For years, we have been relentless in our fight to fix the broken governance model that has allowed almost $265 million in wages to be stolen from 150,000 staff—while vice-chancellors rake in more than $1 million each year on average.
Governance reform isn’t optional. It’s essential.
Read the new report based on a survey of elected staff representatives on university senates and councils. The report paints a damning picture of secretive, dysfunctional, and sometimes outright toxic governing bodies. We urgently need university governing bodies that are not dominated by consultants and corporate interests.
Thanks to the determination and passion of NTEU members, we’ve secured a huge win! Member stories, voices, and persistence laid the foundation for this change. NTEU’s Ending Bad Governance – For Good report shone a spotlight on these injustices, igniting media attention nationwide and putting staff voices at the forefront. And now the government is taking action.
Have recent U.S. higher education policies affected you?
The Trump administration’s changes to research funding, Title IX regulations, DEI initiatives, and institutional policies are having far-reaching effects on researchers in universities worldwide.
National President Alison Barnes and ACT Division Secretary Lachlan Clohesy at Parliament to help ensure the Federal Government does not allow any job losses as a result of the changes to international education.
Read the new report based on a survey of elected staff representatives on university senates and councils. The report paints a damning picture of secretive, dysfunctional, and sometimes outright toxic governing bodies.
Informed by hundreds of newly contributed worker stories the Ending Bad Governance report uncovers a myriad of governance failures in our public institutions, and is intended to help inform discussion about potential reforms that will help return universities to serving the public good.
Thanks to brave union members speaking out about stolen wages, our union has been able to win millions of dollars in backpay. We need real change in our universities and that starts with an end to bad governance.
New evidence collected by the NTEU shows that the boards that oversee the operations of Australia’s public universities have become stacked with unelected members brought in from big business.
NTEU National President Dr Alison Barnes opening statements at the first hearing of the Senate Inquiry into university governance – followed by three union members sharing their experiences of bad university governance.
National President Alison Barnes and ACT Division Secretary Lachlan Clohesy at Parliament to help ensure the Federal Government does not allow any job losses as a result of the changes to international education.
We held an online forum on 2 August 2023 on the Universities Accord Interim Report and a recent Australia Institute on the higher education sector. Hosted by Dr Alison Barnes, NTEU National President, and featuring Dr Jim Stanford (Centre For Future Work) and Dr Terri MacDonald and Kieran McCarron (NTEU). Download the Forum Presentations (PDF)
On February 28, 2024, NTEU held a briefing in response to the release of the Universities Accord Review Final Report. The meeting discussed the implications of the report for the sector. Download the Presentation (PDF)
The National Tertiary Education Union will fight to ensure any changes stemming from the Universities Accord make higher education sustainable for staff and students.
