WORLD 26/08/21 Australian Catholic schools chief sacked amid corruption inquiry

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Dallas McInerney was sacked days after he testified before the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney has been sacked days after giving evidence before the state of New South Wales's anti-corruption watchdog. (Photo: csnsw.catholic.edu.au)

By Tom Hyland

Published: August 21, 2026 12:00 PM GMT

Updated: August 21, 2026 12:16 PM GMT

The head of Australia’s largest organization of Catholic schools has been fired amid an official inquiry into corruption in the state of New South Wales.

The board of Catholic Schools NSW (CSNSW) announced Aug. 21 that it had lost confidence in Dallas McInerney and that he had been dismissed as the organization’s chief executive officer.

The announcement came days after he testified before the public inquiry conducted by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

The inquiry is investigating whether McInerney authorized illegal payments by the school body to fund the activities of a group of conservative Christian activists seeking to gain control of the NSW division of the Liberal Party.

The inquiry has heard allegations that McInerney paid a total of Australian dollars 265,900 through sham invoices to a Liberal Party faction known as the “Reformers”, and that the payments were not declared and exceeded political donation caps. McInerney has insisted the payments were for genuine consultancies.

His dismissal came two days after he gave evidence that he performed a factory reset of his work phone and iPad, effectively wiping potential evidence. He had been asked during last week’s inquiry whether his phone contained messages with the Reformers.

He said he had reset the devices last weekend after his bank told him his account had been compromised. He denied a suggestion by the senior counsel assisting the inquiry, Peggy Dwyer, that his action was “a transparent attempt…to wipe evidence that would have been critical for this commission”.

McInerney temporarily stood aside as head of CSNSW last month after the corruption commission announced it was examining whether he had authorized payments used to recruit Liberal Party members in a process known as “branch stacking”.

On Aug. 21, the CSNSW board said it had unanimously decided to terminate McInerney’s employment, as it had lost confidence in his ability to "lead the organization into the future".

“The matters that are the subject of the Inquiry are, though, of deep concern to CSNSW and to its key stakeholders,” the board said, adding that it supported an external review of the organization’s operations.

CSNSW is Australia’s largest Catholic education body, representing, supporting and advocating for close to 600 schools that enroll almost 280,000 students — about 20 percent of all students in the state — and employing some 30,00 staff.

On the first day of the inquiry, Dr Dwyer said the evidence would show “that while his day job” was head of CSNSW, McInerney was also "an influential factional heavyweight and powerbroker" in the Liberal Party, aligned with the party’s right-wing faction, and that he “shared the values and political objectives” of the Reformers.

The group wanted more conservative policies on issues such as abortion, euthanasia and same-sex marriage.

Allegations raised earlier at the inquiry prompted calls from critics of the non-government school sector for greater oversight of government support for Catholic schools, which receive significant funding from state and federal governments.

A similar call came this week from the Independent Education Union (IEU), representing teachers in Catholic and independent schools.

Union secretary Carol Matthews said her members wanted full transparency and accountability in how non-government schools use public funding.