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Claims auDA boss quit after he was busted for “falsified” law degree

Kevin Murphy, October 1, 2019, 10:35:17 (UTC), Domain Registries

Former auDA CEO Cameron Boardman abruptly left the .au registry overseer after his chair claimed he had falsely claimed to have a law degree from a prestigious university, it has been reported.
Citing a letter from then-chair Chris Leptos to Boardman from earlier this year, The Australian reported last week that Leptos “alleged the then-CEO falsified his academic record by including a master of laws degree (LLM) from La Trobe University”.
The CEO had denied the claims, the paper indicated.
Boardman and Leptos both quit shortly after the allegations arose.
Boardman resigned in July after a tumultuous three years in the job which saw him navigate governance and policy controversies and narrowly survive a member vote of confidence.
Leptos had quit just a couple of weeks earlier, reportedly after a disagreement with Boardman about unspecified governance issues.
No specific reasons were given by auDA for either resignation.
Questions about Boardman’s qualifications had been raised as early as April 2018 in a freedom of information request that was ultimately unsuccessful because the government was not in possession of the documents requested.
auDA is currently being chaired on an interim basis by director Suzanne Ewart, while other members of the executive team are looking after the CEO’s functions.

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Comments (4)

  1. Snoopy says:

    La Trobe University is along way from “prestigious”. It would be one of the lower rated institutions.

  2. Liz Williams says:

    Extensive Twitter coverage of this could have easily been addressed by either the former CEO or the institution(s) in question. It’s easy to validate academic credentials. Either one has them or one doesn’t. It’s also easy for recruitment consultants to do this on behalf of boards. That didn’t happen and someone needs to explain why.

    • Adrian Kinderis says:

      It is easy if you have the permission of the applicant. I paid Gadens to investigate Cameron Boardman’s credentials over a year ago and we were unable to have it confirmed given privacy etc. The claims of “obstructing and investigation” by leptos towards Boardman was because supposedly he refused to allow permission for the institution to confirm the qualifications. Also, allegedly, his wife’s wedding ring is glass.
      In all seriousness Liz. What do you want to happen? The Board is being reevaluated. Boardman has his payout and is gone. What more can be done? “Someone needs to explain why” isn’t helpful. The existing Board is to blame but they are accountable to anyone. We all need to stop yelling in to a vacuum. It’s tiresome.

  3. Alex says:

    Other directors should resign in shame. They knew long ago, but covered it up.

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