Statement from the CIT Board

The Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) welcomes the Special Report of the Integrity Commission regarding Operation Luna. The CIT Board has given careful consideration to the findings in the Special Report.

Ms Cover resigned as the CIT CEO on 18 June.

In response to the Board’s past experience, which is reflected in the findings of the Special Report, the CIT Board has been working to strengthen the CIT’s governance, finance, and procurement processes.

Moving Forward

Kate Lundy was appointed Chair of the CIT Board from 1 July 2022 and the new Deputy Chair, Natalie Howson, joined the Board on 1 July 2022. The former Chair concluded his term on 30 June 2022.

The new Chair and Deputy Chair have focussed, with the Executive, on improving processes to strengthen and improve procurement, financial management and governance at CIT. This has included the Board engaging a new CIT Executive and Interim CEO who have led the organisation through this rebuilding stage. The Board is grateful for their work and dedication to improving CIT processes.

Since 1 July 2022, the Board has worked to strengthen internal processes. This has included changing the financial delegations to ensure that procurements for goods and services over $1 million and consultancies over $500,000 are approved by the CIT Board rather than the CEO. The Board is meeting more frequently to ensure fulsome oversight of CIT business and deeper consideration of strategic and operational issues. The Board also engaged appropriate resources to provide the capacity necessary to ensure accuracy of record keeping and correspondence management. Senior Executives attend Board meetings as observers and the Interim CEO ensures that communications across and through CIT have improved.

The Board has established a Governance and Nominations Committee for the Board, which has guided improvements to governance including Board processes, decision frameworks, academic governance, strategic reporting, regulatory compliance, and conflict-of-interest procedures.

In response to the Minister's Direction, the Board has since 1 July 2022, regularly briefed the Minister on improvements to governance, procurement, and financial management.

The CIT Audit and Risk Committee have updated their charter and have focussed on risk management, preventing fraud and corruption, and working to ensure improvement of oversight especially in regard to governance, procurement, and financial management. The CIT Audit and Risk Committee have also improved complaint handling processes.

In late 2023, the Board and Executive started development of a new Strategic Plan for CIT. This plan will focus on the CIT direction over the next 10 years. As part of this work the CIT Board notes that there are skills shortages across the country and CIT is at the forefront of responding to training needs for Canberra and the region. The Board is focussed on the role of CIT in the community and in building skills across the broad range of sectors that CIT teaches in.

The Board notes that while this Special Report has been released, that the Integrity Commission investigation is still underway and as such the Board cannot make comment on their wider investigations. The Board looks forward to receiving the final report and will consider any recommendations that the Integrity Commission may make to improve governance.

The Board would like to thank CIT staff for their support during this time and recognises the uncertainty for staff during this time. The Board recognises that our staff remain our biggest asset and are critical to our success in building the essential skills for the ACT and region. The Board also thanks staff for continuing to focus on our students through this time.