University of Wollongong accused of ‘gaslighting’ staff over job cuts

A union has accused the University of Wollongong (UOW) of “gaslighting” its staff when presenting the cost-saving features that will arise through the reduction of 124 full-time jobs at the institution.

The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has lashed out at the University of Wollongong, labelling its revised job cuts as still “operationally crippling”.

After first announcing a workforce reduction of 185 full-time roles back in March, the university conducted a consultation process, which featured over 2,600 feedback submissions and 700 people attending staff workshops.

“I am deeply grateful for the thoughtful feedback and engagement we’ve received across our university community. This is a difficult process, but the feedback from staff has helped shape a proposal that responds to current challenges while positioning us for sustainable growth and impact,” said Professor G.Q. Max Lu, university vice-chancellor and president.

The conclusion of this process saw the reduction number brought down from 185 to a new projection of 100–124 full-time roles.

In a statement, the university claimed that these reductions are needed to reduce “recurrent costs by about $30 million to ensure long-term sustainability and to improve the effectiveness of services and operations”.

“It projects a reduction of 100–124 full-time equivalent positions, generating annual savings of between $17–22 million (compared to 155–185 FTE and $22–26 million annually in the earlier proposal).

“The university will aim to meet the remaining savings targets through reductions in non-salary spending,” the university said.

According to CPSU branch assistant secretary Troy Wright, these figures merely act to “rebrand bad news”.

“University of Wollongong management must stop gaslighting its staff by telling them that job cuts will be good for the university,” said Wright.

“Look at the UOW’s books and you’ll see massive cost overruns. In the 2023 year, there was a $39 million deficit, but their spending on consultants and international and domestic travel were enormous, and these are the kind of costs you drop before you cut staff.

“Anyone who’s run a business knows if you cut close to one in 10 staff, you’re going to have to reduce services, but University of Wollongong management keeps claiming services will stay the same even after job cuts.

“UOW management claiming ‘look we’ve saved 60 jobs’ because they’ve revised the number of people they’ll sack from 185 to 124, that’s the kind of corporate spin that really upsets the community.”

This is just the latest in what has been a long string of incidents at Australian universities in 2025, with Monash University, Deakin University, Macquarie University, and the Australian National University all having their own worker-related issues.

Due to the long list of alleged contraventions involving these universities, National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) national president Dr Alison Barnes has called on the federal government to intervene.

“We’re seeing egregious conflicts of interests, eye-watering amounts of wage theft, a hiring-firing yo-yo, and zero transparency for leadership decisions that cripple universities,” Barnes said.

“It’s time for a major change in how our universities are run. That means governance reform that makes university bosses accountable for the incredible damage they are doing.

“The government has acknowledged the crisis; now we need national laws that pull these rogue university executives into line so we can provide world-class research and teaching.”