Our unis.
Our future.
The issue
University governance
in NSW is in crisis
Across NSW, universities are cutting huge parts of their workforce with minimal oversight or accountability. These aren’t just abstract numbers, they’re people’s livelihoods. They’re the lecturers, librarians, IT staff, professional staff, researchers, and student support workers who are the heart of our universities.
The consequences will be felt for decades: a loss of knowledge, a loss of livelihood, and a long-term impact on teaching and education standards. In regional communities, the damage will be even greater. The University of Wollongong, for example, employs more than 10% of Wollongong’s workforce – good, secure jobs that support entire local economies.
Universities are justifying these cuts with unclear and often dubious budgetary reasons. At WSU, management’s explanation for cutting staff is that they need to pay back wages they previously stole from workers. Across the state, there is a complete lack of transparency in how decisions are made. Private consultancy firms – Nous, KPMG, KordaMentha – heavily involved in advising on restructures, alongside influential Vice-Chancellors and Chancellors who often hold positions in the corporate sector.
Disputes are already active across multiple universities as staff fight back. These cuts are part of a wider shift in how our universities are run – from public institutions grounded in education, equity, and critical thinking, to corporatised entities driven by revenue targets and executive interests.
This campaign is about more than defending jobs today. It’s about reshaping the future so this crisis can never be manufactured again – fighting for stronger protections for workers, real transparency, and democratic oversight of university leadership. Staff, students, and communities deserve universities that put people first, not profits.
The scale
Thousands of jobs in one of
NSW’s most important sectors
In NSW there are
universities, of which 6 are looking at cutting jobs.
How many jobs on the line?
This represents 5% of FTE, or
%
of estimated headcount
1500 jobs on the chopping block across 6 unis, represents 5% of FTE, potentially 15% headcount
1500 jobs on the chopping block across 6 unis, represents 5% of FTE, potentially 15% headcount
Protest
1500 jobs from NSW’s second largest export
Tue 19 August
While staff are losing jobs, students are losing courses, and campuses are being hollowed out, university VCs and their corporate consultants will be inside the Fullerton Hotel attending the Australian Financial Review’s so-called Higher Education Summit.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t a summit to fix the crisis in higher education, it’s a summit to manage the decline. To rebrand job cuts as “transformation.” To sell off the public mission of our universities in the language of productivity, innovation, and consultancy slides.
Those responsible for cutting jobs and corporatising higher education are meeting to discuss our future without us. There’s no representation from workers or their union, just consultants, politicians and industry lobbyists.
So members, unionists, students and the university community are coming together to make sure we’re heard. Join us in rallying outside the summit, making it clear to the so-called ‘decision makers’ of our institutions that they can’t lock us out of our own future.
