointments with immediate effect”.