NTEU report finds a number of University of Tasmania executives being paid more than Premier
A number of University of Tasmania senior executives are taking home more money than Premier Jeremy Rockliff, while some are earning close to or more than the Prime Minister.
Tasmania
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Six of the University of Tasmania’s seven senior executives are earning more than Premier Jeremy Rockliff, according to a new report that makes the case for a national inquiry into the governance of universities.
The National Tertiary Education Union’s Ending Bad Governance – For Good report found that 306 executive staff across Australia’s tertiary education sector were on larger salaries than their respective state premiers, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars more per annum in many cases.
The NTEU’s analysis showed that six senior UTAS management staff were on pay packages exceeding Mr Rockliff’s, who earns $301,397 a year and is the lowest paid premier in the country.
The six highly paid UTAS executives reflected the national average of senior staff being better off than the leader of their state. Monash University topped the list with 16 managers taking in more than Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan.
“This report reveals in shocking detail the deep governance crisis that is threatening our universities,” NTEU national president Dr Alison Barnes said.
“The average vice-chancellor gets paid almost double what the Prime Minister takes home.
“University councils stacked with corporate appointees have failed to justify these salaries, undermining the credibility of our institutions.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s base salary is about $607,500, whereas the average vice-chancellor receives a package of $1.049m.
UTAS Vice-Chancellor Professor Rufus Black is on a remuneration band between $1.110m and $1.119m, making him the tenth highest paid university boss in the country.
The university’s 2023 annual report showed that of UTAS’s seven executive officers, one person received between $310,000 and $319,999 per annum, one received between $460,000 and $469,999, two received between $500,000 and $509,999, and one received between $530,000 and $539,999.
The university does not identify the pay packages of individual executives.
The NTEU also found that Australian universities were spending $734m a year on consultants while shedding jobs and that wage theft across the sector was rife.
Through a review, UTAS identified that it had underpaid staff $15.2m between 2014 and 2023 due to errors arising from “structural and systems issues”. As at December last year, all current and most former staff affected by the historic underpayments had been paid back.
UTAS chief people officer Kristen Derbyshire said the remuneration of senior executives involved an “external, objective evaluation of positions and benchmarking of salary ranges” and was “approved by University Council on the recommendation of council’s Remuneration and Nominations Committee”.
The university’s senior manager and executive remuneration procedure states that remuneration processes will be “fair and aligned to the university’s mission and long-term objectives, address gender equity … [and] acknowledge professional growth and long-term contributions to the university’s success”.
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