The previous Senate committee inquiry into university governance ended when the election was called, but the Education and Employment Legislation Committee in the new Parliament is picking up where it left off.
Ditto for Jacquie Lambie’s Bill to cap Vice-Chancellors’ pay, understatedly entitled, “there for education not for profit.”
Both continuing are big wins for critics of university managements who accounted for most of the 299 submissions to the governance inquiry. It will particularly please the National Tertiary Education Union which is campaigning for comprehensive change to university governing councils to include more elected staff and students.
It is a corresponding loss for the University Chancellors Council, which apparently hoped to head-off the pay issue. Last month convenor John Pollaers (Swinburne U) proposed the Commonwealth Remuneration Tribunal advise his members on how much VC’s should take-home. With the Senate back in business, there is nil chance of this happening ahead of the report.
The new governance inquiry has scheduled a public hearing for August 12 and while new submissions are welcome, the Committee will consider those filed to its predecessor. Its report is due December 4.
The pay inquiry intends to file on November 28, without new hearings.
The new Chair of the Senate Standing Committees on Employment and Education is Marielle Smith (Labor, SA), replacing her party colleague Tony Sheldon, who is the Government’s Chief Whip in the upper house.