South Australian universities in merger talks

The University of Adelaide — Australia’s third-oldest — has launched merger talks with the University of South Australia.

Minister for Education Simon Birmingham. Picture: AAP

The University of Adelaide — Australia’s third-oldest university — has launched formal merger talks with the University of South Australia in a move both sides believe may better leverage student outcomes and economic opportunities in the state.

Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham and South Australian Premier Steven Marshall both welcomed the move to create a new “super uni”, but in a joint statement this afternoon the universities said the talks were “the start of a conversation and an exploration, not a destination”.

Both universities will now conduct extensive consultation with a range of stakeholders.

A formal proposal is expected be delivered by the end of this year.

In a joint statement, Adelaide University Chancellor Kevin Scarce and his UniSA counterpart Jim McDowell said the national and international landscapes of higher education were changing rapidly, as were the evolving needs of the workforce.

“As two institutions that already sit alongside one another on North Terrace, that collaborate in areas like the SA Biomed City project, and are successful in their own right, there is an opportunity now to properly assess and consider the merits of a shared future for both institutions,” they said.

Adelaide University was founded in 1874, has 27,000 students and 3800 staff, and generated annual revenue of around $950 million last year.

UniSA, founded in 1991, has 37,000 students and 3000 staff. It generated annual revenue in excess of $600 million.

Senator Birmingham, who attended Adelaide University, said the two universities had “distinctive but complementary missions”.

“It’s pleasing to see the universities of Adelaide and South Australia acknowledging that bold leaps may be required to deliver higher education that best serves South Australia’s future requirements,” he said.

“Thorough analysis to establish the benefits of any change are quite properly a precondition of final decisions and I look forward to closely assessing the outcomes of this work.”

Mr Marshall praised the pair “for their courage in addressing this longstanding issue head on”.

“No matter what the outcome of this process, their intention to work together shows that both institutions have the best interests of South Australia and its prosperity at heart,” he said.

Both university councils have endorsed a six-month period of collaboration to discuss a potential merger, with the two Vice-Chancellors — UniSA’s Professor David Lloyd and Adelaide University’s Professor Peter Rathjen — to oversee a joint report, to be delivered by the end of the year.

At that time the councils will consider the report and determine the merits and viability of progressing with a merger or not.

A joint body, drawn from the two governing bodies, will be created to provide oversight of the collaborative process.

“We need to determine whether this would enable us to deliver greater access and benefits to students, create more opportunities for staff, enable greater collaboration with and contribution to our community and make greater economic, social and cultural contributions to South Australia,” Mr Scarce and Mr McDowell said.