Leanne Cover has resigned as CEO of the Canberra Institute of Technology two years after she was “temporarily” stood down on full pay as the ACT Integrity Commission began an investigation into a series of multi-million dollar contracts awarded to a single consultant.
She had agreed to take leave on June 23, 2022, until the investigation into more than $8.5 million awarded to “complexity and systems thinker” Patrick Hollingworth was complete.
Ms Cover’s total annual remuneration package stands at $373,061.
The CIT board had publicly admitted at the time it could not guarantee the most controversial contract awarded to Mr Hollingworth, worth almost $5 million, provided “value for money”. It fell only $10 short of needing to go before the government’s procurement board.
The contract was suspended and the board confirmed that Ms Cover was to be the subject to a performance appraisal. The outcome of that appraisal is not publicly known, nevertheless she received at least one pay rise during her period of suspension when the ACT Remuneration Tribunal awarded her position a 3.5 per cent lift in December last year.
Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee said in December: “The Canberra community is extremely concerned that the stood down CEO, who has been on paid leave since July 2022, has been awarded a significant pay rise.
“Canberra taxpayers have been footing the bill for two CEOs now for nearly 18 months and this pay rise just adds insult to injury.”
In confirming its interest in the 2022 CIT events, the Integrity Commission chief Michael Adams said at the time: “Recent public discourse in the media and in the ACT Legislative Assembly, which clearly pointed to the high likelihood that an investigation by the Commission would occur, and the need to take steps to ensure the integrity of this process, has made this announcement desirable.
“It also provides an opportunity to request any person or entity with information pertaining to the Commission’s investigation report to provide their information to the Commission as soon as possible.”
The commission’s progress in its investigation into the CIT is also not known.
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