‘Over-corporatisation’ of Aussie universities addressed in new Senate committee report

Late last week, the Senate committee’s final report of the inquiry into university governance was released – after five public hearings and over 300 submissions.

In the Final Report of the Inquiry into the Quality of Governance at Australian Higher Education Providers, the Senate education and employment legislation committee addressed issues surrounding university governance. In this report, it made eight further recommendations for legislative fixes at the state and commonwealth level, adding to the 12 it made in its September interim report.

Over-corporatisation

The report acknowledged various concerns, including the “over-corporatisation” of the Aussie university sector. Recommendations were drawn from inquiry participants, which included: clarifying the role and purpose of universities, reviewing and resetting the university funding model, and establishing a national approach to the demand for university places.

The committee said: “The tension between universities operating for the public good, and attracting funding from private sources, creates a dichotomy in how they operate, and which parts of their operations they prioritise.”

It added: “Universities are indeed public institutions, established for the public good, and their governance arrangements should reflect that.”

In the report, honours student at Monash University, Jasmine Toronis, recommended that universities return to their purpose to educate, support research and serve the public good, stating that the current model “treats students as customers and staff as disposable.”

Profit at the expense of education

Deputy leader and higher education spokesperson of the Greens, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, said the Senate’s latest report “fell short of providing remedies that match the systemic overhaul needed to end the era of managerial bloat and unaccountable opaque governance”.

Faruqi added that the government must “substantially” increase funding to match the OECD average.

A 2023 poll conducted by the Australia Institute found that two in three Aussies (66 per cent) think that improving education for students should be the primary concern of university councils. Earlier polling revealed that 83 per cent of universities were concerned that universities focused on profit at the expense of education.

‘Run like corporate fiefdoms’

National president of the NTEU, Dr Alison Barnes (pictured) said that greater dialogue between the union and management will end the “wage theft endemic” that has “engulfed” universities.

“All publicly funded universities must introduce mechanisms to oversee the operation of councils and hold individual members accountable,” ACT independent Senator David Pocock said.

“Additional powers for the external higher education regulator are very welcome, but universities need strong internal accountability mechanisms as well, beyond voluntary action and cultural change.”

In its interim report released in September, the committee called for caps on vice-chancellor salaries, crucial transparency reforms, making council composition fairer, and increasing transparency in the use of corporate consulting firms – some of these have already been adopted by the government.