ICAC told objecting staff labelled ‘problem children’
A senior human resources adviser described colleagues who had raised complaints about the Education Department’s infrastructure unit as “problem children”, an Independent Commission Against Corruption hearing has heard.
NSW
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A senior human resources adviser described colleagues who had raised complaints about the Education Department’s infrastructure unit as “problem children”, an Independent Commission Against Corruption hearing has heard.
School Infrastructure NSW strategic initiatives adviser Wendy O’Brien gave evidence to the ICAC inquiry on Friday that she had passed along internal departmental documents to her recently-terminated boss Anthony Manning, but denied any wrongdoing in doing so.
The ICAC is investigating former chief executive Mr Manning over millions of dollars in consultancy contracts awarded to firms run by his friends and ex-colleagues, as well as allegations Mr Manning and Ms O’Brien took reprisal action against staff who raised complaints.
The inquiry heard Ms O’Brien had met with Mr Manning for lunch two days after his farewell drinks, and on the following day texted Mr Manning an internal file, one of several documents she would share.
When asked by the Commissioner whether she saw “any issue” with giving “departmental information … to somebody who wasn’t in the department”, Ms O’Brien said she believed it was “his information”.
“He asked for it, and there was nothing confidential in there, it was just documents … that he couldn’t access, so I just passed them onto him.”
Text messages between Ms O’Brien, Mr Manning and other former and current staff were tendered to the inquiry, however, messages sent to and from Ms O’Brien’s work phone had been deleted from the device when retrieved by ICAC.
Ms O’Brien insisted she had “absolutely not” deleted the messages, which an electronic assessment indicated had been removed on March 14, 2024 – the same day ICAC officers attended Ms O’Brien’s address to seize her electronics.
The inquiry was also shown emails between Ms O’Brien and chief procurement officer Paul Hannan in which she offered advice about how to remove “the people we didn’t want” from the organisation through departmental restructures and role deletions.
“I haven’t given up – and will review the red text problem children this weekend,” she wrote.
In another exchange, the unit’s executive director of delivery copied the contents of a conduct complaint he has received from a contractor due to leave ten days later, requesting advice from Ms O’Brien about how to handle the letter.
“I don’t propose to do anything about his email, which I consider ridiculous, not to mention a complete waste of his time that we have no doubt paid for,” the executive director wrote.
Ms O’Brien testified that she did not have the authority to hire or fire staff at School Infrastructure NSW, but could only offer policy recommendations and carry out the directions of executive directors and the chief executive.
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