A public interest disclosure written by two senior radiologists at Canberra Hospital - including one on the selection panel - was sent to the ACT government in February this year.

It alleged the position was revised in favour of now director of medical imaging Mark Duggan, despite a candidate with superior qualifications and experience applying.

The radiologist on the selection panel was concerned about the prospect of a racial discrimination lawsuit, as the failed candidate was considered far more qualified and was from an ethnic minority.

Mr Duggan was at the time acting in the role and had no formal tertiary qualifications or health qualifications. He initially joined ACT Health as a temporary project manager in 2016 and was subsequently appointed acting manager of medical imaging.

There is no suggestion that Mr Duggan was unable to properly perform his role or at any time posed a risk to patients. Mr Duggan maintains he has at all times been appropriately skilled to carry out his role. He strenuously denies having been unqualified for his job or undeserving of it, and The Canberra Times makes no such allegations against him.

Mr Duggan was given the ongoing role of director of medical imaging over a candidate described in the interviewing process by a panel member as "one of the most qualified radiographers in the country", with extensive public hospital medical imaging management experience in Victoria and the ACT.

The job of director of medical imaging was initially advertised in March 2017 at $137,415 then re-advertised in June, at $237,944.

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Mr Duggan applied in June but did not meet the mandatory requirements including tertiary health qualifications and membership in a professional organisation.

The then deputy director general, Chris Bone, and chief medical officer, Jeffrey Fletcher, both acted as referees and panel members at the time - with Mr Bone also the panel chair and delegate - recommending him as the preferred candidate.

The position was readvertised later in October 2017, but without the mandatory requirement of a health care tertiary qualification.

The whistleblower radiologists alleged in their public interest disclosure that it was advertised "significantly in favour of internal candidate" to the extent the preferred candidate seemed a foregone conclusion.

The disclosure stated there was an external candidate that applied for the position in October, who met all the mandatory and desirable criteria of the June and October advertisement.

He had a bachelor in radiography, masters in radiography, health management and health administration, and more experience being a manager in a large hospital.

The disclosure alleged the point scale was favourable towards Mr Duggan, with few points being attributed to qualification and experience, and disproportionate weight given to "continuity in the position".

Mr Duggan also did not provide references from former employment and no enquiries about his previous employment were made, the disclosure said.

Two of his references, Dr Fletcher and Mr Bone, were respectively on the panel and the delegate for the second recruitment process.

Mr Bone was replaced as a panel member at the time of the interviews due to being on leave, but remained a delegate.

Mr Duggan was chosen as the preferred candidate, the decision stating his ability to keep continuity in the department and his answers to written questions.

Dr Fletcher told the radiologist on the panel the candidates needed to be assessed by "what was written on the application not what we know is occurring", according to the disclosure.

The radiologist on the panel said in the disclosure he had a "desire to avoid potential discrimination as the external candidate satisfied every mandatory and desired criteria with greater experience, extensive qualifications and was a minority of ethnic origin".

Through a letter to the Australian Medical Association seen by The Canberra Times, ACT Health confirmed an independent lawyer was investigating claims about inappropriate recruitment practices.

The disclosure was provided to The Canberra Times by one of the radiologists.

The radiologist provided the documents after receiving legal advice that it was legal to forward them to a journalist because ACT Health had not dealt with the disclosure according to the legislation.

Mr Bone and Dr Fletcher were contacted for comment but did not respond.

In response to a list of questions sent to Canberra Health Services, a spokesman said he was unable to comment on any of the matters raised.

“If there was a public interest disclosure, CHS would be unable to divulge any information about it, as to do so would be an offence under section 44 of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2012,"  he said.

“CHS is also unable to disclose any personal information about any individuals, as to do so would breach its obligations in the Information Privacy Act 2014.

“We stress that recruitment processes across the hospital and our health services are based on merit, fairness and open competition, with all selection processes following the principles outlined in the Public Sector Management Act 1994 and the Public Sector Management Standards 2016.”