Victoria’s university vice-chancellors set to have excessive pay packets slashed
Victoria’s university vice-chancellors are set to have their excessive pay packets, perks and parties curtailed, with some big wigs earning three times more than the PM. Search our database for the full list of executive salaries.
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Victoria’s university vice-chancellors are set to have their excessive pay packets, perks and parties curtailed under a new push to rein in executive spending amid growing deficits and staff underpayment.
Labor Senator Tony Sheldon is chairing a parliamentary inquiry on university governance expected to hand down strong recommendations for change such as aligning university executive pay to the public service.
The inquiry, which heard evidence last week, comes as Victoria’s vice-chancellors are paid between $845,000 and $1.5m, which is nearly three times more than the prime minister.
Victorian universities also have 72 senior executives paid more than the premier, including 16 at Monash University alone.
In contrast, universities have underpaid casual staff a total of $130m.
Senator Sheldon told the Herald Sun “the days of some universities being run like private theme parks for executives are coming to an end”.
“Be it University of Melbourne gutting millions in staff wages or Swinburne flushing a fortune on a VC office upgrade, we’ve seen this film before, and we know how it ends – everyone except those at the top gets shafted,” he said.
“While staff face job cuts and universities cry poor, some Victorian vice-chancellors have quietly pocketed pay rises. How is it that Deakin and Federation reported multimillion-dollar deficits last year, yet still found the cash to bump up executive pay?”
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare has also convened an expert council on university governance covering similar issues such as the remuneration of senior staff and underpayment of casuals. “We need to strengthen governance arrangements in our universities,” Mr Clare said.
“All workers should rightly expect their employer pay them correctly and fairly.”
Another issue investigated by the expert council is vice-chancellors earning corporate pay cheques on top of their salaries, such as former University of Melbourne vice-chancellor Duncan Maskell who was paid $300,000 as a non-executive director of CSL as well as his $1.5 million salary.
The university posted a $71m operating deficit last year – one of five Victorian universities to make a loss in 2023.
Opposition education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson said a Dutton government is “determined to rein in vice-chancellor salaries and require the regulator to take strong and urgent action when universities fail to safeguard the best interests of students”.
National Tertiary Education Union president Alison Barnes gave evidence this week to the parliamentary inquiry.
“Whether it’s building private ensuites for the vice-chancellor at Swinburne or farewell parties at the NGV for the former vice-chancellor at Monash, the total lack of accountability for lavish spending is insulting to staff,” she said.
Dr Barnes called Victoria the “university wage theft capital of Australia”.
“The University of Melbourne is ranked number one nationally with $72 million in underpayments,” she said.
Multimillion-dollar donations made by chancellors such as the University of Melbourne’s Jane Hansen is another area of concern for the union.
When asked for comment, the University of Melbourne referred the Herald Sun to its submission to the senate inquiry, which notes that it provides competitive salary packages to employees in order to attract and retain the best candidates.
“The University considers salary benchmarking within the higher education sector and with other comparable markets and institutions of a similar size and scale of operations,” it said.
Other universities declined to comment until after the inquiry had reported.
The Australia Institute recently found there is no relationship between high executive salaries and outcomes for students at Australian universities.
Originally published as Victoria’s university vice-chancellors set to have excessive pay packets slashed
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