By Lucy Carroll
Hundreds of jobs are expected to be slashed at some of Sydney’s biggest universities as the institutions embark on radical cost-cutting measures amid major budget shortfalls.
Western Sydney University is planning to cut up to 400 jobs in a bid to plug an almost $80 million budget black hole as it faces weaker enrolment demand.
Vice chancellor George Williams said fresh budget pressures meant the university had “no choice” but to reduce its workforce and freeze senior staff pay.
The institution’s job cuts announcement comes less than a week after the University of Technology told staff about 150 academic and 250 professional roles could go as part of its plans to find $100 million in savings by 2026.
Vice chancellor of Western Sydney University George Williams says up to 400 jobs are set to go.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Williams said his university was expecting a $79 million deficit next year after initial forecasts of $6.5 million. “The international student caps are hitting our university hard as is increased competition for students in western Sydney,” he said.
Intense budget pressures, a drop-off in domestic enrolments and lighter course loads taken by students in a cost of living squeeze have driven the cost-cutting plans.
“Student behaviour is also changing, with many choosing to undertake fewer courses, no doubt due in many cases to cost-of-living pressures,” Williams said.
“Our worsening budget position means that Western will have insufficient revenue to cover 2026 salary and other costs. I have reduced my senior executive leadership team by 25 per cent.”
The plan to axe up to 400 jobs, first reported by The Australian Financial Review, includes a proposal to disestablish 120 vacant positions.
“My salary and the pay of our senior leaders has been frozen, and we have placed strict limits on hiring, reduced travel and catering, and restricted use of external consultants,” Williams said. “We also have no choice but to reduce our workforce by 300 to 400 positions.”
The University of Technology last week told staff up to 400 jobs could go under its restructure less than six months after flagging it would need to cut operating expenditure by $100 million next year. That figure is up from a $45 million shortfall forecast last year.
The University of Technology is expected to cut up to 400 jobs.Credit: Oscar Coleman
In a statement on Thursday, the National Tertiary Education Union said UTS vice chancellor Andrew Parfitt had “faced disgruntled staff at town halls on multiple occasions to justify these changes”.
“Despite a lack of evidence and logic, he insists the university must cut 400 jobs. In the midst of this turmoil, two executives within the senior leadership team have exited abruptly since the start of the year,” the statement said.
On Wednesday, Parfitt announced university provost Vicki Chen would be leaving UTS “to pursue her research career and other opportunities”.
In a statement to the Herald, Parfitt said he was confident UTS had a pathway to achieve financial sustainability.
“We have been open with staff that job losses of approximately 400 are likely to be required,” he said.
“UTS is facing financial sustainability pressure as we work to recover from the impacts of COVID, balance increasing costs and manage government policy changes that have reduced our funding and limited near-term revenue growth.”
The federal government last year announced plans to limit international student numbers amid acute political pressure to reduce migration. The laws failed to pass the Senate last year but changes to migration policy have caused uncertainty for universities.
The University of Wollongong is also planning to axe up to 270 positions amid major financial challenges, blamed in part due to changes to the government’s migration policy and a sharp reduction in international student numbers.
The flagged cuts come as Australian universities face scrutiny from a Senate inquiry into the governance and management of the institutions amid rising concern around executive pay, expenditure on consultants, financial management, handling of antisemitism on campus and the widespread issue of underpayment of academics.
The Australian National University is expected to make further job cuts this year in a bid to return the institution to financial sustainability as it confronts a $200 million deficit.
Last month, more than 800 ANU staff passed a vote of no confidence against chancellor Julie Bishop over job cuts and leadership issues.
The vote occurred after it was revealed Bishop used the university’s funds to pay her business partner as a consultant, and that vice chancellor Genevieve Bell held a second job at Intel in the US while in her role.
Australian National University is expected to make further job cuts this year after its latest voluntary redundancy round.Credit: Louie Douvis
The union’s national president, Alison Barnes, said the staff vote, which was open to all National Tertiary Education Union members, was emblematic of a governance crisis across the country.
“The ANU scandals have piled up higher than the Telstra Tower, yet the council continues to back in a vice chancellor and chancellor who have both failed to take any responsibility for terrible mismanagement,” Barnes said.
It is not yet clear which faculties at the universities will be affected by cuts, or the proposed timelines for the restructures.
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