CIT CEO resigns after two years on paid leave during integrity investigation

Ms Cover has been on paid leave for nearly two years after the ACT Integrity Commission launched an investigation into nearly $8.5 million worth of contracts awarded to a "complexity and systems thinker".

CIT board chair Kate Lundy said Ms Cover handed in her resignation on Tuesday.

"The CEO's decision is her own and I'm not able to comment further on her decision," she said.

The Integrity Commission has yet to publicly reveal any findings into the matter and Ms Lundy said she would not comment on the investigation.

"I'm not in a position to speculate about the Integrity Commission's ongoing inquiry," she said.

"The inquiry is ongoing so I have no comment in relation to that."

More than $8.5 million was awarded to companies owned by Patrick Hollingworth over a five-year period to help with organisation transformation. These include Think Garden and Redrouge Nominees.

Ms Cover was "directed, and agreed, to take leave" after the watchdog announced it was investigating the contracts.

This investigation has been ongoing for the past two years.

The first findings from the commission's investigation are expected to be released before the end of the month. The report was distributed to 35 people in November.

Under law, the commission was required to give affected parties a minimum of six weeks to respond. Parties are able to request an extension and some were granted extra time to respond.

Both Ms Cover and interim CIT chief executive Christine Robertson were paid an annual salary of about $373,000.

The ACT's Remuneration Tribunal recently granted the position a pay rise to $383,278.

Ms Lundy defended the decision to pay the full salaries of both CEOs over the past two years, saying it was important to ensure procedural fairness.

"Of course, it's difficult for people to understand why we've needed to pay the CEO while she's been stood down but I think any reasonable person would agree that procedural fairness is the first principle we apply and we have abided by that principle," she said.

Ms Robertson will remain in the role until a new CEO is appointed. Her contract is in place for another year.

"The next steps are really important for CIT. The decision by the CEO to resign enables us to initiate the activities to recruit a permanent and ongoing CEO," she said.

"We have [the interim CEO] on contract for another 12 months. That gives us enough time to recruit a CEO going forward and we can initiate that process now."

Ms Cover was appointed CIT's CEO in January 2016. Mr Hollingworth was first engaged by the institute in 2017 as a key-note speaker and was paid $8000 for the role.

Over the next five years, companies owned by him were engaged for a series of contracts with the biggest being for nearly $5 million. The CIT board said it could not guarantee this contract provided value for money and the contract was suspended after the corruption watchdog announced its investigation.

But Mr Hollingworth's company, Think Garden, is suing the CIT for $3.4 million, which is the remaining amount left on the contract. Think Garden is alleging the institute breached its agreement. Hearings for this matter are scheduled for later this year.

Skills Minister Chris Steel said Ms Cover's resignation would allow for a comprehensive recruitment process to begin.

"This will ensure that the institution can continue to focus on delivering high-quality training to meet the needs of students, staff and industry," he said.

Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee hit out at the government for allowing the situation for two CEOs to be paid for the past two years. She said she was hopeful this indicated the commission would release its findings shortly.

"The Canberra Liberals have long been calling out the Labor-Greens' government for slugging Canberra taxpayers with the bill for two years of salary for Ms Cover whilst she was stood down pending the outcome of a serious corruption investigation," she said.

"During that time Canberra taxpayers have been footing the bill for two CIT CEOs at a cost of well over $700,000 a year, which includes a number of pay rises.

"With this saga and investigation having gone on for two years now, we will hopefully see some of the findings from the Integrity Commission soon."