Hundreds of university executives are raking in more money than state premiers, a new report reveals, pointing to a “governance crisis” threatening the sector.
The report, released by the National Tertiary Education Union on Thursday and informed by hundreds of worker stories, found 306 senior executives were earning more than the premiers of their university’s state, at an average of half a dozen for each institution.
The high salaries appeared to have been “plucked from thin air”, the NTEU report contended, with little correlation between executive pay and international ranking or financial performance.
Dr Alison Barnes, the NTEU national president, said the report reflected a “deep governance crisis” threatening universities and pointed to the need for an urgent federal parliamentary inquiry.
“There are more than 300 senior university executives getting paid more than their state premier,” she said. “The average vice-chancellor gets paid almost double what the prime minister takes home.
“University councils stacked with corporate appointees have failed to justify these salaries, undermining the credibility of our institutions.”
Of 545 positions on university governing bodies, just 137 were elected by staff, students and graduates, the report found, while 143 were corporate executives or consultants from for-profit organisations.
At Monash University, 16 executives were taking in more than Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan, despite reporting a net deficit of $9m in 2023. The university is poised to face court next month over a wage theft dispute.
A spokesperson for Monash said it was committed to paying staff correctly and resolve the longstanding NTEU federal court claim by mediation: “If this is not possible then Monash University will be defending the action in the Federal Court.”
They said Monash was one of the largest universities in Australia and disputed they had the highest number of staff remunerated more than the premier of Victoria, contending that “unlike a number of other universities”, its definition of “executive officer” extended beyond the immediate executive group to roles across the university, including deans.
The University of Melbourne and Western Sydney University had 15 executives earning more than their premiers, according to the report.
A spokesperson for the University of Melbourne said it recently negotiated enterprise agreement salary increases that were among the “highest paying” in the sector to support staff who were essential to creating a positive student experience.
“The university engages consultancies to provide external expertise to better inform and guide our processes and operations,” they said, adding that this accounted for 1% of total expenses in 2023.
“In response to the federal government’s proposal to introduce an international student cap, the university introduced a number of common-sense measures, such as a reduction in discretionary spending and a pause on non-essential staff recruitment to vacant roles or the creation of new roles.”
Universities have faced criticism over the high remuneration of vice-chancellors, averaging $1m in 2023 compared with the prime minister’s wage of $587,000.
The report echoed comments from the Fair Work Ombudsman, which has identified universities as a “regulatory priority”, finding “entrenched non-compliance” in the higher education sector and “trends of poor governance and management oversight”.
There is no university-specific regulation regarding conflicts of interest and paid external appointments of senior executives, while consultants’ reports are often “commercial in confidence”.
The University of Wollongong’s interim vice-chancellor John Dewar is a partner at the advisory and investment firm KordaMentha – which was hired separately to his appointment to conduct two independent reviews of the institution’s structure.
In a letter to council members delivered last month, theNTEU’s Wollongong branch warned Dewar’s appointment damaged the “integrity, credibility and even validity” of managerial decision-making.
A University of Wollongong spokesperson said Dewar had taken unpaid leave from KordaMentha for the duration of his time as vice-chancellor and made a declaration outlining his ongoing role, in line with the university’s conflict-of-interest policy.
“A management plan was agreed and has been adhered to. Professor Dewar was not involved in the tender process … the program is driven by and reports to UoW council.”
In another instance, a university spent more than $75,000 on an “installation” for a chancellor, the report found, while at a third institution, fountains made from Italian granite were built at a new building – costing hundreds of thousands – at the same time as layoffs and cuts to research.
Asked about allegations in the report of a “corporatised culture” leading to wage theft and job cuts, the Universities Australia chief executive Luke Sheehy said the sector needed both major parties to stop “playing politics” and release a plan to properly support teaching and research.
“Reduced funding for teaching under the job-ready graduates package and in research, the long tail of the pandemic and the impact of visa processing changes has left the sector in a very difficult and uncertain financial environment,” he said.
