More than 95% say they have no confidence in the Union's Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor
Australian National University (ANU) staff have overwhelmingly supported a vote of no confidence in the leadership of Chancellor, The Hon Julie Bishop, and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Genevieve Bell.
More than 800 staff participated in the vote that was put to all union members, with more than 95% voting ‘no’ to the question ‘Do you have confidence in the leadership of the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor?’
ANU has been ‘scandal-plagued’ recently, according to a statement from the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), including revelations the Vice-Chancellor held a second job and the Chancellor using university funds to pay her business partner as a consultant.
As reported by the union, ANU recently revealed its 2024 budget forecast – the basis of job cuts and a failed attempt to take away a staff pay rise – had overestimated the size of the 2024 deficit by more than $60 million. Australian Financial Report claims this had been ‘catastrophised’ in order to justify a planned restructure and cost-cutting regime.
Despite these concerns, Professor Bell has vowed to stay the course amid the sustained pressure on her leadership, according to ABC.
"We have a financial situation where we spend more money than we earn, and anyone who has run a household budget knows that isn't good," she said.
"Fixing that requires change, and change is always difficult."
NTEU National President Dr Alison Barnes said, ““What does it take to lose your job as the boss of an Australian university in 2025? The ANU scandals have piled up higher than the Telstra Tower yet the Council continues to back in a vice-chancellor and chancellor who have both failed to take any responsibility for terrible mismanagement.”
“The appalling thing is this is emblematic of the deep governance crisis we are seeing right across the country. We need real reform to stop the conflicts of interest and cultural decay of our public universities.”
Chief Operating Officer for ANU, Jonathan Churchill, says the vote has "no legal or binding effect."
In a statement released on their website, the university says, "Although this online survey lacks credibility, our community’s voices do matter. They are paramount. We continue to listen to them through our extensive consultation processes and understand that this is a difficult time. Our leadership team has a lot of critical work to do over the coming weeks and months to continue delivering our change program in a respectful and transparent way. "
