Australian universities are entering a decisive moment.
Governance failures once seen as isolated incidents now sit squarely in the public eye, amplified by scrutiny over antisemitism, wage underpayments, gender-based violence and breaches of academic integrity (amongst other issues). These issues have weakened confidence in the very institutions expected to lead with integrity, inclusion, and public responsibility.
As Education Minister Jason Clare warned in October 2025: “If you don’t think there are challenges in university governance, you’ve been living under a rock.”
The question isn’t whether to act. It is whether universities will address the cultural factors behind these recurring problems.
It’s a question that is becoming harder to ignore as government and regulators are pushing the sector to respond. New bodies such as the proposed Australian Tertiary Education Commission and National Student Ombudsman are reshaping expectations, and TEQSA now holds stronger powers. A Senate inquiry is examining how well universities manage risk and duty of care, while the Expert Council on University Governance is reinforcing the same message.
What is at stake is trust. Without reform, universities risk falling into the same cycle seen in financial services and other sectors that have faced sustained public scrutiny: shrinking autonomy, heavier intervention and doubts about leadership.
The sector has no shortage of experienced leaders who understand governance expectations and have overseen major institutions, yet that expertise has not always translated into consistent results. That gap points to deeper cultural and operational factors that shape how decisions are made, how risks surface, and how issues escalate.
Universities must address the cultural causes of governance failures
Many of the sector’s recent problems did not stem from a collapse of formal governance, but from operational breakdowns or human error. In a different environment, these might have been treated as localised incidents. But in the current climate, each failure – however minor or its origins – is interpreted as a sign that deeper issues are going unaddressed. Some institutions respond with quick reviews or narrow investigations aimed at a particular issue. While these can be appropriate, they rarely get to the root of the matter, addressing only what went wrong instead of examining why it was able to happen in the first place.
Meaningful reform requires a whole-of-institution view that treats governance, culture, and risk as deeply interrelated parts of a single system. Traditional governing-body reviews tend to focus on processes, but those alone don’t determine whether risks are raised early or how decisions are made. Real improvement comes from understanding how information flows, how culture is experienced by staff and students, and how consistently risks are identified and acted on.
Relying on internal assessment alone is rarely enough. Long-standing habits and assumptions can hide blind spots, even in institutions with experienced leaders and established frameworks. External review offers a clearer, more independent view of what may be weakening trust and can help governing bodies test their own assumptions and priorities.
Examples from other sectors offer a clear lesson: Financial services went through its own reset as cultural and risk failures prompted wide-ranging reviews across the ASX, ANZ, and Commonwealth Bank, with Oliver Wyman leading several of these reviews. The same message came through each time: compliance matters, but culture and day-to-day behaviour shape whether risks are seen and addressed.
Root-cause reform is key to restoring trust and protecting autonomy
If universities ignore their deeper cultural issues, they risk losing the confidence of governments, regulators, and the public—inviting tighter controls and less freedom. Isolated fixes won’t cut it. The sector must unite governance, culture, and risk management to tackle problems at the source. Only then can the sector rebuild—and retain—public trust in Australian higher education.
Genevieve Beart is a Principal and Tim Jackson is a Partner with Oliver Wyman.