Budget cuts force ANU to shed 10pc of staff

AUSTRALIA'S premier research university yesterday was forced to announce a 10 per cent cut to its workforce.

AUSTRALIA'S premier research university yesterday was forced to announce a 10 per cent cut to its workforce as part of a package to cope with budget cuts ordered under previous higher education minister Craig Emerson.

Ian Young, vice-chancellor of Australian National University, said the plan also included increasing the number of undergraduate students by 12 per cent by 2015.

But Professor Young conceded that should new Higher Education Minister Kim Carr call a temporary halt to the current student funding model, as he had flagged on Monday, part of his rescue package would have to be abandoned.

"If there are changes to the demand-driven system, we may not be able to increase the number of undergraduates," Professor Young said. "Obviously if the world changes we will need to be flexible enough to accommodate that in this package."

Senator Carr has flagged that the demand-driven system -- which allows universities to enrol as many students as they deem qualified -- might be up for review as he searches for budget-neutral savings to restore $2.3 billion in cuts announced in April.

He also said he was concerned that rapid growth -- 190,000 additional places in three years -- had raised questions of whether standards could be maintained with more students enrolling with ATARs 60 and below.

Senator Carr said he was particularly concerned that big research-intensive universities, such as ANU, would be the hardest hit.

"The efficiency dividend has had a disproportionate effect on those with a much larger research load," he said.

Senator Carr also said any suggestions that the government was walking away from its commitment to its participation and equity targets were wrong.

"We are very, very close to the 40 per cent target (of 25-34 year olds with a bachelor degree or above by 2025). It's gone from 29 per cent in 2006 to 36.8 per cent in 2012.

"While we want to encourage more working-class students to attend university, it should never be at expense of quality.

"Some, such as the Australian Catholic University, are very good at taking very low-ATAR students and turning them into very fine nurses and teachers. But I want to make sure that all universities are that good."

Meanwhile, ANU may be thwarted in its plan to raise an extra $7m a year by enrolling more undergraduates.

But Professor Young said he fully supported Senator Carr's suggestion that growth in student places should be stopped.

"The question is, could you put a cap on the number of students and then redistribute the extra money to improve quality?"