Did universities generate a 'faux crisis' to justify job cuts?

Inquiry finds six NSW universities appeared to overstate financial woes to justify job cuts In short: University employees were told major staff cuts were needed to protect their institutions' finances. Disputed models, alternative plans and changing forecasts now raise questions about whether other choices were available. What's next? The state government has until December to respond to the parliamentary report, while ICAC is yet to release its findings. Adam Lucas spent decades marking students down for conclusions they could not support. But when the University of Wollongong told him his job was no longer viable it would not show him the financial model it used to reach that decision. "We saw the outputs, but we never saw the model, and we were never given the chance to test whether the numbers actually added up," he said. A spokesperson for UOW said staff were informed of the criteria and data sources used, but detailed data was withheld to protect personal privacy. "We would fail [management] for providing this kind of material," Dr Lucas said. "If [they were] our students there's no way that they would pass any of this stuff." After unsuccessfully challenging the figures, Dr Lucas accepted a voluntary redundancy. "It soon became clear to me that it didn't make any difference what I said. So at that point I figured, okay, the number's up," he said. "It was demeaning, it was degrading going through this process." Dr Lucas is one of hundreds of academics who have lost their jobs in restructures across Australian universities over the past two years. Universities have said the cuts were unavoidable, citing falling international student numbers and changes to federal policy. But an NSW parliamentary inquiry into university governance has questioned that rationale. It found UOW and five other universities appeared to overstate their financial problems and went too far in restructures and staff cuts. The finding also covered the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Macquarie University, the University of Newcastle (UON), Charles Sturt University (CSU) and Western Sydney University (WSU). Dr Lucas said the findings reflected his experience, but did not go far enough. "They confirmed what many of us had been saying for months," he said. "The crisis was manufactured and not just at Wollongong, and that the restructure was designed at Wollongong to produce a predetermined outcome." The inquiry did not make that finding. A spokesperson for UOW rejected the claim its financial crisis was "manufactured", saying it faced a projected $35 million revenue shortfall in 2024 because of falling international enrolments and rising costs. It also denied the framework produced predetermined outcomes, saying only four of the 25 disciplines initially assessed as unviable were ultimately discontinued following consultation. The university said the changes delivered $22 million in recurrent savings. 'Faux crisis narratives' The inquiry accepted universities were operating in a difficult environment, but questioned the accuracy of the financial information used to justify restructures. It found the way some universities calculated their finances painted a worse picture than their official audited accounts. The committee found some forecasts used to justify cuts were later significantly revised. In at least one case the university's own modelling showed job cuts were not the only option. At Macquarie University, internal modelling obtained by the National Tertiary Education Union included a "no workplace change" scenario that the union said could have achieved the university's $55 million savings target. Management instead selected the full-redundancy scenario, accompanied by the words: "Why not go all the way?" Macquarie said the no-cuts scenario was hypothetical and did not represent a formal plan or decision. Inquiry chair and Labor MLC Sarah Kaine has described some of the financial cases as "faux crisis narratives". Speaking on a recent Australia Institute webinar she said university councils had displayed a "lack of genuine inquisitiveness" and sometimes failed to adequately challenge the information presented by senior management. Dr Kaine was also critical of the role played by consultants, describing them as "at best complicit in the crisis" and "at worst architects of it", while benefiting financially from reform programs. NTEU NSW secretary Vince Caughley said the findings vindicated union members who had challenged the cuts and pushed for the inquiry. "People lost jobs, courses and careers while university managements repeatedly failed to make a defensible case for the damage they were inflicting," he said. "These aren't accounting quirks or transparency problems. "They're evidence of a governance crisis across institutions entrusted with billions of dollars and an enormous public responsibility." What were the findings? University of Wollongong Read moreWhat happened? UOW used a Discipline Viability Assessment Framework to classify academic disciplines as "viable", "marginal" or "unviable". It cut the equivalent of 92 full-time academic jobs and 100 professional and support staff jobs. What the inquiry found: UOW appeared to overstate its financial problems and go too far in its cuts. What the university says: UOW rejects the findings and the claim that its financial crisis was "manufactured", citing a $35 million projected revenue shortfall in 2024. It says consultation reduced the number of disciplines to be discontinued from 25 to four, and the changes delivered $22 million in recurrent savings. UOW has not committed to publishing the complete model and says detailed data was withheld to protect personal privacy. Macquarie University Read moreWhat happened? Macquarie University cut 61 full-time teaching positions in its arts, science and engineering faculties. That included 45 voluntary redundancies, nine forced redundancies and seven pre-retirement contracts. What the inquiry found: Internal modelling included a no-cuts scenario which, according to the NTEU evidence, could have achieved the university's $55 million savings target. Management instead selected a full-redundancy option accompanied by the words: "Why not go all the way?" The committee found Macquarie appeared to overstate its financial problems and overreach in its cuts. What the university says: It rejects the findings, saying the no-cuts scenario was hypothetical and the cuts fixed a mismatch between staff, teaching and research needs. University of Technology Sydney Read moreWhat happened? UTS pursued a $100 million savings target and proposed cutting about 134 full-time-equivalent academic positions. It scaled back, moving primarily to voluntary separations with no clear final figure on the number of job losses. What the inquiry found: Six UTS academics developed an alternative financial plan to avoid the proposed cuts. Inquiry chair Sarah Kaine said councillors were shown the analysis but declined to reconsider their decision. The committee found UTS appeared to overstate its financial problems and overreach in its restructure. What the university says: UTS said it trusted its finance team's modelling and declined to have the competing plans independently assessed. It said the disagreement reflected different risk appetites and strategic judgements, and that consultation led to changes to its proposal. University of Newcastle Read moreWhat happened? The University of Newcastle says its Business Improvement Program saved more than $28 million and resulted in a net reduction of fewer than seven ongoing permanent full-time-equivalent positions. What the inquiry found: Newcastle used its own measure of its finances, leaving out investment returns and some other income. It acknowledged this was "not prescribed by Australian Accounting Standards". It painted a very different picture from its audited accounts. What the university says: Vice-Chancellor Alex Zelinsky rejected the suggestion Newcastle maintained "two sets of books". He said the core result reflected the income and costs associated with teaching and research. Western Sydney University Read moreWhat happened? Western Sydney University's projected 2026 deficit increased from $6.5 million to $79 million. Vice-Chancellor George Williams said the university had "no choice" but to cut between 300 and 400 positions. Ultimately, WSU said 187 of the employees covered chose voluntary redundancy with no forced redundancies. What the inquiry found: The committee remained unconvinced by the original financial rationale and described the "no choice" statement as ill-judged. However, it praised how WSU partnered with unions and contrasted it with more combative restructures at UTS, UOW, UON and CSU. What the university says: WSU says its financial pressures were documented in audited accounts. It said staff suggestions helped generate $23 million in non-salary savings, while one in four executive and senior positions were removed. A review of the restructure is underway. Charles Sturt University Read moreWhat happened? Charles Sturt University is seeking $35 million in savings, efficiencies or additional income by the end of 2027. It said about $7.5 million had already been saved through salary and operational measures, but has not provided a final job loss figure. What the inquiry found: CSU said its 2025 deficit was $30.4 million, more than twice the $12.4 million in its audited accounts after it removed one-off income and accounting adjustments. The committee remained unconvinced by the financial assumptions underpinning CSU's reforms. What the university says: A CSU spokesperson said, "We don't agree with their conclusion. The case for our change program is clear." It points to deficits since 2022 and a fall in international students from 8,500 in 2019 to 1,620 in 2025. The use of consultants at UOW has also come under scrutiny from the state's corruption watchdog. ICAC's Operation Scandi examined allegations involving recruitment, procurement, consultant contracts and the management of conflicts of interest. Public hearings scrutinised UOW's $3.8 million contract with KordaMentha, including the tender process and former interim vice-chancellor John Dewar's relationship with the firm. ICAC has not yet handed down its findings. Students, staff and community 'paying the price' Dr Lucas, a researcher in the history of technology, ran UOW's science and technology studies and environmental humanities programs. He designed and taught their core subjects and supervised research students. He said the viability model used to justify which disciplines would be cut relied on a single year of data, 2024, when he was on long-service leave. By his own calculations his area fell about 1 per cent short. It also treated academics as if they spent all their time teaching, when most were contracted to teach 40 per cent of the time. UOW said teaching was its primary source of revenue while it subsidised research and other university activities, and it could no longer justify existing staffing levels in some teaching areas. Dr Lucas said his subjects were eventually discontinued, forcing some students to find alternatives or change their study plans. "They'd entered uni, they'd paid for a degree that they could no longer complete," he said. "One student told me that she'd enrolled in environmental humanities because she wanted to work in climate policy. Now the core subjects that she needed aren't being offered." Dr Lucas said the restructure had also increased pressure on those who remained. "They're doing more with less, covering subjects they didn't design, supervising students they didn't recruit, watching their colleagues disappear," he said. "The people paying the price are current and former students, staff and the Illawarra community." UOW disputed Dr Lucas's account, saying the assessment considered three years of data and was not affected by his long-service leave. It said science and technology studies was found to be unviable across all three measures, rather than narrowly missing a single threshold. The university said 140 students were significantly affected. It said the majority were able to adjust their study plans and remained at UOW, although some transferred elsewhere. Calls for transparency The committee recommended banning universities from publicly using their own adjusted figures to justify restructures when they differ from their audited financial statements. Where universities do use adjusted figures, they would need to disclose material differences from their audited results. The NTEU wants all six universities to publish the models, assumptions, consultancy reports and council papers used to justify their restructures. "If your financial case is strong enough to dismantle part of a university it should be strong enough to survive daylight," Mr Caughley said. Dr Lucas wants UOW's model independently audited by the NSW auditor-general, and the decisions to cut disciplines reopened. "That doesn't necessarily mean reinstating every position, but it does mean reopening the process," he said. "If the model can't withstand scrutiny it shouldn't have been used to eliminate academic positions." "The inquiry was right, but the damage is already done."