Union veteran Sharan Burrow to cast judgment on uni leaders’ pay deals

Union heavyweight Sharan Burrow has been appointed by the Albanese government to a new university governance board that will probe vice-chancellors’ million-dollar pay packets.

Sharan Burrow. Picture: World Economic Forum

Union heavyweight Sharan Burrow, a climate and human rights activist, has been appointed by the Albanese government to a new university governance board that will probe vice-chancellors’ million-dollar pay packets.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare will reveal on Thursday the membership of an Expert Council on University Governance, which will make recommendations about staff pay and student safety to the nation’s education ministers this year.

Ms Burrow – a former president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) as well as the world’s biggest union organisation, the International Trade Union Federation (ITUF) – is one of three government-nominated representatives.

Mr Clare described Ms Burrow, a former teacher, as a “global advocate for human and labour rights and climate action’’.

She is a member of the Commission on Global Climate Governance, and co-chair of the International Energy Agency’s Labour Council.

The university governance council will be chaired by Melinda Cilento, the chief executive of the Committee for Economic Development Australia (CEDA) and co-chair of Reconciliation Australia.

Mergers and acquisitions lawyer Bruce Cowley, an expert in corporate governance who is a member of the Takeovers Panel, has also been appointed.

Seven other council members will represent the University Chancellors Council, the Australian Institute of Company ­Directors, the Governance Institute of Australia, the Australian Indigenous Governance Institute, the Law Council of Australia, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) and Universities ­Australia.

The National Tertiary Education Union and the National Union of Students have not been appointed to the new governance watchdog.

But Mr Clare said the unions will each nominate an expert to “participate in the work of the council.’’

He said the board’s priorities would be to ensure university staff are properly paid, that university governing bodies have the right expertise, and that universities are safe for students and staff.

“University governance arrangements have been inadequate,’’ he said.

“There have been far too many examples of universities underpaying staff and failing their responsibilities as employers.’’

The council will also examine vice-chancellors’ pay in comparison to public service leaders’ remuneration.

Mr Clare said the council would ensure “rigorous and transparent processes for developing remuneration policies and settings for senior university staff, including considering issues around external roles and conflicts of interest’’.

Australian vice-chancellors are among the world’s highest paid, pocketing an average of $1.048m across 37 universities in 2023.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has uncovered systemic wage theft at 21 universities.

Last month it forced the ­University of Melbourne to backpay $72m to 25,000 staff, and the University of Sydney to repay $23m in wages stolen from 15,000 workers.