ICAC Finds Former NSW Health Executive Engaged in Years of Serious Corruption

A former senior NSW Health executive has been found to have engaged in extensive and deliberate corruption, with the state’s corruption watchdog set to refer him to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Zoran Ribicic, who served as NSW Health’s director of engineering and asset management from 2021 to 2024, was found to have falsified CVs, concealed conflicts of interest, and funnelled taxpayer money to favoured contractors including his own sister.

In a report released on Friday, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) detailed how Ribicic improperly awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds to external suppliers. Among them was Risk Control Consulting (RCC), a company owned by his sister Mirela Derrin, which received more than $275,000 from the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD) over two years. ICAC found Ribicic repeatedly favoured RCC over competitors and failed to disclose the conflict of interest.

The corruption came to light when an ISLHD officer reported Ribicic to ICAC in July 2024. He was suspended with pay and resigned two months later.

ICAC also uncovered a pattern of “order splitting”, a practice Ribicic used to bypass procurement rules. With authority to approve quotes up to $30,000, he directed preferred suppliers to divide larger projects into smaller bundles, allowing him to award work to family and associates without the scrutiny normally required for substantial contracts.

The watchdog concluded Ribicic’s conduct amounted to serious corruption carried out over several years, prompting the referral for potential criminal prosecution.