An independent review into a A$315,126 retirement payment to a senior Australian parliamentary department official has found it was an overpayment, citing multiple procedural failures and conflicts of interest. The report, by barrister Fiona Roughley SC, was released this week.
The payment was made to Cate Saunders, former deputy secretary of the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS). Her boss, former DPS secretary Rob Stefanic, had declared a conflict of interest due to a close personal relationship with Saunders in August 2022, but she remained his subordinate for eight months until being seconded to Services Australia. She later accepted the retirement incentive on 1 October 2023.
The report found that conflicted persons were involved in the decision-making process, specialist payroll advice was disregarded, and excessive pressure was applied on the timing of the payment. The National Anti-Corruption Commission is also conducting a related investigation.
Roughley made seven recommendations, including quarantining conflicted decision-makers and documenting reasons for offers. Stefanic, who stood down in December 2024, had told Senate estimates he was not involved in the sign-off, but the current DPS secretary, Jaala Hinchcliffe, noted there were no records of his conversations about the conflict.
