What she wants? Senator for Tasmania Jacqui Lambie wants to “end the excessive remuneration paid to the vice chancellors of Australian universities”
What’s not excessive? $430,000 would be top whack for new VCs – a stack less than the Treasurer Jim Chalmers
How she wants to do it? Senator Lambie has a Bill in the Senate
But since when does the government get to set VC’s pay? since forever at ANU, which was created by a Commonwealth Act. Every other university is incorporated under state legislation, which gives university councils the authority to run their shops. To deal with this Senator Lambie has a cunning plan.
Could you pin a tail on it and call it a weasel? The weaseliest. The Bill makes VC remuneration subject to a registration requirement by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency. TEQSA would have the power to obtain information on pay from universities.
Two weasels actually: A minister could pay a VC over the limit by a legislative instrument – which means parliament could reject the decision – thus making VC remuneration very political indeed and not the sort of issue your average education minister would want to fight for.
But what happens if universities get bolshie? TEQSA can shorten, or cancel, a university’s registration is what.
Or if the High Court nixes the idea: In which case so be it, but, “It should be noted that the TESQA already imposes extensive regulation of the functioning and operation of Australian public universities that are established and governed by state legislation.”
So what happens now?: the Senate’s Scrutiny of Bills Committee has had a look and is not fussed by the Bill but the Standing Committee on Education and Employment will have an inquiry. Submissions are due by April 1. There is no mention of hearings, but Senator Lambie appears to enjoy the idea, “I look forward to seeing some of those fat cats squirm as they try to justify the unjustifiable,” she told the Senate.
Gosh whoever could she mean? Group of Eight VCs for a start, and yes the committee can compel attendance and production of documents. But if VC’s were inadvertently unavailable, say at an urgent meeting of the Antarctic Education Council, chancellors could cover – what with their being the people who authorise the pay packets.
So what happens next? That could depend on the election. But probably not. Senator Lambie is up for re-election and not likely to lose. The Committee has set August 1 to report
And where will this all end? Whatever the Senate decides, no government with a majority in the Reps will want to get involved in approving Vice-Chancellors pay. But if the next PM depends on the crossbench, who knows? But whatever occurs, Senator Lambie will have made a point she really wants to make and universities will endure way more scrutiny than they are used to, or enjoy.
