On NSW Universities: Part 3

Gerard Noonan and Aban Contractor, ‘The third degree’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 24.08.02

Universities are reluctant to accept that corruption might taint their ivory towers.

The fiercely independent world of academia has received a rude shock. The state's corruption watchdog has issued a startling 56-page report, Degrees of Risk: A corruption risk profile of the NSW university sector, warning that universities are more vulnerable to corruption than almost any other taxpayer-funded agency or authority in the state. And there is more. The sector does not have a properly developed sense of public duty, according to the Independent Commission Against Corruption and other state watchdogs.

When the ICAC report appeared, just over a week ago, heavyweights from the universities bristled at the characterisation of their sector as bordering on the corrupt.

To clear the air, ICAC and its fellow watchdogs, the NSW Ombudsman and the NSW Auditor-General, organised a get-together on Wednesday to proffer advice and outline their concerns. The five-hour session turned out to be an ill-tempered affair, with heated outbursts from at least one vice-chancellor and a chancellor from two of the state's biggest universities.

Experienced ABC journalist Geraldine Doogue, who'd been brought in by ICAC to "moderate" what it clearly thought was going to be a tough session, commented on the tension in the room. The body language wasn't a good sign; arms were crossed tightly across besuited chests; heads were shaking repeatedly.

Doogue pointed out the obvious: the people who run the state's public universities clearly resented being called in.

The chancellor of the University of Technology, Sydney, Sir Gerard Brennan, strongly disputed the watchdog's claim that the university sector had a poor sense of public duty. "I don't see it," Brennan said. "One hopes the role of watchdogs is never used to diminish the reputations of institutions they are there to serve."

Brennan had several things to say: universities would accept "practical assistance" in the quest to become more corruption-resistant, but they were not part of the public service, they had unique obligations and an independent role to perform.

As the former High Court judge sat down, the room erupted into applause from the gathered academic suits as the panel of officials from the government agencies sat stony-faced, caught between bemusement and incredulity.

The assistant Auditor-General, Tom Jambrich, bit back. "I have a different view - this is public money," he said. "Universities are in the public sector and receive taxpayer money."

Earlier Jambrich had said the number of complaints against universities made under the protected disclosure "whistleblower" laws had increased sharply in recent years. "The culture of academic freedom has perhaps led to inappropriate devolution of powers and lack of internal control," he said.

At one point, the vice-chancellor of the University of Sydney, Professor Gavin Brown, took umbrage at comments by the assistant NSW Ombudsman, Greg Andrews who, during his speech, had cited - among others - a case involving sexual harassment and the marks awarded a female honours student at the University of Sydney. The case, which received wide publicity at the time, had ended up in the Supreme Court.

Brown dubbed Andrews's address to the gathering "disgraceful" and "almost wilfully misleading". Andrews, clearly taken aback, responded by saying he did not want to engage in debate on the issue.

ICAC's report, following a survey of 262 public sector organisations, showed that the state's 10 public universities repeatedly underrated the risk of corruption, and found that the universities consistently under-reported corrupt practices.

It identified eight tiers of "corruption risk". They included cheating, falsifying results, misuse of research funds, financial fraud, accepting bribes, misuse of resources, abusing confidential information, falsifying academic credentials, universities investigating themselves, and a lack of transparency in outsourcing contracts and other commercial activities.

There was at least one conciliatory influence: the state's newest vice-chancellor, Professor Rory Hume, of the University of NSW - fresh from the University of California (Los Angeles), where he was president - felt the universities were not being pushed into anything "catastrophic and different".

Hume said there had always been a degree of stupidity and dishonesty at universities - as elsewhere - but universities should disclose everything and get on with their core business.

In the midst of yet another review of its activities, and with poor prospects of gaining additional funding from Federal Government largesse, the university sector is already feeling beleaguered. Being told they needed to pull up their socks and become a great deal more "corruption resistant" was probably the last thing the universities wanted to hear.

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