In short:
Wyndham City Council has come under scrutiny after a $69 million IT failure was exposed during a state parliamentary hearing. Council Watch has criticised the council’s lack of transparency and called for reform following the Oracle ERP collapse and questionable budget practices.
Wyndham’s ERP failure revealed at state hearing
Wyndham City Council is under fire after a scathing exposé by Council Watch Australia revealed a staggering $69 million blowout on its failed Oracle ERP project, with no clear explanation or accountability provided to the public.
Described as a “case study in systemic failure,” the report outlines a near decade-long saga of mismanagement, missed deadlines, and ballooning budgets—beginning in 2016 when the Council launched a $20 million plan to upgrade its enterprise IT systems.
By 2020, the project had already missed its go-live deadline, and by 2022, Oracle was scrapped completely, reportedly after more than $50 million had already been spent. In its place, Council adopted a new system from TechnologyOne, racking up an additional $20 million in costs.
The full financial damage only became public during a Parliamentary hearing in mid-2025, where one MP described the outcome as “$69 million flushed down the toilet.”
Wyndham City Council was among four councils audited as part of a state government investigation into fraud and corruption control, with a hearing conducted on 28 July by the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee. The committee convened following two reports by the Auditor-General on local government financial transparency and the handling of state grants.
Wyndham was represented at the hearing by Chief Executive Stephen Wall and Deputy Mayor Josh Gilligan. Laverton MP Sarah Connolly chaired the session, and Point Cook MP Mathew Hilakari—also a committee member—took aim at several controversial council decisions.
Hilakari questioned the council on the financial overruns associated with its failed Oracle ERP implementation and scrutinised whether the costs were properly disclosed in public financial documents. He described the overspend as inadequately reported and pressed the council on its transition to the TechnologyOne system.
Hilakari also raised concerns over Wyndham’s handling of developer contributions, pointing to a recent decision not to allocate more than $36 million collected in Point Cook to projects within that same area. He accused the council of inconsistently citing legal advice when justifying its decision to redirect those funds elsewhere.
Deputy Mayor Josh Gilligan rejected that claim, saying the legal advice had been consistent and that the allocation reflected the current council’s priorities. He also denied suggestions that Wyndham conducts an excessive amount of its business confidentially.
Council Watch claims no independent review or investigation was ever conducted into the ERP failure. Key staff who led the Oracle rollout allegedly left before the system went live, and the Council failed to publicly disclose the project’s cancellation, instead burying the costs in obscure budget documents.
“It was never put to councillors whether Oracle could be fixed,” Council Watch said. “No options were presented, and according to sources, the final $20 million was spent without a tender.”
Insiders also allege no non-disclosure agreements were signed by project stakeholders, a breach of standard governance protocols. As a result, numerous staff have come forward to expose the system’s internal failings.
Despite the revelations, no councillors or executives have stepped down. Instead, Council’s only action was to reduce the CEO’s spending authority from $1 million to $500,000.
Council Watch contrasted the outcome with what might occur in private enterprise: “The CEO and CIO would be fired, the board would call in auditors, and regulators would investigate.”
Wyndham residents are now left with no functioning Oracle system and a replacement that has added significantly to the cost. “Ratepayers deserve more,” Council Watch stated. “They’ve received no apology, no explanation, and no accountability.”
A referral has reportedly been made to IBAC, Victoria’s anti-corruption body, but Council Watch remains sceptical about the likelihood of serious consequences.
In concluding its report, Council Watch warned: “Until local councils are held to the same standards of transparency and accountability as businesses or public companies, blowouts like this will keep happening.”
Council Watch has not alleged criminal conduct or corruption by any individual or organisation, instead pointing to a broader breakdown in governance, oversight, and risk management.
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