‘Appallingly unethical’: why Australian universities are at breaking point

An anonymous academic says universities around Australia have ‘lost their sense of direction’. Illustration: Guardian Design

Universities are in crisis and the way teaching staff are being treated is “appallingly unethical”, a senior academic from a leading university has told Guardian Australia.

The academic, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing their job, said the once hallowed institutions have become like supermarkets: they have fired so many staff that students are now like customers at the self-checkout counters, “checking their own goods out”, responsible for their own education.