Please note: we are in the process of moving to a new website. You can find latest details on the project here. 

This webpage project reports summarising community views and other contributions from the ANU community. 

9 September 2025 UPDATE: DRAFT PROJECT REPORT RELEASED FOR COMMUNITY CONSULTATION

We are proud to present the Draft Project Report for community feedback and consultation. 

Using a process that has involved deep listening and a participatory and deliberative process across the ANU community, we have compiled a unique and valuable body of evidence that documents what’s wrong with governance at the ANU and charts a way forward to help rebuild trust and to deliver best practice governance. 

Over 600 ANU staff, students, and stakeholders have participated in this project, and in contributing constructively to the future of ANU. This includes 590 members of the community who participated in our survey, 75 who participated in one-hour small group discussions, and over 40 from across the university who participated in our project workshop.

The ANU community told us there a critical need for change:

1. Over 96% of survey respondents and all discussion group participants believe current ANU governance is not fit for purpose and should be reformed. 
2. Over 92% of survey respondents and all discussion group participants expressed dissatisfaction with current ANU governance.
3. Over 93% of survey respondents said they were dissatisfied with current practices of transparency at the ANU. 
4. Over 93% of survey respondents said they were dissatisfied with accountability frameworks at the ANU. 

The ANU Community has proposed the following near-term steps forward for a reformed ANU: 

1. Council must direct Finance to produce and publish a current budget breakdown.
2. Council must revise and publish selection criteria for Executive positions.
3. Council meetings must immediately be made fully accessible to the community.
4. Academic Board must regularly review and assess the financial decisions of senior executives and Council.
5. Commence senior leadership listening tours with the ANU community.

Additional recommendations forwarded by the community are summarised in the full report, including a proposal to co-design legislative reform of the ANU Act with the community. 

The Working Group invites the ANU community and stakeholders to offer feedback on the draft report over the next 48 hours (by midnight on Thursday, 11 September). This deadline is set in order to allow us to incorporate community feedback ahead of the release of our final report on Friday 12 September for submission to the Senate Inquiry on Quality of Governance at Higher Education Providers.

11 August 2025 UPDATE: FIRST FINDINGS REPORT PUBLISHED

We are delighted to report that since our launch on 6 August 2025, over 200 hundred ANU staff, students, and stakeholders have participated in this project. Ahead of the start of hearings into the Senate Inquiry into Quality of Governance in Higher Education Providers, we are publicly sharing first findings from these participants. 

These results are preliminary and will be updated at regular intervals. Please be aware that we are publishing only selected qualitative feedback at this stage - it is our summary of the most common themes emerging from the survey and kitchen table conversations.  Ahead of the project workshop, we will share all quantitative and qualitative input shared by ANU community participants (we will moderate to exclude obviously irrelevant content or to remove content that could identify participants). 

The First Findings Report is based on the first 209 survey responses, and the first two kitchen table conversations. A majority of survey respondents (75.1%) were current staff followed by former staff (12%) and students (8.6%), alumni, and stakeholders including parents of ANU students and donors. 

Major Findings include:

The ANU community - staff, students, alumni, and stakeholders - are deeply dissatisfied with current governance arrangements and believe it requires an overhaul. 

1. Over 97% of survey respondents and all kitchen table conversation participants believe current ANU governance is not fit for purpose and should be reformed. 
2. Over 91% of survey respondents and all kitchen table conversation participants expressed dissatisfaction with current ANU governance, including 56% who said they were ‘completely unsatisfied’

The ANU is suffering from a significant deficit of trust in their current practices of transparency and accountability 

1. Over 94% of survey respondents said they were dissatisfied with ANU’s current practices of transparency, including over 72% who said they were ‘completely unsatisfied’.
2. Over 92% of survey respondents said they were dissatisfied with ANU’s accountability frameworks, including over 67% who said they were ‘completely unsatisfied’.

The ANU community has genuine and credible reform recommendations and must be consulted in governance reform of their own university (and can inform reform of the higher education sector more generally)

Key recommendations include:

1. Increase academic voice to restore balance between educational and corporate governance principles (more academic presence on key governance bodies).
2. Strengthen academic oversight processes of ANU Council and other key decision making bodies through increased transparency and improved corporate practices.
3. Increased accountability via improved feedback and evaluation mechanisms particular for senior university managers
4. Set principle-based salaries for senior university executives

Read the full report here.