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A controversial program designed to save $250 million through cutting hundreds of jobs at the Australian National University could not be justified by the state of the institution’s finances, according to a damning report released late on Thursday.
The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) was tasked with investigating the beleaguered university’s financial position as it related to the controversial and ill-fated Renew ANU program.
Created by ex-chancellor Julie Bishop and former vice chancellor Genevieve Bell in 2024, Renew ANU was designed to save $250 million for the cash-strapped institution through forced redundancies and the loss of hundreds of jobs.
While financial problems and restructures abound across higher education, ANU was particularly vulnerable: Bell’s predecessor had redesigned the university as a smaller and more personable campus than its competitors in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Failing to shore up revenue from international students backfired when lockdowns hit, with the university going from a $317 million surplus in 2019 to a sharp fall in revenue to a $17.7 million loss in 2020. International student numbers have yet to recover.
“[The ANU council endorsed] the need for the Renew ANU program as a difficult but necessary,” the ANU annual report from 2024 said.
The same document reported an $89.9 million surplus that year; at the end of last year, the ANU owned $5.7 billion worth of assets.
Accusations of a confected financial crisis were levelled at the university, with the audit office concluding that while $74 million in savings were made, it cost $35.9 million and contained “major risks”.
The ANU “shows strong overall financial health on measures like audited net operating results, credit ratings and net assets,” said the ANAO, noting that declining surpluses raise questions about its long-term financial sustainability.
These long-term questions did not call for the $250 million savings target, the ANAO said: “Renew ANU was endorsed by the ANU Council in August 2024. Council had no clear evidence that $250 million in annual, ongoing savings by January 2026 was needed, achievable, urgently required, or likely to have the intended impact … The $250 million savings target was retired in October 2025.”
The ANAO also suggested that council members “exercise more caution to inform themselves of all the circumstances to make a reasonable decision”.
The plan tackled overspending, but failed to address a lack of enrolment growth and poor financial management.
Ensuring a proper business case for major and disruptive projects, better financial advice to its council and establishing an agreed-upon definition for financial terms are among the audit office’s key recommendations, all of which were accepted by the university.
Last month, Bishop abruptly resigned from her role as chancellor, citing “unprecedented” regulatory overreach.
Education Minister Jason Clare said the report was “tough reading for the ANU community”, while Independent senator David Pocock said it justified the community’s anger about the “manufactured financial crisis”.
The university will appear before Senate estimates on Friday.
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