The big business of university philanthropy: UNSW lands largest ever donation
The University of NSW has landed its largest donation to date as competition for top donors to fund research, buildings and scholarships intensifies and as income from international students is expected to fall.
UNSW will receive $25.9 million from conglomerate Swire Group to support cervical screening and treatment for more than 130,000 women in the Pacific.
UNSW has received its largest donation to date.Credit: Edwina Pickles
It is the largest single philanthropic donation UNSW has received and will enable its Kirby Institute to work with partners in the region to help eliminate cervical cancer.
UNSW vice chancellor Attila Brungs said the donation would be transformative and change lives in Pacific countries.
He said donations were becoming increasingly important for universities to fund ambitious programs as government funding continues to decline and research remains highly subsidised through international student fees.
“Screening 130,000 women across the Pacific nations is something no one other than UNSW is doing – that’s why these philanthropic donations are absolutely critical for us to do the big societal transformation programs,” Brungs said.
Just a few Australian universities dominate the hundreds of millions in donations made to the sector every year.
Last year, Sydney University and UNSW attracted almost 70 per cent of all donations in NSW. Newer and regional universities obtained the least.
Overall philanthropic contributions to NSW universities increased slightly from $203 million in 2022 to $207 million in 2023, an audit report found.
UNSW vice chancellor Professor Attila Brungs.Credit: Oscar Colman
In 2023, UNSW received $71 million in donation revenue – a 41 per cent increase on the previous year – and Sydney University $72.2 million.
Australian National University higher education expert Professor Andrew Norton said the proportion of revenue to come from donations had risen, but it still paled in significance to universities’ reliance on international students – a concern for the sector, given planned enrolment caps – and government funding.
Nationally, Norton said, donations have become more significant as a share of total revenue and research expenditure, but remain small at 1.6 per cent and 3.6 per cent of respective totals.
UNSW chancellor David Gonski said he had seen philanthropy grow significantly during his time at the university.
“A corporation which is obviously designed for making profits can, by philanthropy, help an institution which is research-based to bring positive benefits for, in this case, women in the Pacific region,” he said.
The UK-based Swire conglomerate has major global roles in transport, property and manufacturing.
Rates of cervical cancer in the Pacific are among the highest in the world, according to the World Health Organisation, with Pacific women up to 14 times more likely to die from cervical cancer than women in Australia.
Almost all infections are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), a common virus spread through sexual contact.
The screening program will run in Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.
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