Senate Inquiry Highlights Deep-Rooted Governance Issues โat Australian Universities
CANBERRA – A Senate Education adn Employment Committee report is โexposing a crisis of governance within Australian universities,โ fueled by concerns over โฃundue influence from wealthy donors and a lackโข of protectionโข for whistleblowers. The โขinquiryโ follows recent โขcases of alleged corruption andโ suppressionโ of academic integrity,โค prompting calls for a truly self-reliantโฃ ombudsman โฃtoo oversee university operations.
The issues surfaced publicly again with the dismissal of University of Sydney neuropathologist โprofessor Manuel Graeber โafter heโค made โขa public interest disclosure, echoing โa decades-old case โat โฃtheโ University of Melbourne. In the 1990s,a student allegedly offered hundreds of thousands of dollars in consultancy contracts to lecturers,and a substantial donation negotiated by the โคDean,often just before examinations.
Dr.Kim Sawyer, a retired Associate Professorโค fromโค the University of Melbourne, recountsโ being labelled a whistleblower after raisingโข concerns about the โคoffersโ and initiating an inquiry.Despite aโข Vice-Chancellor acknowledging “the Dean made โฃa terrible mistakeโ and that the studentโฃ wasโฆ”, โSawyer says sheโฃ was not protected and wasโ subsequently removed fromโ her position asโ Associate Dean. an internal report had exonerated both the student and the staff โฃinvolved in the negotiations.
“Nothing seems to have changed,” Sawyer writes inโ a recent article published by Independent Australia.”A recent caseโฃ at the university ofโฃ Sydney echoes the โฃ1990sโฆ The case โฃshows the need for an ombudsman with the independence to regulate fairly, or else, there will be โขmore Professors Scott and Graeber. Theโ lossโฃ to Australia will be significant.”
These incidents are framed within a broader critique of โคthe Dawkins reforms ofโฃ the 1980s and 90s,โฃ intended to broaden access toโ higher โขeducation. Sawyer argues โฃthese reforms inadvertently created a โขsystem prioritizing fundraising over academic merit,โค describingโฃ it as a “C-grade system, โคwhere the only As are awarded to those who can raise the most money.”
The Senate Committee’s recommendations aim to address these systemic issues, but concerns remain that, like previousโ reports, theyโ may lack the force to enactโ meaningful change. Sawyer, whoโข scrutineered forโ John Dawkins โduring his initial electionโค to Federal Parliament in 1974, expresses hope the โขcommittee’s words will be heeded, warning that inaction will perpetuate a cycle of โคcompromised academic integrity and lossโ of expertise within the Australian university โคsystem.
