Union win! Parliamentary Inquiry into University governance


Thanks to the determination and passion of NTEU members, we’ve secured a huge win! Senator Tony Sheldon, chair of the Senate’s Education and Employment Committee, has backed our proposal for a parliamentary inquiry into university governance.  

This is no small victory.  

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. 

Member stories, voices, and persistence laid the foundation for this change. Last year, the 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. 

What is a parliamentary inquiry, and what is it for?

The main purpose of a parliamentary inquiry is to inquire into an important issue or topic and report back to the Parliament with its findings. By doing so inquiries can influence government in making better legislative and policy decisions. NTEU regularly engages with parliamentary inquiries on issues related to higher education and workplace rights to make sure staff voices are heard.

Benefits of an Inquiry

A key benefit of inquiries is that they bring public input into parliamentary and policy processes. This includes via public submissions (written documents providing evidence and opinion on the topic at hand) and by raising awareness of the issue under investigation.

Accountability

Inquiries have the power to compel witnesses to appear, and also to hand over relevant documents to help inform the public. All of these sources of evidence may inform the inquiries final report – which can include recommendation that the government take a particular course of action. By engaging with key inquiries members can help these recommendations reflect the lived experiences of workers in the sector.

Hearings

Parliamentary inquiries often hold hearings where they call on witnesses close to the issue at hand to explain the situation to the parliament, or to provide evidence or expert analysis to the parliament.

Terms of Reference

The specifics of what a particular inquiry is investigating is set out in its “terms of reference”. The terms of reference for this inquiry explicitly refer to university governance and management.

Make a submission

You can make your submission to the senate inquiry into the quality of governance at Australian higher education providers below. The form will add the required salutations for a senate inquiry to your submission. A submission can just be several sentences outlining your view/experience, or it can be more substantial.  

You can choose via the drop down below for your submission to be: published on the committee website with your details, published on the committee website anonymously, or not published on the committee website.

Submissions close 3 March.

What is a submission?

Parliamentary committees often seek public input when investigating various issues. If you want to share your perspective on a topic under review, you can contribute by submitting your experiences and ideas in writing—this process is known as making a submission.

Who can make a submission?

Anyone can make a submission to the inquiry and a submission can just be several sentences outlining your view/experience, or it can be more substantial.

What kind of submissions?

There are three ways to make a submission: published on the committee website with your details, published on the committee website anonymously, or not published on the committee website.

Parliamentary privilege

Once published, your submission will enjoy parliamentary privilege. You can find out more about parliamentary privilege here.

Resources

NTEU’s new ‘Ending Bad Governance – For Good’ report, informed by hundreds of newly contributed worker stories, 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.

Ending bad governance for good report
Download the report
Download the report
Download the report

Join the campaign to end bad governance – for good

The fight for fairer, better universities is far from over. Be part of the campaign for change. 

Let’s keep going—because together, we’re unstoppable. 

Become A Member Now

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