Statement from Vice-Chancellor to Senate Estimates

Tonight sees The Australian National University’s fourth appearance at Senate Estimates, and my third as Vice-Chancellor. I am deeply privileged to be the steward of our national university, and I am here representing our students, our staff and our 140,000 alumni all over the world.

I grew up in Australia, in a household that didn’t have a lot of money. I was raised to believe in the power of education, the importance of hard work and the idea of service.

My mother won a place at university when I was a little girl, and I came to understand very personally what a university education could mean in terms of creating opportunities and changing lives. I have also been fortunate enough to pursue a university education, and it helped change my life too.

My story is just one of many from across this country and here in this Parliament. Access to education empowers our young people, making possible a better and more prosperous future for them and our country.  

And I know this is why, in the 1940s, Prime Minister Chifley and his cabinet decided to create a national university. To ensure our nation would always be able to build a better future. The Act that established The Australian National University makes clear our obligations, first among them: advancing and transmitting knowledge by undertaking research and teaching of the highest quality, for Australia, Australians and those who come to us from overseas. And that is what we do.

It has been 112 days since our last appearance, and I wanted to update this Committee on how we have been fulfilling our obligations, to our students, our staff, our partners in research and to the Australian community.

We have graduated more than 4,000 students who will take up roles in government and industry, who will start their own businesses or work in family ones, or who might even continue further study, with us or elsewhere. Their education, and the skills they have learnt at our university, will contribute to Australia’s future and future prosperity.

And just this month, we have welcomed 4,000 new students, who will be undertaking degrees across campus in many areas, from focusing on the Asia Pacific region, to nuclear physics, computer science, philosophy or economics. Many of our students choose to complete a double degree, allowing them a multidisciplinary focus in their research and education, whilst providing the flexibility to work while they study.

Advancing and transmitting knowledge takes many forms.

Earlier this week, Catherine Livingstone, Chancellor at UTS, described universities as the knowledge infrastructure for our nation. I think she would agree the participation of ANU as the Australian Hub of the Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials is an excellent proof point. This is a $240 million commitment by Rio Tinto to support research into sustainable sourcing and use of minerals. Our first contribution will focus around finding ways to reduce our demand for copper and extract it from the ground in the most sustainable way possible.

Drawing from my own experience, I know creating space on campus for all people means finding ways to remove barriers. And this takes many forms.

In the last month, we have opened new childcare facilities to replace ageing ones. This provides more than 200 places for children of our staff and students. It is critical to working families to have reliable, high-quality and affordable childcare right here on campus so they can participate fully.

Like all complex organisations, we are experiencing the very-real challenges of being an employer in the 21st century. ANU has been operating outside of healthy financial tolerance, and the university in its current state cannot be the university Prime Minister Chifley had envisioned.

Since the pandemic, we have accumulated an underlying operating deficit of nearly $600 million. This is the time for us to make difficult and important choices to ensure our long-term financial sustainability,  to return the University to a stable footing.

We have introduced a range of new operational controls that have given us a better line of sight over our financial performance. These are not always popular, but they are essential and I want to thank our community for coming on this journey. Just this week, we also opened a Voluntary Separation Scheme, and I also thank our Union for their partnership to make this available to our staff.  

But like many in our sector, finances are not our only challenge. Over the last 15 months, the world has experienced upheaval and conflict, and our campus has not been unaffected.

We are very clear about who we are and what we stand for. There is no place for racism, discrimination or vilification of any kind at ANU. There is no place for antisemitism, or Islamophobia at ANU. I, my executive team, and our community abhor and reject these behaviours totally.

I know there has been much interest in our sector and how we are responding to these important issues, and we know there is more work to be done. We are committed to doing this, in collaboration with our students and staff, and in partnership with the government and the Special Envoys.

This means continuing difficult but respectful conversations, balancing freedom of speech and academic freedom, and also spending time examining our policies and procedures and whether they remain in line with community expectations and Australian law.

Tonight, we are here to continue the conversation about the national university and our commitment and service to Australia and we look forward to answering your questions.