Our ANU
Staff campaigning against cuts and poor governance at the Australian National University.
- Reposted by Our ANUThe Expert Council on University Governance has delivered its recommendations – the depth of the crisis in our universities is clear. Thank you to every member who attended meetings, presented evidence, and stood up for better universities. Read the report 👉 betterunis.nteu.au/inquiry/
- Reposted by Our ANUMAJOR UNION WIN 🥳 The federal government will implement a new set of university governance principles to strengthen accountability, transparency and public trust following recommendations from the Expert Council on University Governance. Read more: nteu.info/majorwin @alisonbarnes.bsky.social
- Senator @mehreenfaruqi.bsky.social “accused Mr Churchill of lying to … the Senate when he’d … said underlying UniForm data and methodology had been released to ANU staff … He said ANU had made an explainer … as the university didn’t have access to the raw data.” region.com.au/anus-financi...
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- “The challenge for Australia’s top universities … is to align perceived prestige with academic integrity. That should mean linking executive incentives not to ranking positions alone but to measures like … equitable pay, staff retention and audit transparency.” www.crikey.com.au/2025/10/10/a...
- Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi said 2,000 ANU staff and students had signed a petition calling for the termination of Bishop’s appointment. “Do their views not matter to you? Are you only interested in the cabal of executives who back you?” www.timeshighereducation.com/news/anu-cha...
- Bishop repeatedly claimed she had the “full support” of the council and the university’s deans, and that it was her responsibility to ensure that when her term finished at the end of 2026 “we have stability in place”. www.afr.com/politics/fed...
- “Labor senator Tony Sheldon hammered the former foreign minister [Chancellor Julie Bishop] for racking up $150,000 in travel expenses as well as her performance overseeing the university for more than five years.” citynews.com.au/2025/absolut...
- Reposted by Our ANU‘Absolute shemozzle’ citynews.com.au/2025/absolut...
- “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
- “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...
- Reposted by Our ANU"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
- “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...
- 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
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- Reposted by Our ANUCan you help us boost this signal? UTS colleagues are doing a governance project to talk back to the consultant led 'reform' of their university. Please repost!! UTS people please have your say! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
- 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...
- “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...
- “Herein lies the question: if not to sustain ANU’s once diverse range of courses and degrees, and if not to retain the knowledge and skills of its academics, then what is that $232.4 million revenue for?” www.woroni.com.au/news/austral...
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- Important new independent analysis from David Richardson and @richarddenniss.bsky.social at @australiainstitute.org.au They argue that ANU’s books “appear designed to present a ‘crisis’ that is contradicted by the audited financial statements.” australiainstitute.org.au/report/cooki...
- “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...
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- “Professorships have been awarded to academics with no PhD, little research, and no record of supervising postgraduates. Professor Paul Matin, of the Australian Association of University Professors, criticises this trend...” www.woroni.com.au/news/inside-...
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- “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...
- “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...
- “[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...
- Reposted by Our ANUMuch 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.
- 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...
- ““It really never should have come to this … consult with workers before you do [things]. “[The ANU needs] to have more awareness of the human cost of the executive’s prerogative.” Ian Prager region.com.au/federal-work...
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- Reposted by Our ANUThe 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
- “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...
- Reposted by Our ANUUniversity governance dysfunction perfectly highlighted. Public uni councils are fed carefully curated information from their chancellors and vice chancellors; given talking points and manipulated realities. Council members don’t know what they don’t know. www.theage.com.au/national/uni...
- “The ANU Chancellor is putting a lot of emphasis on workplace safety and due process for her own benefit, but very little as regards to Dr Allen and other staff who have raised concerns.” Senator @davidpocock.bsky.social spokesperson region.com.au/anu-chancell...
- An unhappy reminder that there remains much more that must be done to fix governance and bullying, and to make ANU a positive environment in which to work and study.
- ANU chancellor Julie Bishop 'categorically' denies allegations of bullying in formal response to Senate inquiry www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09... #IbelieveLiz @drdemography.com @ouranu.bsky.social @nteuact.bsky.social
- Reposted by Our ANUANU interim vice chancellor today announced no more forced redundancies under the Renew ANU program. Cuts are ongoing, but forced redundancies are off the table. It’s been a hard slog. Harms are ongoing. There’s still more work to do. I’m so proud of my colleagues, ANU community.
- "Bishop, the university’s chancellor, and members of the council have faced pressure over their own roles in ANU’s financial management and associated transparency and governance concerns. NTEU… the academic community and some politicians … have repeatedly called Bishop’s leadership into question.”
- Reposted by Our ANUBREAKING: #ANU has announced that there will be no forced redundancies. ✊ Union members fought tirelessly to save these jobs, and every university staff member facing job cuts can take heart from what we have achieved. Together, we have changed what is possible. nteu.au/join@nteunion.bsky.social
- Reposted by Our ANU✊UNION WIN✊ The ANU has announced that there will be no forced redundancies. @nteuact.bsky.social members have fought tirelessly to save these jobs, showing every university staff member facing job cuts that change is possible. 📰Read here: www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
- There remains uncertainty about the future of some divisions, schools and disciplines, and the work to reform governance must go on. But this is a huge win for the ANU community. Well done to everyone who has been standing up for the future of our university! www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
- The Provisional Improvement Notice (PIN) called on CASS dean Prof Bronwyn Parry to implement “urgent suicide prevention measures” and investigate allegations that staff were being “coerced and bullied into applying for voluntary redundancies”. region.com.au/jimmy-barnes...
- The report detailed complaints by staff of aggression, bullying and harassment. The order … advised workers affected by the restructure process, which has been named Renew ANU, to “remove themselves from the hazardous work environment”. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
- Reposted by Our ANUPrivate consultants are taking control of how public universities are evaluated and run. My submission to the Senate university governance inquiry raises concerns about the impact of Nous Group and their dodgy UniForum data on our universities. www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStor... A thread
- Reposted by Our ANUThe @nteunion.bsky.social member who is the HSR involved in this doesn't want the spotlight, but he has been heroic on this issue. He knows who he is, and his colleagues know who he is, so I won't name him here - but congratulations on standing up for your colleagues. ✊
- Reposted by Our ANUUnsafe conditions, imminent risk www.canberratimes.com.au/story/906834...
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- Reposted by Our ANUBREAKING | ANU staff in the College of Arts and Social Sciences have received a Cease Work Order due to dangerous working conditions. Under the WHS Act staff will be paid while this order is in place. The order seeks to protect lives and wellbeing.
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- “I was a member of ANU staff for over 30 years and enjoyed Anthony Low's style; he left management to managers. The first time I felt bullied was in the Chubb/Cram era ...” Prof. Adrian Gibbs www.canberratimes.com.au/story/906630...
- Reposted by Our ANURenew ANU is a zombie - a corpse shuffling along with no beating heart - and it should be buried. 🧟♂️ More than 100 #ANU staff still face involuntary job losses. @nteunion.bsky.social says the best start for the Interim VC would be burying this zombie for good.
- ABC describe the former VC as the “first” to lose their job because of the ANU governance crisis. There seems to be a growing consensus that she should not be the last. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
- Reposted by Our ANUWhen non-profit organisations are managed as if they were for-profit firms, problems emerge. www.afr.com/work-and-car...
- Reposted by Our ANU“When meritocrats consult, we must deliberate. Where meritocrats cherish distance, we need to seek proximity. If meritocrats show contempt, we ought to foster dignity—talk and listen respectfully, observe and act deliberately.” A thought-provoking piece by my colleague, Nick Cheesman. #auspol #uni
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- Reposted by Our ANUANU ‘…governance arrangements are broken and they need to be fixed’ - Will Burfoot, ANU student president and Council member. ANU’s problems go well beyond an individual person. Well done to Will for showing enormous leadership and bravery. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
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- “This won’t be the end of the turmoil at ANU. A Senate inquiry continues, and a new vice-chancellor must be found. For now, Chancellor Bishop holds on at ANU, but how long she can retain her position remains open to question.” @beneltham.bsky.social www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/12/g...
- “dialogue is the antithesis of either top-down or bureaucratic decision-making. It acknowledges the place of risk in the interactions between participants, as they make themselves vulnerable by engaging with a wide range of people...” ANU Governance Project www.canberratimes.com.au/story/906463...
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- A grassroots group of academics, Our ANU, said “only genuine accountability” would allow the institution to reset and rebuild. “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,” they said.
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- This is absolutely spot on! A huge thank you to you Senator Faruqi for your ongoing advocacy and support for the change we need at ANU. Let’s make the most of this opportunity.
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- A grassroots group of academics campaigning against the staff cuts said ... “The issues at the heart of this crisis go beyond the vice chancellor. This has been years in the making, the product of deep governance failures that have damaged the university’s finances, reputation, and community trust.
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- “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...
- Our ANU will be posting a statement shortly… www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...
- "On Wednesday, a group of academics met with chancellor Julie Bishop to deliver the ANU Governance Project report, which found that 96 per cent of the 700 respondents believed the university’s governance was not fit for purpose and should be reformed..." www.afr.com/work-and-car...
- The ANU Governance Project Working Group invites the ANU community and stakeholders to offer feedback on the draft report over the next 48 hours (by midnight on Thursday, 11 September). anugovernance-davidpocock.nationbuilder.com/statement_re...
- Speaking to Guardian Australia, Pocock said he had spoken with a “huge number of people” at the ANU, including deans, and it had become “very clear” that there was “no faith” in Bell or Bishop’s leadership and council needed to play a “far more active role”. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
- "We think that the ANU community best knows how existing decisions have impacted them, and what principles and frameworks might be necessary to improve future governance outcomes," the Governance Project said. www.canberratimes.com.au/story/906187...
- "It is the case I have had to say at this university, 'The deans work for me, not the other way around," Professor Bell told ABC's Stateline in March. … I am the one that makes the decisions here — but I like to make them as collectively as we can." www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
- Reposted by Our ANUI’m devastated to learn - via media - that all members of the Council-appointed investigation committee into Senate evidence have met with the Chancellor. Even before I’ve met with them, or been provided the terms of reference. Due process, this is not. www.afr.com/work-and-car...
- Reposted by Our ANUI’m calling again for the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor to all step aside while the evidence provided in the Senate inquiry is examined. Fair and due process cannot be achieved under these circumstances.
- I’m devastated to learn - via media - that all members of the Council-appointed investigation committee into Senate evidence have met with the Chancellor. Even before I’ve met with them, or been provided the terms of reference. Due process, this is not. www.afr.com/work-and-car...
- Reposted by Our ANUtinyurl.com/bv9796hm "...it emerged 5 of the 6 college deans had delivered an ultimatum to the council that either Bell went, or they would, a person who has seen the letter but asked not to be identified told The AFR" @ouranu.bsky.social @drdemography.com @nteuact.bsky.social
- Reposted by Our ANULeadership must ‘come clean’ on speculated VC ousting, for the sake of the University community’s psychosocial safety. Shocking staff and students have had no official communications. Media is the only source of information atm. Incredibly bad governance. region.com.au/pressure-mou...
- “Replacing the ANU vice chancellor is a necessary first step… But it is not a sufficient step… If governance and policy direction doesn’t change, it won’t matter who sits in the vice chancellor’s chair – the outcomes for staff, students and the public will be the same.” www.afr.com/work-and-car...
- “Region understands that if Ms Bell has been asked to leave, and if she has refused to do so, the only way ANU could now persuade her to go is through an out-of-session council meeting. These are rarely publicly announced.” region.com.au/pressure-mou...
- “We hope that the unprecedented media, political and public attention to the many cruelties, failures, illogicalities and injustices of “Renew ANU” can serve as an impetus for much-needed sector-wide change.” CASS People’s Townhall Organisers www.woroni.com.au/news/the-peo...
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- “The ANU has denied news reports that Professor Bell was actively negotiating her departure… However, it is understood that a majority of academic deans have written to the university's council to express their loss of confidence in Professor Bell.” www.canberratimes.com.au/story/905914...
- Reposted by Our ANU"Bishop has since led crisis talks over the university’s leadership, including delivering what one source described as a “go or get pushed” ultimatum to Bell." 🤞 www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/educati... Full text is on ANU subreddit @ouranu.bsky.social @drdemography.com @nteuact.bsky.social
- “Professor Bell inherited a culture of bullying in senior management levels at the ANU,” says Thornton. “She didn’t create the culture but she also hasn’t done anything to improve it. In fact, the bullies continue to prosper under her leadership.” www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/educati...
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- Reposted by Our ANUGreat question! Thank you, Senator.
