Colleen Gwynne to leave NT Children’s Commissioner role in September after trial’s sensational collapse

Colleen Gwynne will officially depart as NT Children’s Commissioner after the case against her on a charge of abusing the position sensationally collapsed.

Colleen Gwynne’s tenure as NT Children’s Commissioner will officially come to an end in less than three months after she was sensationally acquitted of abusing her office in March.

Ms Gwynne had been on leave since 2020 after she was charged with misusing her position to help a friend secure a plum job as her 2IC before the case against her collapsed mid-trial.

On Tuesday, budget estimates heard Ms Gywnne’s paid leave had since been extended to September 6 this year, at which point recruitment for the role was expected to be readvertised.

Attorney-General Chansey Paech said his department was “working with her about the employment being finalised”.

“I am hoping that once the employment for the Children’s Commissioner can be resolved, we can go to national advertisement to refill that position,” he said.

Mr Paech said acting Children’s Commissioner Nicole Hucks would remain in the role until a permanent appointment was made.

Attorney-General Chansey Paech said during Tuesday’s estimates hearings Colleen Gwynne’s employment as Children’s Commissioner was ‘being finalised’ and due to end on September 6. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The failed prosecution came after a three-year police investigation over allegations Ms Gwynne sought to appoint her friend Laura Dewson as the assistant children’s commissioner.

The investigation involved police bugging her office and phone, accessing her bank records and running surveillance on the Nightcliff home that she shared with her primary school-aged children.

The Supreme Court case ended abruptly in March this year after Justice John Burns ruled the Crown could not prove Ms Gwynne’s conduct was criminal, rather than poor practice.

It was revealed last month the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions spent more than $260,000 on the failed attempt to convict her.

NT Children's Commissioner Colleen Gwynne has been on paid leave from the Children’s Commissioner role for almost three years. Picture: Justin Kennedy

That figure does not include the cost of the long-running police investigation, which involved up to four senior detectives working on the case at any one time.

The abuse of office charge was laid despite Ms Dewson being one of two people deemed suitable for the position by an independent panel.

During the Crown opening at her trial, it emerged Ms Gwynne had been recorded on a listening device using a racist slur and she apologised outside court for her “extremely offensive” words.

The AFLNT’s women’s best and fairest medal, which had been named in her honour in 2016, was subsequently rebadged following calls for action by Aboriginal ABC sports broadcaster Charlie King.

Ms Gwynne is now seeking compensation for the “misconceived” attempt to prosecute her.