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The drama enveloping the Australian National University has cost the institution about $100 million in reputational damage and the effect of cost-cutting had driven some staff to self-harm, a fiery Senate estimates hearing has been told.
Acting ANU vice-chancellor Rebekah Brown said on Friday afternoon issues at the university – which has been plagued by financial problems, staff safety and welfare concerns, and leadership chaos – were off-putting to both donors and international students.
“It is very significant. We are still modelling the impact, because it is still live,” Brown said.
Chief among the university’s problems was Renew ANU, a controversial scheme designed to save $250 million that would cost hundreds of staff jobs.
The program was designed by ex-chancellor Julie Bishop and former vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell. An Audit Office report found there was “no clear evidence” of the urgent need to save $250 million and that the university council proceeded with the plan to axe jobs despite a robust $89.9 million surplus in 2024.
As the university rolled out Renew ANU, there were nine reported incidents of self-harm or suicidal ideation at the College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS), estimates was told.
CASS also had 60 per cent of the hazards and incident reports during Renew ANU that were investigated by the federal workplace regulator.
Signal messages from the head of CASS, Professor Bronwyn Parry, complained about an “avalanche of silly feedback” from staff upon being told that 36 of their number would lose their jobs, Senator Mehreen Faruqi told estimates.
Brown said in response: “I wish that there was much more that we had done as an organisation … it was a very challenging time for everyone.”
Brown’s own Signal messages were auto-deleted after her settings were changed. Acting pro-chancellor Andrew Metcalfe said on Friday that when the university’s chief operating officer investigated, he found that was an administrative error and not designed to circumvent the Freedom of Information process.
Hundreds of people tuned into the parliamentary YouTube channel to watch the council of the beleaguered university front estimates.
All of ANU’s council members attended Friday’s Senate estimates at the request of parliamentarians.
Last month, Bishop abruptly resigned, claiming that overreach by the regulator (ANU and TEQSA had signed a “voluntary undertaking” to effectively allow the regulator veto power over Bishop’s replacement) meant the ANU council could not discharge its legal obligations.
A rush of resignations from the council has left it without financial expertise, Metcalfe said on Friday.
“They chose to leave us,” he said.
Bishop’s resignation capped off a period of intense scrutiny of the university’s missteps and blunders, including ANU academic Dr Liz Allen accusing Bishop and other senior leaders under parliamentary privilege of bullying her to the point of considering suicide (which they denies), staff passed a vote of no confidence in Bishop and Bell, and Bell resigned from her million-dollar role in October.
ANU’s annual report was released on Friday morning, showing the university had a $117 million surplus for 2025.
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