Our ANU
@ouranu.bsky.social
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Staff campaigning against cuts and poor governance at the Australian National University.
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ouranu.bsky.social
“ANU urgently needs new direction and new leadership – one that restores its focus on research, education, and the free dissemination of knowledge.”

Our ANU’s statement on the VC’s resignation 👇

drive.google.com/file/d/1e3Lh...
OurANU statement on the resignation of Genevieve Bell

Attributable to ourANU, 11 September 2025.

ourANU welcomes the Vice Chancellor’s decision to prioritise the university’s best interests. ANU urgently needs new leadership that restores its focus on research, education, and the free dissemination of knowledge.

The damage caused by the ‘Renew ANU’ restructure is real and ongoing. It has undermined disciplines, harmed individuals, and diminished the university’s reputation. It must stop. All involuntary redundancies should be cancelled. No amalgamations or disbanding of schools and centres of national significance should proceed.

The university must pause, take stock, and begin to repair the harm.

Renew ANU is not the work of one individual. It is the product of years of governance failure. There must be accountability for those decisions. The investigations into the ANU governance and leadership culture must continue. Only genuine accountability will allow ANU to reset and rebuild.

Across the community and in parliament, there is agreement: ANU cannot move forward without clarity and honesty. Transparency and accountability are the only ways to restore trust. As Senator Katy Gallagher has said, ANU needs an “agreed set of facts.” That requires independent scrutiny of both the university’s finances and the governance arrangements that produced this crisis.

Staff and students must be central to this work. We ask all remaining executives to ask themselves if they are the people right for the job of finding new ways to work with the ANU community.

An independent review, conducted by a person or panel agreed with the NTEU, should explain how the university’s finances were allowed to deteriorate, assess the failures of governance that enabled it, and outline options for reform. The priority is not simply financial sustainability, but a structure of accountability and participation that prevents these failures from recurring. 
It is time to build a governance structure that values stability, transparency, and accountability.

The ANU cannot continue lurching between growth and cuts. We need to rebuild our national university in ways that allow education and the pursuit of knowledge to flourish once again. The university must work with staff, students, the Parliament, the Minister, and the Expert Council on University Governance to create reforms that embed participation, accountability, and sustainability at every level of decision-making.

The message from staff and students is clear. Enough damage has been done.

The time for secrecy and short-term fixes is over. The university must reset, rebuild trust, and commit to a future shaped by and for its community. Only then can the ANU live up to its purpose as a place of knowledge, discovery, and service to the nation.
ouranu.bsky.social
“Ms Bishop had to take the exact dollar figure on notice, but said the “resignation package was what she was entitled to under the contract of engagement as vice-chancellor.”

Ms Bishop said Prof. Bell was paid part of her salary for a period of time rather than giving notice.”

tinyurl.com/4ma8ujkr
Lavish ANU Perth office to close, Bishop reveals at Senate estimates
Rebekah Brown tried to change Renew ANU but didn't have the authority, Senate estimates hears.
tinyurl.com
ouranu.bsky.social
“Characterising [Julie Bishop’s] leadership as "chaotic", Mr Sheldon asked if she would apologise for several governance failures which he described as "an absolute shemozzle and ... an unmitigated stuff-up".”

www.canberratimes.com.au/story/908613...
'Absolute shemozzle': embattled ANU head faces probe
Foreign minister-turned-chancellor of a top-tier university Julie Bishop has faced senators to discuss governance issues that have plagued...
www.canberratimes.com.au
Reposted by Our ANU
leftankle.bsky.social
"So, how do you turn a $90 million surplus into a $142.5 million deficit?

Easy. You just exclude nearly a quarter of a billion dollars of revenue that the auditor thought should be included."

tinyurl.com/5b4ruecb

@ouranu.bsky.social
@nteuact.bsky.social

Full text on r/anu on Reddit
A closer look at the ANU books reveals a hard truth about these job cuts
The phantom deficit and a series of cuts by choice, not necessity.
tinyurl.com
ouranu.bsky.social
“If the new leadership wants to rebuild trust … they need to explain why they think the audited accounts are so misleading … and what future plans they have that are so beneficial they are willing to take an axe to … students, … staff, and … reputation…”

www.canberratimes.com.au/story/908473...
A closer look at the ANU books reveals a hard truth about these job cuts
The phantom deficit and a series of cuts by choice, not necessity.
www.canberratimes.com.au
ouranu.bsky.social
VCs are “not interchangeable” with people who run banks or mining companies ... “Yet the current approach prices them as though they could walk into the C-suite of a listed company – a fiction that drives pay packages ever higher.”

@marijataflaga.bsky.social and @francismarkham.bsky.social
timeshighered.bsky.social
Institutional autonomy ‘not threatened’ by proposal to more than halve executive pay, Australian academics say, as universities insist councils should maintain control
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/regulate-inflated-v-c-salaries-australian-senators-told
Reposted by Our ANU
qmucu.bsky.social
So many Australian colleagues put through a year of worries and uncertainty. All because Nous Consultancy only thrives on a scarcity narrative?

Bit if a reminder that those cuts can never be justified in pedagogical or academic term, whatever the spin.
ouranu.bsky.social
Associate Professor Nick Cheesman summed up the rebellion for the ABC, “The Vice-Chancellor would not have had to resign but for the increasingly organised revolt against ANU management by thousands of academics and their pupils.”

solidarity.net.au/highlights/e...
End to forced redundancies at ANU shows power of fighting campaign – Solidarity Online
After a year-long campaign, interim Vice-Chancellor Rebekah Brown has announced an end to forced redundancies under management’s drastic restructuring scheme, Renew ANU.
solidarity.net.au
ouranu.bsky.social
“The terms of reference limit Thom to investigating only the allegations raised during the August 12 Senate hearing. She will not look into broader issues of culture, governance and leadership at the university.”

www.afr.com/work-and-car...
Canberra’s go-to investigator looks at Julie Bishop bullying claims
A major 12-month probe will examine allegations of threats, bullying and intimidation made against the ANU chancellor.
www.afr.com
Reposted by Our ANU
australiainstitute.org.au
The ANU says it's in crisis. Does this look like a financial crisis to you?
Reposted by Our ANU
australiainstitute.org.au
'Cooking the books': national think tank questions ANU finances

Our research was covered by the Canberra Times today.

Read the report: australiainstitute.org.au/post/the-anu...

Read the article: www.canberratimes.com.au/story/907948...
ouranu.bsky.social
“In a research paper from the @australiainstitute.org.au called *Cooking the books at the Australian National University*, David Richardson and @richarddenniss.bsky.social said the ANU's argument about its unhealthy financial position was "flimsy".”

www.canberratimes.com.au/story/907948...
'Cooking the books': national think tank questions ANU finances
'They should make clear how they use such donations.'
www.canberratimes.com.au
Reposted by Our ANU
qmucu.bsky.social
Already 20% of the workforce gone and yet somehow still looking to impose compulsory redundancies? What on earth is going to be left of Brunel when this management team is done?

co-sign here: speakout.web.ucu.org.uk/stop-brunel-...
Stop compulsory redundancies at Brunel University of London
26 September 2025
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Brunel University of London management have expressed their intention to move forward with plans for further compulsory redundancies in 2025-26. This comes after a year of decimation in 2024-25, when the institution put more than a third of staff at risk of compulsory redundancy, and over 465 staff members, amounting to around 20% of the workforce, left Brunel as a result of multiple redundancy schemes.
Reposted by Our ANU
thesiswhisperer.bsky.social
ANU colleagues and students - please share this post if you can:

The ANU governance project has extended our deadline to comment on the Draft report to next week - 7 October.

Here's a link to a feedback form, which also contains the link to the draft report:

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Feedback on ANU Governance Project Draft Report
The ANU Governance Project Working Group are proud to present the Draft Project Report for community feedback and consultation. The Draft Project Report is available on our website or through THIS LINK. Using a process that has involved deep listening and a participatory and deliberative process across the ANU community, we have compiled a unique and valuable body of evidence that documents what’s wrong with governance at the ANU and charts a way forward to help rebuild trust and to deliver best practice governance. Over 600 ANU staff, students, and stakeholders have participated in this project, and in contributing constructively to the future of ANU. This includes 590 members of the community who participated in our survey, 75 who participated in one-hour small group discussions, and over 40 from across the university who participated in our project workshop. The ANU community told us there a critical need for change: Over 96% of survey respondents and all discussion group participants believe current ANU governance is not fit for purpose and should be reformed. Over 92% of survey respondents and all discussion group participants expressed dissatisfaction with current ANU governance. Over 93% of survey respondents said they were dissatisfied with current practices of transparency at the ANU. Over 93% of survey respondents said they were dissatisfied with accountability frameworks at the ANU. The ANU Community has proposed the following near-term steps forward for a reformed ANU: Council must direct Finance to produce and publish a current budget breakdown. Council must revise and publish selection criteria for Executive positions. Council meetings must immediately be made fully accessible to the community. Academic Board must regularly review and assess the financial decisions of senior executives and Council. Commence senior leadership listening tours with the ANU community. Additional recommendations forwarded by the community are summarised in the full report, including a proposal to co-design legislative reform of the ANU Act with the community. The Working Group invites the ANU community and stakeholders to offer feedback via this form on the draft report by midnight on Tuesday 7 October. This deadline has been extended in order to allow us more time to hear and incorporate community feedback ahead of the release of our final report on Monday 20 October.
docs.google.com
ouranu.bsky.social
“It gave us false hope we could stop these changes through some form of consultation. …

The university keeps pushing that they will keep performance, however it is clear they are at the very least degrading the level of performance at the school.”

Mert Boyali

region.com.au/anus-removal...
ANU's removal of one-to-one performance teaching 'entirely independent' of restructure | Region Canberra
The Australian National University is standing firm on not including one-to-one performance teaching in its core curriculum, stating its decision…
region.com.au
ouranu.bsky.social
“The university says it is saving itself from financial crisis, but a team of accounting professors have crunched the numbers and say they tell a different story.”

Depressingly familiar to our experience at ANU. Solidarity to colleagues at UTS. ✊

www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Academics dispute state of finances at leading Sydney university - ABC listen
Almost one in every two Australian universities has been restructured in the past year, and there is more to come. Thousands of jobs have been cut, and thousands more are in the firing line. At the ...
www.abc.net.au
ouranu.bsky.social
“[The CASS Dean’s] confusing statements about the future of the College’s academic architecture, and her refusal to engage with the substance of issues raised by colleagues, continue the pattern that has been so destructive to the University”

www.canberratimes.com.au/story/907511...
'Rumours flying everywhere': ANU staff want to see tangible changes
Some staff are 'waiting to see signs' that relationships can be repaired.
www.canberratimes.com.au
Reposted by Our ANU
alisonbarnes.bsky.social
Much attention has been on ANU but the governance crisis is broad and deep across the sector. Close scrutiny needs to be applied *everywhere*. This is shameful from UTS management.
squigglyrick.bsky.social
University of Technology Sydney ordered a spreadsheet from KPMG targeting individual academics by research income, which might contravene the bargaining agreement. They repeatedly denied it even existed for several info requests. But that wasn't true. www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/educati...
Exclusive: University sought secret KPMG staff spreadsheet
The University of Technology Sydney denied the existence of a KPMG spreadsheet ranking the research performance of academics, in breach of its EBA, until it was forced to release it.
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au
Reposted by Our ANU
thesiswhisperer.bsky.social
ANU campus notice boards continue to inspire 😂
Reposted by Our ANU
marijataflaga.bsky.social
The report is welcome, but its important that we think about first and second order effects

1st order: broken accountability systems, weak transparency mechanmisms

2nd order: VC salaries, low staff and student representation, wage theft

2nd order effects are SYMPTOMS of the 1st order CAUSES
jonpiccini.bsky.social
Australia's universities are blighted by a "culture of consequence-free, rotten failure", according to the former chair of a senate inquiry examining governance at public universities. ... "There's no other sector in the country where failure is rewarded so handsomely and with so little scrutiny."
'Rotten' Australian university culture lashed in long-running senate inquiry
Australia's universities are blighted by a "culture of consequence-free, rotten failure", a senate inquiry has found.
www.abc.net.au
ouranu.bsky.social
“Ultimately, the responsibility [for ANU] rests with the chancellor, Julie Bishop. She presided over this continued period of dysfunction, and it was under her watch that catastrophic failures occurred,”

Senator Anthony Sheldon

www.afr.com/politics/fed...
ANU’s ‘catastrophic failures’ happened on Bishop’s watch: Sheldon
If ANU is serious about rebuilding trust, it cannot do so while Julie Bishop is chancellor, says Tony Sheldon, the man behind the Senate report into university governance.
www.afr.com