Highest university executive pay packets revealed as crackdown looms

“To ensure we continue to attract and retain the best candidates,we provide competitive salary packages to our employees who provide expertise and leadership across the university,” she said.

In the same year,the University of NSW spent $10.3 million and the University of Sydney spent $7.6 million on key executives’ salaries. The University of Sydney does not classify many of its highly paid senior leaders,including some deputy vice chancellors,as key management in financial disclosures.

Key management personnel in accounting standards are those with “authority and responsibility for planning,directing and controlling the activities” of an organisation,which at universities can include the vice chancellor,deputy vice chancellors,provosts and vice presidents. Some universities also include deans of schools and other C-suite executives in their disclosures.

The federal government is expected to finalise the membership of an expert council,designed to crack down on university governance,by the end of this month.

Education Minister Jason Clare said the independent body would focus on governance issues,including how universities set pay for senior staff.

Universities would be required to demonstrate a “rigorous and transparent process for developing remuneration policies and settings for senior university staff” with consideration given to the pay rates of comparable public sector departments.

“It is clear that we need to strengthen governance arrangements at our universities and that’s what we’re doing,” Clare said.

The council’s recommendations and advice will be provided to the country’s education ministers in June.

Abouthalf of the nation’s vice chancellors at public universities are paid more than $1 million and there have been calls to cap their wagesat public service levels,including from Western Sydney University vice chancellor George Williams.

He revealed he asked for a pay cut when he was appointed vice chancellor last year,saying the sector needed to regain the public’s trust.

Others have defended vice chancellor and executive pay as justified given their mammoth remit:running complex institutions the size of ASX top 10 companies,with more staff and huge numbers of enrolments,yet operating withless research funding than many comparable universities overseas.

Newcastle University education researcher,associate professor Jess Harris,said high executive pay was a source of frustration for academic staff.

“There’s a high level of uncertainty around job security at the moment and the workload for those who have ongoing jobs is increasing,” she said.

“No one likes to hear that other people are doing well in the system that they’re struggling in.

“We have gotten to the point where we need to have a conversation about whether unis can be run as businesses. I don’t think they can be.”

The National Tertiary Education Union has been rallying against high spending on vice chancellor and executive staff salaries.

“University councils stacked with corporate appointees have failed to justify these salaries,undermining the credibility of our institutions,” president Alison Barnes said.

“Australia urgently needs a federal parliamentary inquiry into university governance and workforce planning.”

A union report last year also found that universities were spending $734 million on consultants and professional services,further fuelling the debate over financial priorities in the sector.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories,analysis and insights.Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.