Professor admits wanting university job to benefit his consulting firm

John Dewar accepts UOW appointment would benefit KordaMentha, ICAC hears Thu 2 Jul 2026 at 7:28pm In short: An ICAC inquiry has heard that interim vice-chancellor John Dewar accepted he wanted his appointment to benefit a consulting firm he worked for. He acknowledged there was at least a perceived conflict of interest and agreed he believed the firm was considered very likely to win a university review contract. What's next? Dr Dewar will continue giving evidence tomorrow. A professor has admitted he wanted his appointment as interim vice-chancellor of the University of Wollongong (UOW) to benefit the consulting firm he also worked for, creating a perceived conflict of interest. John Dewar gave evidence on day nine of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) inquiry into allegations of biased recruitment and conflicts of interest at the university. He was appointed interim vice-chancellor in 2024, days before his firm, KordaMentha, secured review work at UOW that later grew to contracts worth $3.8 million. The firm was appointed to oversee a controversial restructure that led to redundancies for hundreds of academic and non-academic staff. Dr Dewar was questioned about negotiations surrounding his appointment, which he said he was told would pay $1 million a year, and proposals for KordaMentha to review of the university's operations. The inquiry heard he initially proposed that he would take on the interim vice-chancellor role while KordaMentha conducted a rapid diagnostic review of the university, estimated to cost between $250,000 and $300,000. Counsel assisting the commission, Emma Bathurst SC, put to Dr Dewar that he wanted his appointment to provide a benefit to the consulting firm. "What you wanted was your appointment as interim vice-chancellor to provide some benefit to KordaMentha as well," Ms Bathurst said. "Yes," Dr Dewar replied. He said he believed he would need support from KordaMentha's education team to help deliver the changes sought by the chancellor, Michael Still. Ms Bathurst suggested he wanted "a benefit to accrue" to KordaMentha from the arrangement, which Dr Dewar accepted. She further suggested that desire risked a divergence between his professional and statutory obligations to the university. Dr Dewar agreed there was at least a perception issue. "I can see, yes, I understand that there was potential for, if not actual, then certainly perceived conflicts of interest," he said. VC's firm 'very likely' to secure contract The inquiry then turned to a conversation Dr Dewar recorded in an email after speaking with Mr Still on 21 May 2024 as he negotiated his appointment and its terms. According to the email, Dr Dewar told KordaMentha colleagues that the chancellor had said the university needed to run a procurement process "to avoid any probity concerns" but was conducting it in a way that made it "very likely" KordaMentha would secure the work. The email said Mr Still had indicated the field would include a big four consulting firm "who won't get it". "He told you that it was very likely that KordaMentha would win it, correct?" Ms Bathurst said. "Yes," Dr Dewar answered. "And effectively what he was saying to you was that the procurement process was just a front to avoid probity concerns. You'd agree with me? "I don't think it's quite that straightforward," Professor Dewar said, adding that he did not believe it was a "cast-iron" guarantee. "Whether or not it was a cast-iron guarantee, he was telling you that the procurement process was going to be designed in a way that KordaMentha would win the work?" Ms Bathurst said. "Yes," Dr Dewar replied. He will continue to give evidence on Friday. Data shared during tender process Earlier the inquiry heard that internal financial UOW data was shared with Dr Dewar before he took on the role as interim vice-chancellor, while KordaMentha prepared the bid for the university work. Chief financial officer Matthew Wright was asked about a Zoom call he had with Dr Dewar, who had been announced as the university's incoming interim vice-chancellor but was still communicating through a KordaMentha email account. At the time, KordaMentha had already been invited to tender for the university's review. The inquiry heard Dr Dewar showed Mr Wright a series of slides prepared by KordaMentha that analysed the university's financial performance and challenges. Mr Wright told the inquiry he reviewed the material, added comments and corrections, and sent back additional information drawn from the university's internal systems. The spreadsheet contained academic and professional staff numbers, EFTSL (equivalent full-time student load) figures, and calculations showing student loads per staff member. Ms Bathurst suggested the information was directly relevant to the work KordaMentha was preparing and would have assisted its response if it was provded to the firm. "Yes, it could have been," Mr Wright said. But he said he believed he was engaging with Dr Dewar as the incoming vice-chancellor and not as a partner at KordaMentha. Commissioner Paul Lakatos SC suggested Mr Wright should have considered the risk that information provided to Dr Dewar could reach KordaMentha's bid team. Mr Wright replied, "Yes, perhaps I should have", and agreed it could have undermined the probity of the tender process. Mr Wright also told the inquiry the consultancy work conducted by Aspirall funded by the chancellor's $2 million discretionary fund did not follow UOW procurement policy. He said he thought it was "unusual" that Mr Still involved himself in salary negotiations for a member of the governance team. Mr Wright also told the inquiry that despite correspondence to staff that UOW was going through a "hiring freeze", it was only a "colloquial freeze", because there were "recruitment controls" and staff being hired the whole time. [Image text:] 14:55:05 02July 2026 ICAC As I said, there are a number of people with an interest in the area in the sector, John Dewar AO witness Paul Lakatos SC Commissioner John Dewar AO witness Emma Bathurst Counsel Assisting