Bill Shorten’s new salary revealed at University of Canberra

Former Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten has doubled his money by parachuting into an $860,000-a-year job as vice-chancellor of the University of Canberra.

Former Labor minister Bill Shorten. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

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Former Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten has doubled his money by parachuting into an $860,000-a-year job as vice-chancellor of the University of Canberra.

Mr Shorten, a former Labor opposition leader, quit as NDIS minister to take up the plum post last week, jumping ship from the Albanese frontbench to end his 17-year political career on the eve of a tight federal election.

University of Canberra chancellor Lisa Paul revealed on Tuesday Mr Shorten will be paid $860,000 this year, including superannuation and fringe benefits.

The salary package is more than double the base ministerial salary of $404,000.

Ms Paul said Mr Shorten had taken a 15 per cent pay cut, compared to the salary paid to his predecessor, Professor Paddy Nixon, who stepped down a year ago for a “career break’’.

“When finalising Mr Bill Shorten’s pay conditions we mutually agreed following his initiative that his total remuneration package including superannuation, accommodation and fringe benefits tax will be $860,000, down by approximately 15 per cent of the former vice-chancellor’s pay in 2022,’’ Ms Paul said.

“The university leadership, including Mr Shorten, cares deeply about bringing the University of Canberra back to financial sustainability and it was our view to line up better with community expectations, and in recognition of what the university is going through.”

During his time as NDIS minister, Mr Shorten appointed Ms Paul in 2022 to co-chair a review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Ms Paul had previously served as secretary of the federal Education Department.

The University of Canberra said it had conducted a global search for its new vice-chancellor.

Ms Paul headed the seven-member selection committee that appointed Mr Shorten, who has a law degree.

Mr Shorten will retain his parliamentary title of Honourable, but appears to have missed out on an honorary academic title like the one granted to University of Sydney Professor Mark Scott, who was a former managing director of the ABC and NSW Education Department secretary.

The University of Canberra has sacked 141 staff in recent months and is forcing 100 academics to reapply for their jobs, resulting in 58 extra redundancies.

The National Tertiary Education Union’s ACT division secretary, Lachlan Clohesy, will meet Mr Shorten on Thursday in a bid to stop the “hunger games’’ redundancy round.

“We think that ‘spill and fill’ processes create a ‘hunger games’ environment and expose an unnecessary number of people to stress and anxiety about their jobs,’’ Dr Clohesy said.

“It would be much better for management to strategically plan after considering the areas of research and teaching UC wants to be involved in, and to make decisions on specific roles based on rational criteria.

“We are meeting with the vice-chancellor on Thursday and hope to be able to move toward some sort of resolution.’’

Dr Clohesy said the union wanted Mr Shorten to address “governance issues’’ at the university.

“While Bill Shorten’s salary is significantly lower than his predecessor and lower than the average, vice-chancellor salaries across the country are out of step with community expectations,’’ he said.

“Vice-chancellor salaries are generally hundreds of thousands of dollars higher than the prime minister’s salary.

“Running a university is a big job, but few would argue it is a bigger job than running the country.’’

Dr Clohesy said staff were feeling “optimistic’’ about the appointment of Mr Shorten, who launched his political career by serving as national secretary of the Australian Workers Union in 2001.

“However, there are governance concerns that we’ll be looking to address,’’ he said.

“UC’s staff and students have been let down by poor leadership over an extended period of time, and we need to prevent any recurrence of the mistakes of the past.’’