Australian universities have slipped in the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2025. This decline raises a troubling question: how did one of the world’s most celebrated higher education systems lose its way?

In a recent conversation, a senior overseas diplomat asked me whether public antipathy, even hostility, towards the hallowed halls of learning put our universities on a par with the grim reputation of the casinos fighting off allegations of corruption. I gulped. If higher education has lost its social licence to such an extent, how on earth did it come to this? There are four stories that sit beneath the surface.