Wollongong chancellor resigns as corruption probe continues

University of Wollongong (UOW) chancellor Michael Still has resigned with immediate effect, having stood aside from his role last month pending an investigation by a corruption watchdog into the awarding of contracts to two consultancies.

The New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is undertaking an investigation into the university, including the decision to appoint John Dewar, a partner at consultancy KordaMentha, as interim vice-chancellor. Following Dewar’s appointment, KordaMentha won a A$2.9 million (£1.5 million) contract to advise on a Wollongong restructure.

Still, whose term was due to end in 2027, said: “To best serve the interests of the University, its staff and students, and to ensure that leadership renewal can occur without interruption, I have decided that I should resign from council effective immediately so that the next chancellor can be sought.”

The council said that it respected Still’s decision to resign, “which he has made with the best interests of the University’s staff, students and the broader University community in mind”. The council also thanked Still for his contribution to the university.

Council member Greg West, who was appointed acting chancellor in June, will continue in the role. The process of appointing a new chancellor now begins. 

According to the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), Still’s resignation midway through the investigation “highlights a governance disaster”.

NTEU general secretary Damien Cahill welcomed Still’s resignation, describing his departure as “a step towards healing the completely broken governance system at the University of Wollongong”. He added that it was “gobsmacking” what the ICAC had uncovered in its investigation.

“The chancellor told a KordaMentha partner it was ‘very likely’ his firm would win work at the university while actively courting him to run the university on a salary of $1 million a year.

“The NTEU consistently raised this egregious conflict of interest only to be told there was nothing to see here. Now even Professor Dewar has admitted to ICAC there was at least the potential of a perceived conflict of interest.”

NTEU national president Alison Barnes cautioned that issues related to governance, corruption or conflicts of interest were not unique to UOW but should be understood as “sector-wide issues”.

She also said that “the events at UOW should also be a warning to the NSW government that the problem is broader than one institution or one set of individuals”.

“Australian universities’ A$1.8 billion (£935 million) consultancy addiction is at the heart of the damaging decisions that are putting public institutions in the hands of profit-hungry corporations…universities need urgent reform if they are to be run like the institutions that staff, students and the community deserve.”

rosalind.skillen@timeshighereducation.com