The Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education has appointed a new chief executive officer 16 months after the sudden and unexplained departure of the last, with Joe Martin-Jard taking over the role after his own sudden and unexplained departure as CEO of the Northern Land Council in March.
He becomes the ninth boss of the troubled institute since 2017, and his sister currently sits on the organisation’s board.
The appointment announcement comes a week after the Lawler Government told the NT Independent it would be conducting the seventh review into the BIITE since 2017 – roughly 15 months after the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption released his review – which followed the Auditor-General refusing to sign off on the institute’s financial report for a second year running.
However, the government would not say if the failings of education ministers Eva Lawler, Mark Monaghan and the NT Education Department chief executive officer will be examined as part of the review.
Sources told the NT Independent an email was sent around Monday afternoon announcing Mr Martin-Jard’s appointment and that the institute also provided a statement to the NT News.
“This appointment marks the beginning of a new chapter for the institute, underpinned by a foundation of solid and stable leadership,” the NT News reported the statement said.
“Twenty-one of the [27 ICAC] recommendations have been implemented, including a complete review of the institute’s policy suite as well as training delivered by ICAC relating to conflict of interest and mandatory reporting.
“The institute, under Mr Martin-Jard’s leadership will continue prioritising implementation of the remaining six recommendations which include longer term actions such as legislative change in partnership with the NT Government.”
Mr Martin-Jard’s sister Lauren Ganley is one of only four members of the BIITE board – which is known as the council – who are listed on the website. The institute is required by legislation to have 10 members, five of whom are nominated by the NT education minister, while the NT Education Department CEO also sits on the council.
BIITE did not respond to questions, including if Ms Ganley had recused herself from the decision to employ her brother. The legislation defines a quorum as being one half of the members who are currently on the board.
Mr Martin-Jard was quoted in the NT News saying that “he was happy to return to one of his first passions, which was education and training”.
“It’s the pathway to opportunity and success for First Nations people,” he said.
“When I trained as a teacher and gained my adult education degree, I was inspired by the power education had not only on me but the vast number of people I trained and worked with.
“It changed peoples’ lives and I’m passionate about people creating change.
“There is work to be done at Batchelor Institute and while transformation is hard, the institute has gathered a strong group of leaders who I have every confidence in to carry this organisation forward.”
Mr Martin-Jard was the NLC CEO for two years and four months, according to his LinkedIn account, after spending nine months as the deputy CEO. On March 14, the NLC announced Mr Martin-Jard was leaving the CEO the next day but without providing an explanation.
He had been the CEO of the Central Land Council for more than two years, the t regional manager for the federal
Mr Martin-Jard also holds a teaching degree from Charles Darwin University, a graduate certificate in public sector management from Flinders University and a masters of international management from CDU.
BIITE has failed to employ a chief executive officer or a chief financial officer for 16 months.
Previous CEO Leon Yeatman left suddenly in mid-December 2022, less than five months into the job.
Council chair Pat Anderson had confirmed the end of his tenure to the NT Independent and four independent sources had told the NT Independent Mr Yeatman’s departure came after a meeting with Ms Anderson – who was also the Uluru Statement from the Heart co-chair – and deputy chairman Russell Taylor at the time. He then left Batchelor.
It is said that Ms Anderson then addressed staff for about three minutes following his departure, with three sources stating that Mr Yeatman had been sacked, but he has declined to talk to the NT Independent.
Ms Anderson has been the council chair since February 2019 – earning between between $30,000 and and $44,999 in 2020 – and was in charge when former CEO Professor Steve Larkin suddenly went on unexplained leave in November 2020, before Ms Anderson announced his “resignation” in August 2021. He was later given a payout.
Mr Yeatman was the eighth permanent or acting CEO since the resignation of Professor Robert Somerville in August, 2017. The training college had lost $6.9 million in 2016 and there was a call by some staff for Prof Somerville’s resignation along with the entire board.
Multiple sources also said chief financial officer Sophie El Mouttie had left her job after 45 days in the weeks before Mr Yeatman left.
Earlier this year, Auditor-General Julie Crisp refused to sign off on BIITE’s financial report for the second year in a row, citing previous failings that have not been corrected, including unsubstantiated student numbers used to access Federal and Territory funding.
Ms Crisp said that her disclaimer of opinion was the result of what she found to be “significant deficiencies” in the institute’s entity level control environment, including its “governance policies and practices, risk assessment and management, monitoring processes, internal controls over financial reporting process, generally Information technology controls, and an absence of controls over the student records maintained in that student management application”.
In its financial statement, Batchelor Institute claimed an operating surplus of $1.51 million for 2022, up from its claimed $760,000 surplus the year before, with a one per cent – or $330,00 increase in revenue compared to 2021 – mainly due to a Federal Government funding increase of $1.87 million.
However, in the previous seven years, Batchelor has reported repeated losses, equating to roughly $15.8 million over the last 10 years.
In the audit disclaimer for the the most recent financial report, Ms Crisp listed the reviews into Batchelor conducted over the previous six years: the Assurance Advisory Group Financial Governance Review in 2017; the Deloitte assessment of the 2018 budget and cash flows; the Vincents Risk Management Project in 2020; the Ernst & Young Financial Sustainability Review in 2020; Bentley’s Review in 2021; and the ICAC review last year.
The NT Independent understands the Office of the ICAC was probing the institute from at least February 2021, just before allegations of misconduct and bullying by some senior managers at the college surfaced.
In mid-October 2022 the ICAC Michael Riches announced he had made 27 recommendations concerning Batchelor Institute, which included that the institute should train staff about their ethical responsibilities, improve reporting requirements, protect whistleblowers, and improve management of improper conduct.
His report also referenced missing artwork in passing, but no specific mention of misconduct.
The review was done without interviewing a previous whistleblower who had provided credible evidence of corruption at the organisation that is funded with public money, which followed a previous ICAC investigation into the organisation that was never released.
WHy doesnt BIITE advertise how many students it has??
I understand its very very low numbers!
WOW, the people pushing for the YES Referendum, such as some on the BIITE Board,
really have a great reputation locally which fostered a lot of trust with the YES voters!
The Auditor-General ‘s reports otherwise.