'Procedural fairness' delaying watchdog's findings on CIT's $8.7m contracts

The ACT Integrity Commission has confirmed a "procedural fairness" process is still ongoing, nearly six months after the report was distributed to 35 people.

This process allows these people to provide a comment on the findings.

Under law, parties must be given a minimum of six weeks to respond but parties are able to request an extension and some parties were granted extra time to respond.

The commission said earlier this year the first findings were unlikely to be tabled before April 1 but the latest update has said the report, dubbed Operation Luna, is likely to be tabled before the end of the financial year.

"The commission is committed to finalising its report into certain aspects of Operation Luna as soon as practicable," the commission said in a statement.

"The procedural fairness process remains ongoing to allow relevant parties time to review and respond to the report as necessary."

If the report is not tabled until the end of June it would be more than two years after the watchdog started its investigation into the contracts.

During this time, CIT chief executive Leanne Cover has been stood down on paid leave since June 2022. She receives an annual package worth $373,061.

The commission is investigating a series of contracts, worth $8.78 million, to companies owned by "complexity and systems thinker" Patrick Hollingworth. The contracts were awarded over a period of five years.

An Auditor-General report, released last year, showed CIT was offered a discount from Mr Hollingworth if it paid him up front for a contract worth nearly $5 million. This was despite the offer being more than $2 million higher than any other offer.

Think Garden, Mr Hollingworth's company, received $1.7 million for this contract when it was signed but this contract was suspended by CIT following the announcement of the integrity investigation.

Think Garden is taking legal action against CIT and is suing the institute for almost $3.4 million - the remaining cost of the contract.

Integrity commissioner Michael Adams KC has previously said the commission would publish two reports as separate issues had been identified through the investigation.

The report due to be tabled by the end of the financial year is only an interim report and will not include the full findings of the commission.

The commission has previously raised issues of resourcing and staffing. The watchdog, which started in 2019, has struggled to find staff and this has prompted the government to pursue changes to make it easier for former ACT public servants to be employed in the commission.

Under current rules, a person cannot be employed at the commission if they had worked in the territory's public service in the last five years. A review of the commission's legislation has recommended dropping this period entirely.

The commission said in last year's annual report it had conducted a forensic examination of mobile phones and privately questioned 24 people as part of its investigation into the CIT contracts.

CIT's board has previously raised concerns at the length of the investigation, with chair Kate Lundy telling budget estimates last year the board would like the inquiry to proceed more quickly.