Vic education official arranged junkets

A former Victorian education department official allegedly used his involvement in the Ultranet IT project to help former colleagues get work and attend a lavish overseas junket.

Former department deputy secretary Darrell Fraser's close-knit friendships with former colleagues and IT company staff were examined again on Wednesday at an anti-corruption inquiry.

The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) hearings are examining past and present education department bureaucrats and the now-scrapped Ultranet IT project.

Counsel assisting Ian Hill QC told the IBAC hearing on Wednesday "there were riches to be made" on the Ultranet contract and Mr Fraser used that to his advantage.

He said Mr Fraser flexed his muscle on numerous occasions, with the most blatant example an email sent to Oracle executive Greg Martin outlining his demands for a business trip to New York.

Those demands included five-star accommodation, limousine transfers and dinner at the best restaurants in the city.

Frank Aloisio, who worked as a consultant for both the department and Oracle, said he had paid for Mr Fraser's accommodation in New York, which he later billed to Oracle. It totalled almost $5000 for two nights.

The former deputy secretary had also helped him get work in between jobs, Mr Aloisio told the hearing on Wednesday.

They became close friends after working together at Glen Waverley Secondary College in the past, he said.

Mr Fraser is yet to face the witness stand and it's not known whether he will return from Saudi Arabia, where he now resides, to take part in the public hearings which are expected to go for three weeks.

The hearing, held at the County Court of Victoria before Commissioner Stephen O'Bryan, continues.