Dr Margot McNeill resigned as CIT CEO on 11 August. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
Former Canberra Institute of Technology CEO Dr Margot McNeill has dropped her court action against TAFE NSW, ending a saga that consumed the ACT and led to her resignation last month.
Dr McNeill vowed to clear her name after TAFE NSW found her guilty of misconduct in 2025 and retrospectively changed her employment record from resignation to termination.
But it emerged in NSW Budget Estimates on 26 August that TAFE NSW had switched the reason for her departure back to resignation, as advised by the NSW Industrial Court in March.
In a statement, Dr McNeill said she was pleased and vindicated that TAFE NSW had corrected the record.
“I can confirm the Supreme Court action has been discontinued at no cost to myself,” she said.
Dr McNeill endured a torrid time as CIT CEO since March when Region first reported that she had not disclosed during her recruitment that she was under investigation for serious misconduct by TAFE NSW following a whistleblower complaint.
A subsequent Legislative Assembly committee inquiry found that she had also misled the CIT board by failing to advise it of a misconduct finding.
Dr McNeill had always maintained that TAFE NSW had prevented her from disclosing anything about the investigation, but an incendiary statement from TAFE NSW in May denying this sparked an Assembly privileges committee inquiry which recommended the Public Sector Standards Commissioner investigate her conduct.
The committee criticised her lack of cooperation with both inquiries.
Dr McNeill’s position became untenable and she resigned from CIT on 11 August after just 13 months in the role, accepting a $445,000 severance package.
CIT board chair Tom Rogers said the payout figure was based on legal advice and a “whole range of factors”.
Mr Rogers said the board determined it was in the best interests of CIT and taxpayers to bring the situation to a resolution.
TAFE NSW was grilled in Estimates about the McNeill investigation, her employment record and the May statement, revealing inconsistencies in how it had handled the matter.
Original Article published by Ian Bushnell on Region Canberra.
