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False qualifications, hidden conflicts and procurement failures: ICAC report highlights lessons for every workplace

NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption

Key Facts:

·       ICAC finds former NSW Health senior employee engaged in serious corrupt conduct and will refer relevant evidence to the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions

·       For more than a decade, the employee provided misleading or fake qualifications, including doctoral and master’s degrees, and used false references to obtain public sector employment

·       He also improperly awarded work to his sister’s company, split contracts to avoid going through competitive processes, failed to declare conflicts of interest and took on secondary employment while working in a senior public sector role

·       The report identifies important lessons for all organisations regarding recruitment, procurement, conflicts of interest and governance

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has released its report on Operation Tivoli, an investigation into the conduct of former NSW Health director of engineering and asset management Zoran Ribicic.

The Commission found Mr Ribicic, who was employed by the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD), a division of NSW Health, engaged in serious corrupt conduct involving false qualifications, undisclosed conflicts of interest and unauthorised secondary employment.

The full report is available on the ICAC website. The Commission will refer relevant evidence to the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions regarding possible fraud offences.

“Our investigation demonstrates how dishonesty in recruitment and procurement can expose organisations to significant financial, governance and reputational risks,” said ICAC Commissioner the Hon Helen Murrell SC.

“The lessons from Operation Tivoli extend beyond a single agency. While this investigation focused on the corrupt conduct of one individual, the report highlights integrity risks that can arise when recruitment, procurement and conflict of interest controls are not sufficiently robust.”

“Verifying qualifications, effectively managing conflicts of interest, maintaining strong procurement oversight and monitoring for undeclared secondary employment are critical safeguards for any organisation entrusted with public resources.”

Faking his CV

The Commission found that Mr Ribicic faked his qualifications and used false references to obtain several public sector positions between 2012 and 2025.

He dishonestly represented his qualifications, including a doctorate in business administration, a master’s degree in project management, a bachelor’s degree in engineering and a TAFE Engineering diploma. He also provided false references in support of employment applications.

Transport for NSW, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (NSW Health), Port Authority of NSW and Penrith City Council all failed to detect dishonesty and hired him.

Lesson: Verify credentials, don’t simply accept them

Operation Tivoli demonstrates the importance of independently verifying qualifications, registrations and references. The Commission's investigation identified weaknesses in recruitment due diligence and highlights the importance of checking qualifications directly with issuing institutions, conducting rigorous referee checks, and regularly reviewing recruitment practices to ensure they remain effective. With the rise of artificial intelligence, it will be even more important for human resources staff to verify documents and references at source.

Conflicts of interest, nepotism and favouritism

The Commission found Mr Ribicic knowingly failed to declare a conflict of interest involving his sister, whose company Risk Control Consulting (RCC) was engaged to undertake work for ISLHD. Between March 2022 and July 2024, RCC received more than $275,000 in payments from ISLHD, with Mr Ribicic managing the engagement and approval process.

The Commission found Mr Ribicic deliberately concealed the conflict and improperly favoured the company over potential competitors.

Lesson: Personal relationships must be disclosed

Transparency, early disclosure and independent oversight are essential safeguards against favouritism, misconduct and loss of public trust.

Procurement failures and order splitting

The Commission found Mr Ribicic improperly awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money to external contractors, including RCC, by “order splitting”. He was authorised to approve quotes up to $30,000, and requested favoured suppliers to break much larger bodies of work into bundles below $30,000. This allowed him to engage his family and associates without the competition and oversight that would ordinarily apply to substantial contracts.

Lesson: Watch for procurement red flags

Order splitting can be a lazy way of shortcutting proper procurement processes, or it can be the means by which corruption occurs. Either way, order splitting avoids proper oversight and accountability for public expenditure. Agencies should ensure their procurement processes include effective oversight, segregation of duties, conflict of interest controls, supplier due diligence and data analytics that identify unusual spending patterns and procurement anomalies.

Undeclared secondary employment

The Commission found Mr Ribicic deliberately failed to declare and seek approval for secondary employment while working full-time at ISLHD. While employed in his senior public sector role, he received $210,375 for 10 months' work with a private company that Mr Ribicic had previously brought on as a consultant to ISLHD.

Lesson: Secondary employment must be transparent

As more workers utilise flexible arrangements, undeclared secondary employment is a growing risk. It can lead to unmanaged conflicts of interest, compromise public sector performance and undermine public confidence in the integrity of public officials. Disclosure and oversight arrangements are fundamental controls that help agencies identify and manage these risks.

Improving integrity across the public sector

The Commission has made nine recommendations aimed at strengthening recruitment, conflict of interest management and procurement practices. The recommendations, which are relevant across all public sector agencies, include stronger qualification verification processes, improved conflict of interest controls, enhanced procurement oversight, greater use of data analytics and improved governance arrangements for consultants.

Further quotes from ICAC Commissioner the Hon Helen Murrell SC

"Operation Tivoli exposes how a determined and dishonest individual can exploit weaknesses in recruitment and procurement systems within the public service, and we hope that agencies across NSW will learn from our investigation and implement the Commission’s recommendations.

"Mr Ribicic held a senior role with NSW Health. By falsely claiming qualifications he did not possess, he secured a position of significant responsibility and public trust.

“This was not the first time – or the last time – that he lied to secure a public sector job. Over a period of more than a decade, he relied on false qualifications to obtain responsible positions with multiple agencies. When an agency hires an unqualified person who has dishonestly maintained they hold qualifications that they do not, it should come as no surprise that, once in the job, the person may perform the role dishonestly and/ or incompetently. It is an understatement to say that public confidence could be impaired by the recruitment of unqualified and dishonest people.

"Every organisation should ensure its governance controls are robust, transparent and capable of detecting misconduct.”

Contact details:

For more information and interviews with Commissioner Helen Murrell, contact Julia Holman, ICAC Communications & Engagement Manager, 0417 467 801 or [email protected]