The Head of Catholic Schools NSW Was Fired After a Corruption Investigation
Catholic Schools NSW has fired its chief executive, Dallas McInerney, after the board unanimously agreed they had lost confidence in his ability to lead. The decision came after McInerney appeared before a public anti-corruption inquiry known as ICAC, which is investigating alleged corruption inside the NSW Liberal Party. The inquiry, called Operation Rosny, opened on 28 July 2026. The Guardian
McInerney's firing follows a timeline that began on 2 July 2026, when ABC News reported he would step aside after being named in the ICAC investigation. ABC News He had been CEO since 2017, running the organisation that governs 600 Catholic schools across New South Wales. A temporary replacement, Peter Yates, will stay in the role while a search for a permanent CEO is carried out. The Guardian
ICAC's main allegation is that McInerney arranged and approved illegal political donations from Catholic Schools NSW to lobbying companies controlled by a group called the Reformers, a conservative faction within the Liberal Party. The payments were disguised as fees for consulting work. The lawyer assisting the inquiry, Dr Peggy Dwyer SC, told the hearing that $265,900 was paid to Reformers-linked firms over four years. McInerney has insisted the payments were for real consulting work. The Guardian
The allegations go further than the consulting payments. One of ICAC's formal claims asserts that McInerney made a political donation to benefit the Liberal Party and to reimburse another person. ICAC Transcript, 27 July 2026 ABC News separately reported that McInerney arranged donations that were not reported and exceeded the legal limit, as part of a practice called branch stacking — where people are recruited or paid to join a political party branch to sway internal voting. ABC News
Hearing records mention specific payments, including $25,000 sent to the Reformers' bank account to help two individuals, identified as Robert and Christian, build factional numbers within the Liberal Party. A separate $500 payment to "Rob" for the Reformers was reportedly collected and passed on by McInerney. ICAC Transcript, 28 July 2026 ICAC Transcript, 6 August 2026 A transcript from 19 August 2026 records a statement that "Rob was given $500 last week for the Reformers and it's his second lot" in connection with McInerney. ICAC Transcript, 19 August 2026
McInerney has also faced questions about destroying digital evidence. He denied wiping a work phone and iPad to erase important information. He told the inquiry the phone was reset after his bank told him his account had been "compromised by an unknown merchant," and that he reset an iPad before handing it back to Catholic Schools NSW. Dwyer told him the resets were "a transparent attempt ... to wipe evidence that would have been critical for this commission." McInerney admitted he had known about the ICAC inquiry for "almost seven or eight weeks" before resetting the devices. The Guardian
McInerney's Liberal Party membership was suspended after ICAC announced its inquiry. He is a factional ally of federal Opposition Leader Angus Taylor, and the inquiry heard about a message discussing a plan to "shake down Angus" in connection with donations to the Reformers. McInerney rejected that interpretation. Taylor is not named in ICAC's allegations and has repeatedly denied making payments to the Reformers. The Guardian
The governing council of Catholic Schools NSW called the allegations of "deep concern" and supported an external review of the organisation's operations. The Sydney Morning Herald reported on 14 August that McInerney denied signing contracts with factional allies to fund the Reformers, saying he conducted due diligence. SMH, 14 August 2026 The newspaper separately noted that even if McInerney avoids an adverse finding in ICAC's final report, a return to Catholic Schools NSW was unlikely. SMH, 18 August 2026
McInerney provided a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday responding to his sacking. The Guardian
The broader context here is how political factions and publicly funded institutions can become entangled. Catholic Schools NSW receives public funding to run schools, and the alleged channelling of its money into factional battles inside the Liberal Party raises questions about how well such organisations are overseen. Think of it like a charity that receives government grants — if those grants end up funding a political group's internal power struggle, the public has a right to ask how that was allowed to happen. The fact that a CEO was also operating as a Liberal Party factional player, with allies reaching into federal opposition leadership, points to how deeply party politics can reach into organisations that are supposed to be non-political. ICAC has found that four individuals solicited or accepted the political donations under investigation, suggesting the scheme went beyond one person. ICAC Opening Address, 28 July 2026 The inquiry is ongoing, and McInerney's ultimate legal exposure will depend on ICAC's final report, which the commission has not yet set a timeline for.
