Return to Sender: ANU Staff Open Letter Strikes an Open Wound

By Sarah McCrea

On 21 March 2025, an Open Letter signed by 434 ANU staff was sent to executives and the university’s Organisational Change contact. It called for “transparency” from executives regarding the new Change Management Proposals (CMP) at the local (departmental) and university-wide levels. 

The Change Management Proposals are part of ANU’s ‘Renew ANU’ plan to reduce the university’s budget deficit and “strengthen the University’s long-term sustainability.” Staff were invited to take part in consultation processes, with the feedback submission deadline being 21 March 2025, the day the open letter was published. 

The letter requested the release of financial information that had informed recent proposals, a halt on local CMPs, and for the consultation period on both local and university-wide CMPs to be extended to at least 21 April. 

It asked ANU to reveal “the exact number of planned redundancies by college and work units,” and “how the Executive determined allocated budgets across colleges and work units in 2024 and 2025.” 

Raising concerns about the university’s reputation and future, it alleged the “cuts are being carried out on the basis of questionable financial data and pose a serious institutional risk.”

The letter claims the restructuring process “lacks transparency, collegiality, and the substantive data required for meaningful consultation.”

It contended that staff were being consulted on changes that were “already underway in our local work units, but not being disclosed in the consultation documents.”

In response to the Open Letter’s claim that the university achieved cash surpluses in 2022 and 2023, ANU’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Michael Lonergan told The Canberra Times, “I don’t know where it’s coming from.”

In a second statement from the CFO, he responded that “the detail [on ANU’s CMPs] at a college level is transparent.” He added the deans were “walked through the methodology” and could do “a level of sharing with their directors.”

The letter also requested financial information not currently available, including statements from ANU’s 2024 Annual Report. 

On 4 April, a university spokesperson told Observer that ANU “is required to submit the 2024 Annual Report to the Commonwealth by 15 April,” which “must then be tabled in the House of Representatives and the Senate.”

They noted that with the House currently dissolved due to the federal election, the 2024 Annual Report may not be tabled during this time. As the Annual Report must be approved by the Senate before being released on the ANU website, this may delay the release of information requested by the open letter. 

The ANU spokesperson added that “the $200m operational deficit forecast was built using a set of assumptions…[n]ow that the 2024 year is complete, we have actual numbers.”

“Our goal hasn’t changed. Rather, we’ve made progress towards our goal of having our expenses equal our revenue by 2026.”

In a statement released later on 4 April, ANU publicly responded to the open letter.

It stated the intention of the response was to “clarify what are considered to be misunderstandings and address statements that are factually incorrect.”

ANU also denied the request for an extension of the consultation period for the CMPs. It stated the consultation period was in line with the university’s Enterprise Agreement and therefore the consultation period would not be extended, noting “all staff have been afforded the opportunity to provide feedback.”

The statement alleged that the staff’s open letter had “misunderstood the purpose” of the consultation paper, which had the primary goal of “reflect[ing] a commitment to early engagement and providing our community with an opportunity to provide feedback.”

ANU also confirmed “there are no local change plans currently in consultation at the University.” It asserted there was not a “predetermined view” on “staffing levels, changes in individual organisational units,” and the allocation of cost-saving measures across portfolios and faculties. 

It concluded that “the University Leadership Group will continue to work with local area staff” which “will include ways to optimise, pause or cease activities.”

“The University remains committed to consultation and open dialogue with our community.”

Observer contacted a spokesperson at “Our ANU Group”, the organisers of the letter. 

Addressing Lonergan’s comments, the spokesperson said “ANU’s own financial results for 2023 say, “[w]hen our Annual Report is tabled you will also see a reported net result of a surplus of $146.6 million.”

“To be clear, the open letter is simply asking for clarity and transparency in relation to the methodologies the university is using to calculate ANU’s operating deficit.”

On Lonergan’s remarks on CMP details being communicated to deans, Our ANU Group stated “this information has not reached us, the staff. Our request is simply for the “whole picture” that the CFO rightly asserts we do not have.”

The spokesperson affirmed the open letter was acknowledged by the university. “We want to emphasise that the organizers of the letter are not the ones who are owed a response, rather it is the signatories who are.”

“The signatory who delivered the letter was invited by email to a meeting immediately, and then a smaller group was invited to dialogue with the CFO alone. But the letter represents a much larger group.”

“The signatory and letter organising group declined the small group meeting, and asked the executive for a full written response to the requests made.”

Our ANU Group expressed that the requests outlined in the letter being met “would go a long way in restoring trust and faith in our institution” and that “without these elements there can be no meaningful consultation process.”

Observer will continue coverage as this matter unfolds.

NTEU did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.

Graphics by Shé Chani

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