March 3, 2025
Committee Secretary, Senate Standing Committee on Education and Employment
The Group of Eight (Go8) consents to the publication of this submission and has no wish for any of it to be treated as confidential.
Every single day, more than 55,000 staff across our universities educate our 500,000 plus students here and abroad, undertake research which is critical to our national wellbeing and provide support to ‘keep the lights on’ – be they security staff, cleaners, administrative staff or a host of other professional roles.
The Go8, as Australia’s leading, research-intensive universities, conduct around 70 per cent of the university-based research in Australia, and have extensive industry connections, both here and overseas. This means that we are large and complex organisations which operate in different and sometimes difficult political, economic and global environments.
The Go8 absolutely supports the need for effective governance, especially given the size and complexity of our operations. To that end, we support processes to ensure appropriate checks and balances in a context of transparency and accountability. Part of this is also ensuring that those measures remain effective, and do not lead to over-regulation.
| Go8 therefore makes the following recommendations: Recommendation 1: that the Committee clarify the role of the inquiry in the context of the establishment of the Expert Council on University Governance. Recommendation 2: that the Committee focus on identifying opportunities that will deliver tangible and substantial improvements in the sector, such as structural distortions currently inhibiting university capacity to deliver for Australia. Recommendation 3: that the Committee engage the University Chancellors Committee in its considerations of university governance. |
Recommendation 1: that the Committee clarify the role of the inquiry in the context of the establishment of the Expert Council on University Governance.
The Go8 notes that the Senate Standing Committee inquiry, established on the 29 January 2025, followed the announcement by the Minster for Education, the Hon Jason Clare MP, of the establishment of an Expert Council on University Governance in October 2024, with membership announced on the 23 January 2025. This was done in accordance with Priority Action 5 of the Universities Accord, which was to “engage with state and territory governments and universities to improve university governance”.[1]
The Minister noted that the Council will “provide expert and technical governance advice to Education Ministers about how to improve university governance and performance”.[2] The Council will include representatives from the University Chancellors Council (UCC), the Law Council of Australia, the Governance Institute of Australia, the Australian Indigenous Governance Institute, and have representation from the National Tertiary Education Union and National Union of Students, among others.
The Go8 therefore seeks clarity as to how the Senate inquiry is intended to work in conjunction with the Council, and how the Council will be engaged in the consideration of any recommendations or outcomes. While it is essential that good governance practices are established and maintained, it is essential that these practices are coherent, consistent and do not lead to activity that is unnecessary or potentially counterproductive.
Recommendation 2: that the Committee focus on identifying opportunities that will deliver tangible and substantial improvements in the sector, such as structural distortions currently inhibiting university capacity to deliver for Australia.
The Go8 acknowledges that periodic review of governance structures is part of good governance. Governance should never be a “set and forget”. We recommend however that such reviews should focus on opportunities for tangible improvements and addressing issues currently impeding universities from being as effective as we could be, such as:
- Reviewing current policies and settings so they can support sector growth while addressing the very real and ongoing structural issues represented in our distorted funding model. To be clear, the Go8 is not asking for more money; rather we are highlighting the opportunity for a governance review to focus on how the current model could be improved to enable better use of current resources.
- Cutting unnecessary and burdensome red tape that directs resources and attention away from reforms that could deliver tangible and substantial improvements to enable universities to better deliver for students, staff and communities.
- Addressing the complexity of university governance under eight Australian jurisdictions. Universities in Australia are founded by Acts of Parliament, mainly at State/Territory level with the Australian National University founded Federally. As such, they are subject to a range of legal and regulatory instruments spanning multiple areas of endeavour, some of which apply at the national level and some of which are specific to each state and territory. A non-exhaustive list of those at the federal level are provided in Attachment A.
Recommendation 3: That the Committee engage the UCC in its considerations of university governance, as the key body that provides oversight in the sector.
Australian universities are led by a governing board (or senate or council), headed by a Chancellor, which provides oversight of governance matters. The University Chancellors Council (UCC), comprised of the Chancellors of all universities established under their own Act of Parliament, provides a forum for communication and discussion on key areas of governance within the university sector. The UCC meets up to six times a year.
The UCC oversees a range of processes and tools that promote greater transparency. These include access to Codes to assist in the delivery of best practice for governance, including A Code of Governance Principles and Practice for Australia’s Public Universities; Voluntary Vice Chancellor and Senior Staff Remuneration Code; Model Code for the Protection of Freedom of Speech.[3] This helps to provide consistency and coherence across the sector.
[1] https://www.education.gov.au/australian-universities-accord/resources/accord-interim-report
[2] https://ministers.education.gov.au/clare/strengthening-university-governance