The Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) will review its chief executive’s nearly $5 million contract with Think Garden immediately, the board has assured Chris Steel, ACT Minister for Skills.

While the board had regular briefings from Think Garden on the progress of their work, they were “not currently in a position to provide assurance to [Mr Steel] that this contract represents value for money”.

Mr Steel wrote to the CIT last week after Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee revealed that the CIT has awarded seven contracts totalling $8.87 million to Patrick Hollingworth’s Think Garden and Redrogue Nominees. The latest contract, for $4,999,990, was signed in March.

“I have reviewed the tender documentation and contract for this procurement, and am unable to determine the specific work to be delivered through it, based on the use of jargon and an ill-defined statement of requirements,” Mr Steel wrote in his letter.

• CIT’s $9 million contracts a concern for taxpayers (7 June 2022)

An independent internal audit, conducted by an external independent auditor, will immediately review the contract.

Once the final report has been published, the board will decide about the contract.

In the meantime, the CIT executive has been asked to place the contract on hold.

A spokesperson for Mr Steel said the ACT Government welcomed the board’s decision to progress with an independent audit of the contract.

“However, the government is largely unsatisfied with the response put forward by CIT and the board, which raises further questions and concerns in relation to CIT’s processes and governance.

“We are continuing to seek advice on the most appropriate steps forward in relation to this issue, and will have more to say later in the week.”

What will the audit do?

The audit will review the contract in its entirety, including whether it constitutes value for money, taking into account the contractor’s prior performance.

It will also investigate the procurement process undertaken to secure the contract, including compliance with relevant ACT legislation and regulations; any potential conflicts regarding the drafting of the statement or other aspects of the tender documentation; and provision of information to the board.

“It will be important to assess the outgoing effectiveness of the services offered to ensure that outcomes are being achieved and the contract represents ongoing value for money,” the board wrote to Mr Steel.

Think Garden’s work was “integral” to building CIT staff’s capacity to reconfigure course offerings and work with industry to respond to the skill needs of the future, CIT management told the board. Student enrolments had declined, and there were significant skill shortages in the economy. It continued an intense reform program.

The CIT executive undertook the procurement process within chief executive Leanne Cover’s financial delegations, the board told Mr Steel.

The board stated that it was not involved in the procurement, and was not briefed on the evaluation process or the value of the successful contract.

CIT executive had advised the board that all procurement processes relating to the contract were in accordance with the ACT procurement rules, while no Think Garden staff members or directors were involved in the preparation of the tender documents.

The request for proposal went out to market for four weeks, from 14 January to 11 February, CIT management stated.

CIT required external services because it could not provide the level of expertise and experience in the “complex scientific field” of change management inhouse, management stated.

The contract began on 28 March; since then, Think Garden had worked with CIT staff on 49 days (out of a possible 52), in addition to preparation work. Think Garden employed five people.

The internal audit will seek to verify this and whether any director or staff members prepared the range of tender documents.

Canberra Liberals want more transparency

Canberra Liberals Leader Elizabeth Lee slammed the ACT Labor-Greens Government for failing to release the CIT board’s full response to the public, despite the letter being provided to the media.

Ms Lee wrote to Mr Steel on 14 June asking that the response be provided to her and the public as soon as he received it, in the interest of full transparency.

Ms Lee said once again we see a government that has no interest in being open and transparent; and has no interest in taking responsibility, with comments provided to the media coming from an ‘ACT Government Spokesperson’ instead of the minister responsible fronting up to the public.

“While we welcome an independent review into the recent contract – after all, that is what we called for last week – it is not broad enough, and needs to take into account all of the contracts awarded and CIT’s practices and processes,” Ms Lee said.

“For total transparency, the terms of reference must be made public to ensure adequate scrutiny of all contracts awarded.

“The Minister must also come out and address these contracts and explain to the public what he and the Chief Minister knew, when they knew it, and why they allowed further contracts to be signed after concerns were raised.”