The Independent Commissioner Against Corruption has confirmed he will release his review into the troubled Batchelor Institute when Parliament resumes sittings, while an Institute whistleblower called for the governing council to be terminated and replaced with an interim administrator after losing its seventh chief executive officer since August 2017.

Commissioner Michael Riches said all the recommendations he made will be set out in his general report which would be tabled in Parliament when it resumes on February 14.

The whistleblower, who has an intimate knowledge of the organisation, said they made an initial complaint in 2018 to the Office of Public Interest Disclosures which was formally referred to ICAC, adding they had not received any formal response from Commissioner Riches, or been questioned for the review at all.

They, and other well-placed sources, had previously told the NT Independent ICAC investigated and produced a report into Batchelor in 2021 which has not been released, but Mr Riches has never confirmed its existence or commented why it would not have been released.

In his October annual report, Mr Riches said he had made 27 recommendations and wrote that “a number of matters” had been raised in respect of the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education and “many of the matters raised appeared to suggest” poor policy and processes.

The whistleblower’s report, which the NT Independent has seen, outlined credible allegations of ongoing fraud and misconduct at Batchelor Institute, which was given to then-chief minister Michael Gunner’s office in late 2019 – after it was requested by a senior ministerial advisor – but it appears the office took no further action.

It detailed 33 serious issues, including allegations that fraudulent qualifications paid for by governments were being handed out to staff, alleged rampant bullying and nepotism by some of the executives, executive contracts not being valid, and that the institute was considered by the Australian Skills Quality Authority of being at “high risk” of not meeting its national training accreditation obligations.

There were also allegations of stolen equipment, claims the institute was spending more money on executives than instructors, employed unqualified staff and that it could not provide student numbers per qualification awarded.

This publication is also aware of at least eight internal or external investigations, reviews or audits, at the institute since about August 2017, that examined all aspects of management, allegations of corruption, gross financial mismanagement, bullying, nepotism, and its toxic culture.

“Rather than investigate individual matters, I decided to conduct a review of the organisation’s practices, policies and procedures…” Mr Riches wrote.

“My review resulted in a report that included 27 recommendations, all of which have been accepted.”

In September 2021, Mr Riches used different language when he announced the review, stating it was “to determine whether improper conduct has occurred, is occurring, or is at risk of occurring”. The ICAC and the institute both issued press releases about the “review” within minutes of each other after receiving questions from the NT Independent and the previous unreleased investigation report.

He has since told the NT Independent, when asked about his powers to monitor and enforce the recommendations, that “I will monitor the implementation of the recommendations, all of which have been accepted by the Institute.”

Commissioner Riches did not answer the NT Independent’s question about why the whistleblower was not interviewed as part of the review.

The whistleblower questioned what happened to all the information ICAC received about wrongdoing at the Institute and why the ICAC investigation report was not released, adding he was concerned about retaliation being taken against them for exposing the issues.

“And since I took my concerns to the government I had not undertaken any projects or assignments for the NT Government or agencies despite previously working in a number of senior executive roles and successfully undertaking a variety of other projects and investigations for various NT Government agencies,” they said.

“ICAC has provided no support or assistance despite its obligations under the Act to support and protect whistleblowers.

“So what happened to my OPID report which was formally transferred to ICAC on its commencement but more importantly formally accepted and confirmed in writing by then-ICAC commissioner Fleming?

“I am an experienced senior executive and statutory board member and I have serious doubts and concerns about the performance conduct and capacity of the ICAC particularly under the leadership of Commissioner Riches.”

On January 18 Mr Riches released a statement saying the watchdog wants to hear from whistleblowers who have exposed corruption in the NT as part of a “project” to review “the state of whistleblowing in the Northern Territory”, following years of concerns from whistleblowers that they aren’t protected and in some cases have been exposed by the Office of the ICAC and its Inspector.

“One of the main reasons people do not report wrongdoing is the fear of retaliation,” he said.

When questioned about the previous ICAC investigation and whether he was going to conduct another investigation into Batchelor based on the continued dysfunction and evidence of corruption, Mr Riches said to the extent that he had, or is, conducting investigations generally, he does not offer public comment.

However, in May Mr Riches announced he would investigate allegations of political interference in the charging of Constable Zach Rolfe.

“I will investigate allegations of improper conduct relating to the arrest and charge of Mr Zachary Rolfe,” he said in a statement.

“In due course I will consider whether I will hear some or all witnesses by way of public inquiry.”

After then-chief minister Michael Gunner resigned from the job last May, independent MLA for Araluen Robyn Lambley held a press conference to say she had been told by Mr Riches that Mr Gunner, and ultimately his office, and his brother-in-law and former chief of staff Ryan Neve, were under investigation for the alleged misuse of public funds involving election campaign trips during the 2020 election.

Mr Riches then came out in the media to warn politicians against using his office for “point scoring” and said he did not regularly issue notices under s147 to individuals. Section 147 of the ICAC Act, gives the commissioner the power to order an individual not to disclose “that an investigation is being or has been conducted”.

“In my experience, I have found that persons who report matters to me understand the importance of preventing potential prejudice to an investigation by avoiding the premature disclosure of its existence,” he said.

What the whistleblower said about the Batchelor investigation

On December 15, the NT Independent reported Batchelor Institute was looking for its ninth chief executive officer since August 2017, after the sudden and unexplained departure of Leon Yeatman the day before, less than five months into the job, with the institute’s council chair Pat Anderson confirming the end of his tenure.

Four independent sources had told the NT Independent of Mr Yeatman’s departure after a meeting with Ms Anderson – who is also the Uluru Statement from the Heart co-chair and a key member of the Voice to Parliament referendum working group – and deputy chairman Russell Taylor in the morning.

It is said that Ms Anderson then addressed staff for about three minutes following his departure, and three sources said Mr Yeatman had been sacked, but he could not be contacted to confirm.

Multiple sources also said the chief financial officer Sophie El Mouttie had recently left her job after 45 days. She was listed in that position in a Batchelor Institute job advertisement on November 18, but her work phone extension rang out when the NT Independent called.

The latest annual report has still not been published on the Batchelor website. The 2020 annual report showed a loss of about $214,000 from an income of $31.4 million, and the Institute lost about $15.8 million in total from 2014 to 2020, with income roughly $36 to $31 million per year over that time.

The NT Independent understands the OICAC was looking into the institute from at least February 2021, just before allegations of misconduct and bullying by some senior managers at the college surfaced.

The whistleblower said he was interviewed on multiple occasions by an ICAC investigator previously.

“I support the need for the appointment of an interim administrator at Batchelor and the termination of the current council,” he said.

“It is time the NT Government stepped in and recognised that the council has failed repeatedly to meet its obligations to students, staff, the community and the NT Government since at least 2018.

“How does ICAC justify keeping the report secret? I think it’s gone beyond analysis of processes and policies as we can’t get the facts on student numbers and finances.

“ASQA knew about multiple dodgy recognised prior learning qualifications, and buried it as they said it was before the audit period. If it is not picked up in their audit they don’t want to know.

“[An ICAC employee] definitely had access to my original report, and I had days of discussions with OPID investigators, and the matter was formally transferred and accepted by ICAC.

“There is a letter from Fleming to that effect. I sent [redacted] a copy of the note in 2019 that went to chief min’s office, and had a further formal interview with him.”