This Month
‘Difficult decision’: ANU council member resigns
A member of ANU’s governing body has resigned, citing concerns about the council’s direction and a lack of accountability after months of turmoil.
Nous billed ANU for $500k, not the ‘circa $50,000’ executive claimed
Australian National University has been engulfed in a growing furore over a major change management plan, having trouble getting its facts in order.
Pocock says ANU misled Senate, demands inquiry
The university’s vice chancellor, Genevieve Bell, is again under fire after the ACT senator accused her of providing misleading information to an inquiry.
March
ANU council’s ignorance about Bell’s Intel role belies Bishop’s words
Genevieve Bell and Julie Bishop survive vote of no confidence in their leadership, but questions on notice at Senate estimates raise some puzzling issues.
Trump administration cut $1m funding for ANU terrorism research
ANU lost a $923,000 US-funded research grant into terrorism and targeted violence because it no longer “effectuates the priorities” of its backer, the Department of Homeland Security.
$60m overstatement of ANU deficit raises staff alarm
Three months after senior figures at ANU questioned whether budget forecasts were being “catastrophised”, the university’s 2024 deficit has been downgraded.
Former ANU chancellor Gareth Evans slams university’s governance
Evans, who was also cabinet minister in the Hawke and Keating governments, has declared the Australian National University lacks competence and judgment.
Inside ANU’s unusual School of Cybernetics
The top university is in the throes of a massive cost-cutting drive but its smallest and least research-intensive school appears to be out of the line of fire.
February
ANU quizzed over contracts awarded to chancellor Julie Bishop’s friend
ANU vice chancellor Genevieve Bell was grilled in Senate estimates about contracts awarded to a firm run by Julie Bishop’s long-time employee Murray Hansen.
Leaked consulting firm slide deck gives hints on ANU job cuts
A secret document from Nous Group, which has been hired by ANU to push through job cuts, was left behind in a staff lunchroom exposing restructure plans.
ANU budget cuts mean fewer courses and crowded tutorials
At one humanities school within the university, the budget for casual and sessional staff had been reduced by about two-thirds.
January
Acts of hate or innocent gestures? What happened at the ANU student meeting
There are conflicting versions of events whether students at an ANU student union meeting performed acts of hate or innocent gestures.
Is a university degree still worth it?
The pay premium for graduates is on the decline, while the sector is a mess and academics are asking whether we have reached “peak university”.
‘Not a high bar to set’: MPs call on Bell to explain ANU Nazi gestures
ANU vice chancellor Genevieve Bell’s performance at a hearing on antisemitism has many questioning why she provided such bewildering answers.
Bell says Nazi gestures didn’t happen, leaving Burns speechless
ANU boss Genevieve Bell told a hearing into antisemitism on campuses two deeply hurtful gestures captured on video had not taken place.
New think tank urges Albanese to stand up to Trump’s big tech buddies
The prime minister must go head-to-head with American social media giants over plans to regulate them more heavily, the Tech Policy Design Institute says.
No mention of Bell’s Intel job in key ANU council meeting minutes
The minutes of a meeting to endorse Genevieve Bell as the next head of ANU appear to undermine the claim her role with Intel was “highlighted”.
Bishop doubles down on who knew what about VC’s Intel gig
ANU chancellor Julie Bishop and her pro chancellor, former KPMG chairwoman Alison Kitchen, have downplayed outrage over university chief Genevieve Bell’s paid job with global tech giant Intel.
Go harder on double-dipping uni bosses: Henderson
The opposition says Education Minister Jason Clare is missing in action as vice chancellors collect payments from outside sources on top of their university salaries.
Bishop declares responsibility for Bell’s Intel role, rebukes council
ANU chancellor Julie Bishop says she was responsible for negotiating Genevieve Bell’s salary package in full knowledge of her second job with Intel.