Bishop should be sacked for blaming ANU staff for financial woes, says union

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has called for ANU University Chancellor Julie Bishop’s head after she appeared to blame staff for the university’s financial predicament.

ANU management has announced a restructure in which more than 600 jobs could be lost while also asking staff to forgo an already agreed pay rise of 2.5 per cent in December.

Asked whether it was fair to ask ANU staff to forgo the pay increase, Ms Bishop told The Canberra Times: “It depends to whom you refer, because many members of staff have been part of the inefficiencies that the university is now seeking to address.”

Ms Bishop also defended her record and rejected suggestions of financial mismanagement, despite the ANU’s budgeted $60 million deficit blowing out to a forecast deficit of more than $200 million for 2024.

NTEU National President Dr Alison Barnes said Ms Bishop should resign or be sacked for her reprehensible comments.

“These disgraceful comments blaming staff when it’s clear there’s been managerial incompetence are simply staggering,” she said.

“Bashing workers might have helped Ms Bishop climb through the ranks of the Liberal Party, but an attack like this makes her role as chancellor completely untenable.”

Dr Barnes said the ANU’s situation was emblematic of a broken governance system and repeated calls for a federal parliamentary inquiry into university governance.

NTEU ACT Division Secretary Dr Lachlan Clohesy said Ms Bishop’s comments were callous and showed a lack of remorse, empathy and accountability.

“Her position as Chancellor of the Australian National University is untenable,” he said.

“This blatant blame-shifting exemplifies the lack of accountability in relation to university governance across Australia.

Ms Bishop said the ANU had hired too many staff after COVID and it needed to stabilise its workforce at a sustainable level.

She said the inefficient duplication of functions across the seven academic colleges meant the decision centralising finance, budgeting, human resources and communications operations was unavoidable.

The Federal Government’s cap on international students had reduced that source of revenue and the shortfall had to be made up elsewhere.

Ms Bishop said Vice-Chancellor Professor Genevieve Bell had her full backing.

At the same time as announcing the restructure, the ANU shocked students and staff with a 177 per cent increase in parking fees for 2025 after comparing them with car parks within a 2 km radius of the campus.

An annual staff surface permit will cost $2839.70, up from $1025.39, while for a student it will be $1416.20, up from $512.69. For a parking station permit, staff will pay $3500.35, up from $3048.88, and students $2624.35, up from $2286.65.

It says they will still be 10 per cent less than in surrounding areas.

The University of Canberra has also embarked on a restructure to address a budget blowout, with at least 200 jobs on the line as part of $50 million cut to recurrnet spending.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Stephen Parker said the university was spending beyond its means.

“The university itself is responsible for this unsustainable position. We cannot expect any external assistance and must take urgent and significant measures to re-balance the institution. There is no point in blaming others,” he said.

At least 200 positions will go this year and in the first half of next year.

“Some will be found from positions that are or become vacant and contracts that are expiring, but redundancies seem inevitable,” Professor Parker said.