CIT CEO Leanne Cover on paid leave for 'duration of inquiries and investigations', Kate Lundy reveals

CIT board chair Kate Lundy said Ms Cover was on paid leave by the direction of the board for the "duration of the inquiries and investigations".

But Ms Lundy also said the leave was being considered on a month-to-month basis and it had most recently been extended until the end of this month.

"We're very mindful that procedural fairness needs to apply and we are doing that in this case," she said.

Acting chief executive Christine Robertson's contract can be extended, as needed, for a period of up to six months.

The annual salary of the chief executive of CIT is $318,687.

Ms Cover was stood down in June after it was revealed the ACT Integrity Commission was investigating contracts awarded over a five-year period to companies owned by "complexity and systems thinker" Patrick Hollingworth.

The CIT board had initially stood down Ms Cover until an internal investigation into the contracts had been completed but this was halted at the request of the integrity commission.

The investigation could potentially take years. The integrity commission has only published a report about one investigation since it was established in 2019.

Officials from CIT faced a budget estimates hearing on Monday morning alongside Skills Minister Chris Steel.

Mr Steel did not answer questions directly related to the contracts to Mr Hollingworth, saying he was prevented from doing so due to the integrity commission's investigation.

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But he and Ms Lundy spoke about changes made to the board's governance over recent months, following public uproar over the contracts.

Ms Lundy, who became board chair last month, said a number of changes had taken place, including the creation of a governance nominations committee, the appointment of board members to the audit and risk committee and limited financial delegations of executive members at CIT.

"The minister is looking for immediate action and he has received a response," she said.

Ms Lundy was the deputy chair of the CIT board for two years, including when contracts to Mr Hollingworth were awarded.

Former board chair Craig Sloan told Mr Steel in June that he could not guarantee a $4.99 million contract awarded to Mr Hollingworth's company Think Garden represented value for money. He said the contract had not had oversight from the board.

In response, Mr Steel was highly critical of the role of the board.

Mr Steel also issued a ministerial direction to CIT on Friday regarding its financial management systems.

The direction would require the institute to accurately report to the board about its expenditure. Any consultancy procurements over $500,000 must be reported to the board and any procurements for goods or services over $1 million must be reported to the board.

The direction has also set out that CIT must consider any advice from the government procurement board about any contracts and if they choose to deviate from this advice this must be reported to the board.

CIT had ignored advice from the government procurement board on multiple occasions in regards to contracts with Mr Hollingworth.

Ms Lee asked Mr Steel and Ms Lundy what the thresholds were before but neither could give a definitive answer. Ms Lundy said she believed they were in line with the standard public sector delegations.

Ms Lee said Canberrans should be concerned about the lack of information and said the Skills Minister should not "hide behind the investigation".

She pointed to the fact Mr Steel would not answer a question about his communications with former skills ministers about the contracts.

"We want to make sure the Integrity Commission has the resources that it needs to undertake this inquiry to the full extent that it deserves," she said.

"But that is what is so disappointing is that this inquiry could take quite some time and to have the responsible minister to blanket refuse answer any questions, including questions about his communications with the previous minister is unacceptable."

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