Woman at centre of university corruption claims fronts ICAC inquiry

Former UOW governance officer Alyssa White takes stand at ICAC inquiry Wed 8 Jul 2026 at 6:47pm In short: Alyssa White has told the ICAC inquiry she left a better-paid senior role at the University of Sydney because she believed her alma mater needed help improving governance. The former chief governance officer later admitted helping a friend and former subordinate through a recruitment process. What's next? Ms White will continue to give evidence tomorrow. The woman at the centre of allegations about biased recruitment practices at the University of Wollongong (UOW) has told the state's corruption watchdog she took the job as chief governance officer because her alma mater needed help. Former UOW governance officer Alyssa White was today in the witness box at the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) inquiry, which has heard her accused of manipulating recruitment processes to stack the department with "close friends and former associates". It was told some received "preferential assistance" including help with position descriptions, resumes, cover letters and interview preparation. The ICAC inquiry has also heard concerns about Ms White's role in the creation of a new $400,000-a-year executive position that she herself expected to fill. Ms White today told the ICAC inquiry she had reservations about leaving Sydney University, where she held a senior governance role and saw future opportunities. But she said UOW had given her a commerce degree, a management cadetship and a start to her career. "The University of Wollongong is my alma mater … I felt that they had asked for help,"she said. Ms White described a university with governance systems that were less "mature" than those at Sydney and said she encountered highly manual processes when she arrived. "Wollongong had very good bones … there had been a period of time where nothing had been done in waiting for my arrival," she said. The inquiry heard she was discussing the future shape of the Governance and Policy Division within days of accepting the role. Four days after signing her contract, Ms White sent then-deputy-vice-chancellor Sean Brawley a proposed staffing structure showing how she believed vacant and soon-to-be-vacant positions should be reorganised. "He'd said to me, 'if you had that much money, how would you spend it?'" she said. The inquiry heard Ms White say it "wasn't a secret" she told colleagues when leaving Sydney if they wanted to work with her at Wollongong they should "get in contact". "I'd said, somewhat in jest, somewhat not in jest … if anyone wants a job working in the governance division of the University of Wollongong, you know where I'll be," she said. She later accepted she had actively sought to bring her former colleagues Lucinda Wright, Brendan Hook and Stacey Oon to Wollongong, while rejecting suggestions she had done the same with Joanne Chen. Categories of friends Ms White was also asked to categorise a number of people who had featured in the inquiry because of their connection to her and her role in gaining them employment at UOW. Counsel assisting, Emma Bathurst, questioned the wittiness about her relationship with Lucinda Wright, who later secured a role at UOW. Ms White initially described the relationship as "more of a mentor-mentee capacity" and agreed Ms Wright had reported directly to her. "Of course, I was her boss," she said. She accepted the pair socialised outside work, visited each other's homes, discussed personal matters and that she attended Ms Wright's engagement party and wedding. After initially resisting suggestions they were close friends, Ms White ultimately agreed a friendship had developed. Ms White agreed she reviewed Ms Wright's CV and cover letter, provided feedback on her application and gave her an interview question before she applied for a deputy university secretary position. "You wanted to give Ms Wright confidence in the interview process, correct?" Ms Bathurst asked. "Yes," Ms White replied. "Because you wanted her to get the job," Ms Bathurst said. "Yes," Ms White replied. Ms White agreed she did not provide the question to other candidates, which created an advantage for Ms Wright. The former governance chief also accepted she should have provided more detail when declaring her relationship with Ms Wright during the recruitment process. When asked whether failing to do so was a poor choice, White replied: "Yes, it was." Ms White is set to give evidence for three days.