Mr Barton, a former PSO chairman, took a leave of absence from his positions as president of the New Zealand Law Society (NZLS) and from his duties on the university council, after he was named in the final report from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.
The report stated that former PSO chief executive Gillian Bremner instructed a staff member, in late 2017 or early 2018, to destroy records about children and young people in the organisation’s care after she obtained "informal advice" from Mr Barton, who told her PSO could destroy the documents "but at an appropriate milestone or anniversary".
Two lawyers, understood to reside outside of Otago, lodged complaints to the Law Society about Mr Barton following the report’s revelations.
The university told the Otago Daily Times it believed no-one "to the best of our knowledge" raised concerns with it that Mr Barton — whose roles included chairing its appeals board, and health and safety and ethics committee — was being looked at by the commission over his advice.
This is despite the now deputy vice-chancellor of external engagement Jessica Palmer and chief operating officer Stephen Willis both serving on the PSO board at the time the organisation was made aware of the destruction.
Mr Willis served on the PSO board from 2021 until July this year.
The pair did not answer questions from the ODT including whether they informed the university about Mr Barton’s situation.
A university spokeswoman said it had "no concern" in relation to the appropriateness of any aspect of Mr Barton’s service to the university over many years.
"It is also satisfied with the actions of university staff who have given voluntary service as members of the board of PSO."
The university did not consider it appropriate to respond to further questions given the current investigation by the Law Society, she said.
Ms Palmer joined the board in October 2019, and at the time was the dean of the faculty of law at the university.
She would go on to be appointed pro-vice-chancellor of humanities in 2021, before taking up the role of deputy vice-chancellor of external engagement at the start of this month.
She was previously named as a member of a subcommittee established by the PSO board to oversee then chief executive Jo O’Neill’s work collecting evidence for the commission, including about the destruction of records.
Ms O’Neill was told by Mrs Bremner in 2021 that she authorised the destruction of the documents after getting "informal advice" from Mr Barton.
Current PSO board chairwoman Stephanie Pettigrew previously said that in January 2024 Mr Barton provided the board with a copy of his exchange with Mrs Bremner, but no board member made a complaint to the Law Society "because there were no grounds for complaint".
Mr Barton declined to respond to questions yesterday saying, "there is a correct legal process being gone through at the moment which will ultimately address these issues."
