Arabic version: أستراليا الغربية تطالب ديلويت بتعويضات عن تقرير معيب بشأن اندماج الجامعات
According to The Guardian, the Western Australian government is seeking an expedited recovery of costs from Deloitte after errors were found in a $166,000 feasibility study examining possible mergers involving the University of Western Australia, Curtin University and Murdoch University.
Deloitte assessed three merger options with low, mid and high cost scenarios. Under a high-cost merger scenario for Curtin and UWA, the report listed costs to day one of $514m and post-day-one costs over five years of $145m. While those figures total $659m, the report stated $399m, a discrepancy of $260m.
In a low-cost scenario involving Curtin, UWA and Murdoch, costs to day one were listed as $396m and five-year post-day-one costs as $116m. Those figures total $512m, but the report calculated them as $823m, creating a $311m discrepancy.
A state government spokesperson said the Department of Energy and Economic Diversification had written to Deloitte to speed up the cost recovery process. The spokesperson said the government was “extremely disappointed” that the errors were being found, but had been advised they did not affect the report’s modelling or findings. Deloitte is reviewing and will reissue the report, the spokesperson said.
The report also contained AI-hallucinated references. Deloitte said it used generative AI to support research collation, information synthesis and editorial proofing, and had previously described the errors as minor. The report repeatedly used Curtin University of Technology, a name the institution has not used since 2010.
University of Canberra public-sector governance expert Prof Stephen Bartos said the errors discredited the report and that the material may need to be reworked manually. Murdoch University vice-chancellor Prof Andrew Deeks opposed a merger, while WA tertiary education minister Tony Buti said the government would proceed only if the business case stacked up.
