Australians don’t doubt the importance of higher education; they question its integrity
That begins with a truth. The Australian public doesn’t doubt the importance of higher education; Australians doubt its integrity. They see a sector that has prospered from international students, that is distracted by global rankings and is seemingly unconcerned about our community’s worries. That perception is not entirely fair but it has become reality. A third of Australians say they have little or no trust in their universities. That should alarm us all.
Our response cannot be another marketing campaign or government submission asking for more money. It must be a cultural correction. We need to look Australians in the eye and prove we exist to serve them, their children, their industries and their future prosperity. Most of all, we serve a cohesive, modern Australian society. The first step is to rebuild our identity around education.
For too long universities have treated teaching as the poor cousin to research. We celebrate our research and rankings but not often enough our education outcomes.
That must change. Teaching must once again be the most valued and visible part of what we do.
Every vice-chancellor should be as proud of the excellence of their teaching as of their global rankings. Students must see that when they invest their time and debt in us, they get an outstanding education.
The second is to reclaim the university as a place of open debate. A university should be the safest environment for challenging ideas. Our duty is to make students ready for challenging ideas, not to make those ideas safe for students. We must model intellectual courage, not fear of controversy, not deference to social media outrage, but reasoned debate and rigorous thought.
In a polarised world, our campuses must be places where ideas are tested, not silenced.
The third step is integrity in research. We must be the nation’s honest brokers, seekers of truth, not advocates for ideology. Research must serve the national interest, not simply institutional standing or the tyranny of rankings. That means being transparent about our processes, prioritising quality over quantity, and measuring impact by its benefit to Australia, not the number of journal citations or publications in journals. The public will trust us only when they see that we hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity and independence.
This does not mean all research will be popular with everyone; far from it. Much like debate on campus, many ideas in the research will be challenging but, in all cases, they must embody excellence and advance understanding.
The fourth is accountability in operations. Our sector’s credibility has been corroded by headlines about executive pay, underpayments and consultants doing what universities too often should do for themselves. These issues are not just public relations slip-ups; they signal a values problem. Universities must be model employers: fair, transparent and responsible stewards of public money. That means fewer consultants, fewer euphemisms and more honesty. If we make a mistake, we must admit it. The public can forgive failure. They will not forgive evasiveness.
Finally, we must redefine our role in the national compact. Universities are public institutions, not private empires. Australians fund us to serve Australia. That does not mean doing the bidding of the government of the day; it means aligning our mission to the broader national interest, helping the country prosper, stay cohesive and remain open to new knowledge.
When we put the national interest at the centre of our purpose, trust will follow and, with it, the political support and investment our sector needs. We can and must be institutions through which the foundations of our strong liberal democracy are supported. Australia deserves universities that lead with humility, clarity and courage, institutions that are proud of their excellence but honest about their flaws. The road back to trust will not be easy but the map is simple: serve, listen and speak plainly.
We can claim a social licence to operate only when Australians, once again, believe their universities are working for them.
Iain Martin is vice-chancellor of Deakin University.
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Australia’s universities must stop talking to themselves and start listening to the nation that funds them. If we want to restore our social licence, the public’s trust in what we do and why we do it, we must change our culture from within: put education first, speak plainly, act transparently and serve the national interest before our own.