More Good News as the Universities Suffer! By James Reed
For me, a champion of "close down the universities and reform education," the hard times gripping the universities I see as poetic justice. The universities, as well documented by sites like Macrobusiness.com.au, brought in hundreds of thousands of foreign students, so that some universities were 50 percent foreigners, and there were reports of classes being conducted in Mandarin Chinese. This led to the continuing accommodation crisis, the greatest in Australia's history. That Aussies did not take to the streets in mass protest is a testimony to apathy, but perhaps the time for revenge for this destruction of the Australian community by the Labor government will come at election time.
In the meantime, even the modest cutbacks in foreign student numbers are shaking up the universities, with hundreds of staff cuts, as documented below, but no salary decreases of vice chancellors most of whom get over $ 1 million per year. What a scam of the long-suffering tax payer.
Thus, the present cutbacks and staff sackings are just not enough.
"In short:Canberra's two major universities are facing job losses, fewer student enrolments and caps on international students.
Some staff members are concerned about the way the job cuts have been handled and communicated so far.
What's next?It's unclear what the final tally of job losses at both the University of Canberra and the Australian National University will be, but experts are forecasting difficult times ahead for the sector.
Canberra often promotes itself as the knowledge capital of the country.
But looming job cuts at the city's two major universities, proposed reductions to international student numbers, and growing mistrust among some staff, is threatening that title.
At the Australian National University (ANU), staff have accused management of neglecting their promise to be transparent — and even blocking staff questions and feedback — as they prepare to cut dozens of jobs in the lead-up to Christmas.
The ANU, which last month announced its plans to cut jobs and spending, is now in the middle of a consultation period with staff.
So far, 137 positions have been identified for proposed redundancies.
Already, some have accused executives of "only paying lip service" to the process.
A learning and teaching manager slated to lose his job accused ANU executives leading online town hall meetings of deleting and ignoring staff questions.
"They'd come there with scripts and read from [them] and there was no genuine engagement or addressing what people were saying," the manager said.
He did not want to be identified in case it risked his chances of saving his position at the ANU or his future employment.
The ABC has seen a transcript of questions asked by staff during the online meeting where staff ask why their questions had been deleted.
A spokesperson for the university said it had welcomed feedback and staff contributions to its planned changes, and had so far answered nearly 400 questions over its numerous town hall meetings.
"This has been a transparent, open and consultative change process, involving staff addresses and a series of town halls with each college and each professional area, with a total attendee number of more than 8,400," they said.
Union estimates job cuts will continueThe National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has estimated the ANU could cut more than 630 positions in its effort to slash $100 million from staff salary costs by January 2026.
The university is staring down a $200 million deficit for 2024, on top of $400 million in operating deficits created between 2020 and 2023.
But the ANU has yet to confirm the exact number of job cuts, and its Vice Chancellor Professor Genevieve Bell declined numerous requests for an interview, which some staff members allege only contributes to an environment of anxiety and fear.
"It feels shocking, because we all put energy into our work life, especially people in learning and teaching where most of us actually think education is something that changes the world," the manager said.
He said staff were too scared to challenge the university's decisions, and have been since a pro-Palestine encampment began on campus earlier this year.
"So I think there is a bit of a culture of distrust that you might be punished, or, you know, gotten rid of, if you are seen to kind of be out of step with the organisation," he said.
The ANU failed to respond to those detailed allegations prior to the deadline.
University of Canberra also in financial troubleThe ANU is, of course, far from alone in its plight.
Just across town, similar consultation periods are underway at the University of Canberra (UC) after it announced between 200 and 250 redundancies would form part of its bid to save $50 million by the end of the year.
While staff have commended Vice Chancellor Stephen Parker for being transparent about the cuts, Associate Professor of Communication Caroline Fisher questioned the speed of the changes.
"It feels like decisions have already been made, so even though we have the opportunity to be consulted I don't know how empowered we feel about those consultations," Dr Fisher said.
"There's a sense of shock and certainly a sense of anxiety."
Professor Parker said those fears were ill-founded.
"This is genuine consultation, so I'm sorry to hear if some people apparently feel intimidated but that's definitely not the purpose of the exercise," he said.
"This is about removing positions, it's not about targeting particular people."
Dr Fisher's job has not been marked for redundancy, but she is worried about how cuts to professional staff will affect those who remain.
"The workload increases for the staff who are left behind, and that leads to burnout, and that then affects teaching ... it affects research, it affects student experience," she said.
"They argue, at a financial level, it'll make the university sustainable financially — on paper that might well be the case but at a human level, for the staff left behind, it's actually not sustainable."
Professor Parker said the cuts were necessary because staff numbers had increased by 400 over the past nine years while student numbers had remained the same.
"I think we budgeted on the basis of growth and that growth didn't arrive," Professor Parker said.
Three vice-chancellors in less than a year at UCAmong its suite of election promises, the new ACT government committed to an inquiry into governance at UC and its revolving door of vice chancellors.
Professor Paddy Nixon's sudden resignation for "personal reasons" in December 2023 saw him replaced by Professor Lucy Johnston, who was meant to act in the role until February 2025 when Labor MP Bill Shorten is due to start.
But her tenure was cut short in September this year when former UC Vice Chancellor Professor Parker was suddenly reinstated after resigning from the role eight years ago.
Professor Nixon was reportedly paid up to $1.8 million upon his departure, but Professor Parker could not confirm that.
"The sums of money that are reported [about Professor Nixon] are not something that would have a major contribution to our financial difficulties," he said.
"Whether there's something systemic there, I just can't say.
"I think it's a correction after 15 years of expansion of higher education, that growth phase has come to an end, and we're moving into a different phase, and we need, frankly, a different funding model for the future."
2025 will be a 'very difficult year', expert forecastsThe dramatic cuts at ANU and UC are just the beginning of a wave of changes across the higher education sector, according to higher education expert Claire Field.
So far, seven universities have announced significant belt-tightening measures which could amount to 1,200 jobs lost across the country.
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