Federation University staff are striking this week for better pay and conditions, amid the institution reporting a loss of more than $40 million.
Federation University's Annual Report for 2022 was tabled in Victoria's state parliament on Tuesday, revealing a net operating deficit of $41.2 million.
Its losses are forecast to continue into 2023 and 2024.
The university also reported a $70 million drop in valuations of its investment holdings.
A Federation University spokesperson said the figures were a result of factors that were affecting universities Australia-wide.
"Federation University Australia, like the university sector more broadly, has faced significant financial challenges due to the impacts of the pandemic, volatility in the global economic markets, a more restrictive approach to international student visas and inflation," the spokesperson said.
Income from international students was 60 per cent higher than this year's target, but was still 22 per cent lower than pre-pandemic levels.
"It should also be noted that domestic student numbers are also in decline which further affects enrolment numbers," the spokesperson said.
In 2021, permanent staff were offered voluntary redundancies to reduce costs amid a lack of revenue from international students.
The university said despite the deficit, staff levels remained stable over the past year and the teacher-to-student ratio was one of the best in the country at 1 to 20.
"Our road map to surplus is ambitious but achievable if we stay the course on our strategy for growth and are not squeezed by unreasonable demands for ongoing operating expenditure," the spokesperson said.
Staff request just over 3 per cent pay rise
Dozens of Federation University lecturers, librarians, support staff and faculty at the Mount Helen campus in Ballarat took strike action on Wednesday.
The decision to move to protected industrial action was made earlier this week, and classes were cancelled for the day.
University staff are negotiating for better pay and working conditions and have been offered a pay increase of 2.2 per cent per annum.
Staff are also seeking better conditions, including the ability to work from home where possible, and better consultation with faculty.
Nursing lecturer Jane Boag spoke to an impassioned crowd, saying the pay offer was not good enough.
"Federation University are not the executives… Federation University is us – it's staff, and it's students," Ms Boag said.
"Our working condition is the students' learning conditions.
"Our increased workload, the model of working allocations that is unfair and not realistic … [it] has to be changed."
The NTEU's Federation University branch president and lecturer, Mathew Abbott, said staff were also seeking better job security.
"We've made a very reasonable counter-proposal, which I think is actually quite low, our proposal is just over 3 per cent a year," Mr Abbott said.
The monthly Consumer Price Index indicator was 6.8 per cent for the year to February 2023, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics.
"I spoke to a member … who said he felt like [he did] a few years ago, when he was an undergraduate student," he said.
"He's having to make difficult decisions about what he eats … that's totally inappropriate for someone in an ongoing role."
Mr Abbott said it was the university's "mismanagement" that had led to a decline in student numbers, and now staff were being punished with a low ball offer.
"We think their constant cuts, their changing processes, their obsession with restructuring, has become quite destructive and irrational," Mr Abbott said.
"We're not saying it shouldn't ever be changed, we're saying change should be well-justified with evidence."
Staff at the Gippsland campus are also expected to strike on Thursday.
A Federation University spokesperson said the institution "like other universities" was facing "significant financial challenges due to the impacts of the pandemic" and would continue negotiations to reach a fair outcome for all parties.
"We believe the offer made to the unions achieves the right balance between providing our staff with a fair wage outcome and the university's strategic objective to be strong and sustainable," the spokesperson said.
