‘Extremely disappointed’: WA government seeks reimbursement from Deloitte over flawed university report
Summary
The Western Australian government is seeking faster reimbursement from Deloitte after errors were found in its $166,000 report on possible mergers involving three universities. The report contains large cost-calculation discrepancies and AI-related citation problems; Deloitte will review and reissue it, while the government says the errors do not affect the modelling or findings.Key Facts
- The study examined possible mergers involving the University of Western Australia, Curtin University and Murdoch University.
- The WA government paid Deloitte $166,000 for the feasibility study.
- One merger scenario listed costs of $514 million and $145 million, which total $659 million, but the report gave a combined figure of $399 million.
- Another scenario listed costs of $396 million and $116 million, which total $512 million, but the report gave a combined figure of $823 million.
- The report disclosed that Deloitte used generative AI to help gather research, synthesize information and proofread.
- A reference to a World Health Organization report contained a ChatGPT metadata tag in its URL.
- The WA government says Deloitte will review and reissue the report and that the errors do not affect its modelling or findings.
- The report repeatedly used an outdated name for Curtin University; the institution stopped using it in 2010.
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