More than a dozen Australian universities have been publicly accused of underpaying staff. Some have paid millions in backpay after audits. And a big factor in wage theft is the rise of casualisation.
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Teaching loads, family responsibilities and lack of research resources and mentors have hampered the progress of women in universities. And when the pandemic hit, it made the situation worse.
Three decades ago, in another time of upheaval in higher education, 7% of working-age Australians had a degree. Today 33% have one. More people than ever have a stake in what happens to universities.
Decades of legislative change made the councils that govern universities more like corporate boards and less accountable to academic communities. The problems this created are coming home to roost.
The early and mid-career researchers who bear most of the teaching and research workload are exhausted and underpaid. Many won't survive the funding squeeze, but Australia can't afford to lose them.
Universities have financial resources — property, bequests and philanthropic funds, and access to lines of credit — they can access rather than forcing staff to sacrifice their jobs.
Are the Australian government’s successive changes to JobKeeper specifically designed to exclude universities? And if so, why?
The National Tertiary Education Union has agreed to a deal with universities that aims to save at least 12,000 jobs. But universities aren't obliged to sign up.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor, Department of Political Economy, University of Sydney
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Gavin Moodie is a Friend of The Conversation.
Adjunct professor, RMIT University
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Emeritus Professor, Macquarie University
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Senior Lecturer, Science and Technology Studies, University of Wollongong
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Lecturer in Accounting, RMIT University
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Social policy and consumer finance researcher, School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, RMIT University
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Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Studies, University of Wollongong
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Senior Lecturer in Accounting, RMIT University
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Senior Lecturer in Bioinformatics, Western Sydney University
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Senior Lecturer in Crime, Justice and Legal Studies, La Trobe University
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Professor, Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong
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SAGE Athena SWAN Program Manager, La Trobe University
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PhD candidate, School of Management, Curtin University
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Research Assistant, ANU College of Law, Australian National University
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Senior Lecturer and Discipline Leader (Sociology), School of Humanities & Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong
