A student-first approach and action on systemic issues could be on the menu of Australia’s hamstrung university watchdog, with concerns about $1 million pay packets and job cuts in the sector.
A review into the tertiary education regulator’s kit bag – whose limited powers have not changed in 15 years – has been foreshadowed by Federal Education Minister Jason Clare.
Dozens of academics demonstrated outside a higher education summit in Sydney on Tuesday over fears for 1500 jobs at six institutions and several major restructures.
The regulator could do little more than publish statements of expectation, apply to courts for fines, impose conditions on a university’s registration or terminate a university’s registration, Mr Clare said on Tuesday.
“TEQSA has a sledgehammer and a feather and not much in between,” he said of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency.
It needed better tools to act on governance and leadership issues and matters of public interest, the minister said.
Mr Clare also took aim at the ballooning salaries of Australian vice-chancellors who are among the highest paid in the world.
Their average salary was more than $1 million in 2024.
“Can I just encourage everyone again, don’t be defensive about this,” he told leaders at Tuesday’s summit.
Salary comparisons were misleading because of scale and funding models, Universities Australia chief executive Luke Sheehy said.
He argued chronic government underfunding was contributing to the financial crunch universities faced.
“A decade of successive and consistent changes to policy and funding have stripped around $1 billion each year from teaching, driven investment in research to record lows and ended dedicated funding for infrastructure,” he told AAP.
“Universities are being asked to do more with less, at a time when demand for teaching, skills and research has never been higher.”
University of Technology Sydney on Thursday stopped enrolments for 120 courses for 2026 as the home of 50,000 students tried to plug a $100m financial hole.
The watchdog review coincides with a NSW parliamentary inquiry into university governance.
Former academic turned Labor MP Sarah Kaine will chair the inquiry and said it was focused on building a stronger, fairer university system.
“Universities are not just institutions of learning – they are public assets, civic anchors and engines of social progress,” Dr Kaine said on Tuesday.
Six of NSW’s 10 public universities have announced reviews into courses and staffing, putting an estimated 1500 jobs on the line, the National Tertiary Education Union said.
It attacked the higher education summit and key sponsor Nous, a global consulting firm linked to university restructures.
“There’s a clear picture of a sector in crisis due to corporate greed and poor leadership,” the union said.
“While staff are losing jobs and students are losing courses, senior executives and consultants are meeting inside the summit to discuss the sector’s future without staff or student voices at the table.”
Nous admitted the higher education sector faced challenges.
“That’s why we are called upon to provide insights and measures that enable universities to make long-term, evidence-based decisions,” a spokesperson said.
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