The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has gone through quite a few chief executives in the past few years, and now it’s hiring in the $349,000-a-year role again.
The ICAC’s most recent chief executive, Darrin Moy, took over after his predecessor, Philip Reed, left the state commission to perform the same job at the newly formed National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
Moy quit the job in October last year, just 13 months into his tenure. Since then, chief financial officer and executive director for corporate services Michelle Ward has been acting in his stead. The role as chief executive — sitting right under the chief commissioner on the ICAC’s organisational chart — is a career milestone for Ward, a NSW government veteran who joined the commission as finance manager in 2020 before being promoted to executive director in 2023.
Related Article Block Placeholder
Article ID: 1180870
But there is no need for Ward to get comfortable in her new office, chief commissioner John Hatzistergos told a recent NSW budget estimates hearing.
Asked by upper house MP Mark Latham where the ICAC’s permanent chief executive was, Hatzistergos replied: “We will be recruiting one soon.”
Indeed they are, and it’s not too late to apply. According to the ICAC’s job ad, the commission is looking for someone with “past experience at a senior level in work associated with the operations of commissions of inquiry or other investigatory bodies, including managerial experience in the oversight and coordination of multi-disciplinary teams”.
The last date for applications is March 24 and the remuneration package ranges from $313,308 to $349,462, including superannuation.
The job ad also specifies that what’s on offer is a “five-year, full-time contract”.
So why did Moy only last a bit over a year in the role? Latham appeared very curious, and he also took the opportunity to bring up allegations lodged by the Community and Public Sector Union with the Australian Public Service Commissioner in 2017 of what the MP called “cronyism and patronage”.
The complaint Latham referred to, which dates to Moy’s time as an executive director at the Federal Court, has previously been released under Australia’s freedom of information law. The complaint mentions a Justinian article that “[outlined] the appointment of six new staff to positions within the corporate services area of the courts all of whom have previous personal connections with either Darrin Moy” or another executive director at the court.
But Hatzistergos defended Moy, and said he went through a “full probity check” before being hired by the ICAC.
“He was unanimously recommended by the selection panel. I am not going down into details of that process, but it went through a full probity check,” the chief commissioner said.
Asked why Moy resigned, Hatzistergos replied: “I am not going to go to that. He left on his own volition. He made a successful contribution in the time he was there, and he leaves with our best wishes.”
According to the transcript from the budget estimates hearing, Latham wasn’t satisfied with Hatzistergo’s answers, and the questioning appears to have descended into a squabble.
Related Article Block Placeholder
Article ID: 1194994
“I am asking questions here and repeatedly the commissioner interrupts and I can’t get the full question out. I don’t interrupt him. He is interrupting on a regular basis,” Latham said at one point.
After the chair of the hearing said both men were interrupting each other, Latham shot back: “I was interrupting his interruption.”
Other MPs broke in to say that Latham’s line of questioning about Moy wasn’t fair because the man wasn’t there to defend himself.
Crikey checked in with the ICAC to see how the hiring process was going, but a spokesperson said that wasn’t something they would comment on.
But the spokesperson did answer a question about when the job ad was posted: March 10, several months after Moy resigned.
“Due to the timing of the vacancy, its seniority and other recruitment demands, this was the most appropriate timing to conduct the recruitment,” the spokesperson said.
Have something to say about this article? Write to us at letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication in Crikey’s Your Say. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.