New Adelaide University vice chancellor Professor Nicola Phillips’ almost $1m salary ‘less than replaced male bosses’
The head of South Australia’s new taxpayer-funded university will earn nearly $1m, but still less than the male counterparts she is replacing, official figures reveal.
The boss of the state’s new taxpayer-funded merged university will be paid less than her male colleagues she is replacing despite her salary paying nearly $1m, official figures show.
British academic Professor Nicola Phillips will start as Adelaide University’s vice chancellor and president a week after it opens on January 5.
After the new higher education institution – formed after a merger of the University of Adelaide and UniSA – was embroiled in secrecy row, officials bowed to pressure and published details of her lucrative nearly $1m salary package.
But in a decision that raised staff eyebrows, Prof Philips will earn less than the two vice chancellors she is replacing at the merged university, which will receive hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.
The gender pay row emerged as her salary was published on Wednesday alongside the new institution’s first annual report – days after the university refused to disclose her remuneration.
The Advertiser also sought details under Freedom of Information laws.
“It’s interesting that a woman gets less than the two men before her,” one senior university source said.
Greens Upper House MP Robert Simms, who wants to cap university pay, added: “Vice chancellor salaries have been out of control.
“I hope that this new salary isn’t just another example of the gender pay gap but rather a shift away from some of the obscene salaries we’ve seen in the past.”
Prof Philips, Melbourne University’s provost who starts in SA on January 12, will be paid $963,200.
Her base salary is $860,000 along with $103,200 superannuation, which is the legal 12 per cent of her pay.
She is also eligible for a $172,000 bonus that is worth a fifth of her base salary.
University documents state her “at risk variable remuneration” is “subject to the attainment of strategic stretch objectives as determined” by the Adelaide University Transition Council.
This means her she can earn up to $1.1352m if she meets the unspecified performance targets.
University of Adelaide chief, Professor Peter Hoj, the body’s current co-vice chancellor with UniSA boss David Lloyd, earned a 24 per cent pay rise last year to between $1.3m and almost $1.314m.
Prof Hoj, whose 30-year career began as an Adelaide academic, was paid between $1.045m and almost $1.059m in 2023.
Prof Lloyd, a scientist who started at Trinity College Dublin in 2005, earned $1.303m in 2024.
He was paid $1.235 million in 2023 with a three-year bonus worth $178,000.
Prof Phillips, who was unavailable for comment, will earn almost half-a-million dollars less than state’s highest paid academic, Flinders Univesity vice chancellor Colin Stirling, who last year earned between $1.43m and nearly $1.44m.
Premier Peter Malinauskas is paid $436,000 while Governor Frances Adamson earns $495,754 a year.
Despite its secrecy, an Adelaide University spokesman said it was “committed to transparency”.
“Fair and reasonable remuneration was negotiated, consistent with the external independent remuneration advice,” he said.
“(It’s) commensurate with the skills and expertise together with the experience required for the role.”
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Originally published as New Adelaide University vice chancellor Professor Nicola Phillips’ almost $1m salary ‘less than replaced male bosses’
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