Senate Launches Inquiry into Proposed Cap on Vice-Chancellor Salaries

By Angela Paulson

The Senate Legislation Committee on Education and Employment has begun an inquiry into the remuneration of vice-chancellors at Australian universities, amid ongoing controversy over executive salaries and staff redundancies at ANU. 

The inquiry will be conducted into the Tertiary Education Legislation Amendment (There For Education, Not Profit) Bill 2025 introduced by Senator Jacqui Lambie. The bill would introduce amendments to the Australian National University Act and TEQSAA 2011, for a proposed salary cap for vice-chancellors at $430,000 per annum.

When introducing the bill, Senator Lambie criticised a “culture of obscene entitlement” among university executives, citing that “universities have become corporations and not learning institutions”.

“More than a dozen vice chancellors are on million-dollar packages… other vice-chancellors are pulling in between 800 and 950 thousand bucks a year… This salary is much more than the Prime Minister’s, the Deputy Prime Minister’s or the Federal Treasurer,” Lambie told the Senate.

“To add insult to injury, these huge salaries are being paid at the top of an industry that’s engaged in massive wage theft from poorly paid staff who actually teach students.”

ANU Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell faced backlash last year for retaining a part-time paid role at Intel until November 2024, whilst also earning a $1.1 million salary as vice-chancellor within that period. 

Dr Lachlan Clohesy, ACT Division Secretary of National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) told Observer that “the proposed bill identifies a core issue at Australian universities… that vice-chancellor salaries are completely out of step with community expectations.”

On October 15 2024, Bell announced that she would reduce her salary by 10 per cent from $1.1 million to $1.0 million, effective immediately. Within the announcement, she also asked staff to forgo a proposed pay rise to help the University to achieve financial stability. 

Following this, the University has implemented a series of redundancies in operational costs, jobs, salaries and colleges.

When contacted by Observer, an ANU spokesperson stated the “vice-chancellor’s salary is what was offered by ANU Council and reflects guidance the Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor sought from the Commonwealth Remuneration Tribunal. [The salary is] appropriate for the unique requirements of ANU as the national university.”

“The Council had not asked the VC to reduce her salary. Professor Bell is making a personal sacrifice and leading by example as we implement the changes necessary to return ANU to financial sustainability by 2026.”

The NTEU has criticised ANU financial management, arguing that high executive salaries are being prioritised over staff and student welfare. 

“The recent experience of the Australian National University clearly busts…the myth that we need to pay more than a million dollars to get top quality university leaders. ANU’s experiences show that despite paying top dollar, we’re not getting good leadership,” Dr Clohesy told Observer. 

However, the NTEU has stated that while it acknowledges concerns over vice-chancellor salaries, it does not support the bill. 

Dr. Clohesy indicated that the legislation fails to “address other concerns including university managerialism and poor university governance”, citing that “bloated vice-chancellor salaries are a symptom of the corporatisation of Australian universities”.

“[The] NTEU prefers to address the root causes of problems in Australian universities. That’s why we’re supporting the forthcoming Parliamentary Inquiry into University Governance, which the NTEU members played an important part in winning.”

The Inquiry into University Governance is also conducted by the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee, and will investigate the “quality of governance at Australian higher education providers”. 

Additionally, the NTEU stated that it does not support Senator Lambie’s assertion that a review into the higher education sector is unnecessary, emphasising that a comprehensive review is essential to addressing systemic issues within the sector. The Union has further mobilised a vote of no-confidence against University leadership, which began on 26 February and will end on 26 March. 

The Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee is accepting submissions to the inquiry until 1 April 2025 and is expected to table a final report to the Senate by 1 August 2025.

Observer will be following the inquiry for further updates. 

Graphics by James Neal 

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