Senior executives at the Australian National University have berated staff for leaking confidential information and say revelations of a deep unease within academic ranks about vice chancellor Genevieve Bell’s $250 million cost-cutting overhaul have painted a false picture of the university’s culture.

Reporting by The Australian Financial Review this week has revealed concern among staff that Professor Bell was presiding over a “culture of fear” and threatened in a leadership meeting she would “hunt” down any staff who leaked information about the overhaul.