The report is welcome, but its important that we think about first and second order effects 1st order: broken accountability systems, weak transparency mechanmisms 2nd order: VC salaries, low staff and student representation, wage theft 2nd order effects are SYMPTOMS of the 1st order CAUSES

“Ultimately, the responsibility [for ANU] rests with the chancellor, Julie Bishop. She presided over this continued period of dysfunction, and it was under her watch that catastrophic failures occurred,” Senator Anthony Sheldon www.afr.com/politics/fed...

University governance dysfunction perfectly highlighted. Public uni councils are fed carefully curated information from their chancellors and vice chancellors; given talking points and manipulated realities. Council members don’t know what they don’t know. www.theage.com.au/national/uni...

“The ANU Chancellor is putting a lot of emphasis on workplace safety and due process for her own benefit, but very little as regards to Dr Allen and other staff who have raised concerns.” Senator @davidpocock.bsky.social spokesperson region.com.au/anu-chancell...

An unhappy reminder that there remains much more that must be done to fix governance and bullying, and to make ANU a positive environment in which to work and study.

ANU interim vice chancellor today announced no more forced redundancies under the Renew ANU program. Cuts are ongoing, but forced redundancies are off the table. It’s been a hard slog. Harms are ongoing. There’s still more work to do. I’m so proud of my colleagues, ANU community.

"Bishop, the university’s chancellor, and members of the council have faced pressure over their own roles in ANU’s financial management and associated transparency and governance concerns. NTEU… the academic community and some politicians … have repeatedly called Bishop’s leadership into question.”

BREAKING: #ANU has announced that there will be no forced redundancies. ✊ Union members fought tirelessly to save these jobs, and every university staff member facing job cuts can take heart from what we have achieved. Together, we have changed what is possible. nteu.au/[email protected]

✊UNION WIN✊ The ANU has announced that there will be no forced redundancies. @nteuact.bsky.social members have fought tirelessly to save these jobs, showing every university staff member facing job cuts that change is possible. 📰Read here: www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

There remains uncertainty about the future of some divisions, schools and disciplines, and the work to reform governance must go on. But this is a huge win for the ANU community. Well done to everyone who has been standing up for the future of our university! www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

The Provisional Improvement Notice (PIN) called on CASS dean Prof Bronwyn Parry to implement “urgent suicide prevention measures” and investigate allegations that staff were being “coerced and bullied into applying for voluntary redundancies”. region.com.au/jimmy-barnes...

The report detailed complaints by staff of aggression, bullying and harassment. The order … advised workers affected by the restructure process, which has been named Renew ANU, to “remove themselves from the hazardous work environment”. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Private consultants are taking control of how public universities are evaluated and run. My submission to the Senate university governance inquiry raises concerns about the impact of Nous Group and their dodgy UniForum data on our universities. www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStor... A thread

The @nteunion.bsky.social member who is the HSR involved in this doesn't want the spotlight, but he has been heroic on this issue. He knows who he is, and his colleagues know who he is, so I won't name him here - but congratulations on standing up for your colleagues. ✊

Unsafe conditions, imminent risk www.canberratimes.com.au/story/906834...

It is a disgrace that UTS management don’t have a problem with forking out millions of dollars on private consultants and hundreds of thousands to attend extravagant alumni events abroad, yet have no qualms about slashing disciplines like education, international relations, and public health.

BREAKING | ANU staff in the College of Arts and Social Sciences have received a Cease Work Order due to dangerous working conditions. Under the WHS Act staff will be paid while this order is in place. The order seeks to protect lives and wellbeing.

Even more support to save the ANU School of Music. www.afr.com/work-and-car...

“I was a member of ANU staff for over 30 years and enjoyed Anthony Low's style; he left management to managers. The first time I felt bullied was in the Chubb/Cram era ...” Prof. Adrian Gibbs www.canberratimes.com.au/story/906630...

Renew ANU is a zombie - a corpse shuffling along with no beating heart - and it should be buried. 🧟‍♂️ More than 100 #ANU staff still face involuntary job losses. @nteunion.bsky.social says the best start for the Interim VC would be burying this zombie for good.

ABC describe the former VC as the “first” to lose their job because of the ANU governance crisis. There seems to be a growing consensus that she should not be the last. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

When non-profit organisations are managed as if they were for-profit firms, problems emerge. www.afr.com/work-and-car...

“When meritocrats consult, we must deliberate. Where meritocrats cherish distance, we need to seek proximity. If meritocrats show contempt, we ought to foster dignity—talk and listen respectfully, observe and act deliberately.” A thought-provoking piece by my colleague, Nick Cheesman. #auspol #uni

Prof. Ian Chubb, former VC at ANU, on what went wrong at the ANU and what needs to change (I served on the Michael Chaney-led International Education Advisory Council with Prof. Chubb and learned a lot from him - a deeply impressive man) www.canberratimes.com.au/story/906608...

www.abc.net.au/religion/anu... Good piece by Nick Cheesman from my old department at ANU @ouranu.bsky.social

ANU ‘…governance arrangements are broken and they need to be fixed’ - Will Burfoot, ANU student president and Council member. ANU’s problems go well beyond an individual person. Well done to Will for showing enormous leadership and bravery. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

IT IS POSSIBLE. Though obviously not the end of the struggle at ANU as it isn't just the one person (however much their salaries would have you believe...) but a structural failure of governance that needs to get readjusted. Important key step though, solidarity with @ouranu.bsky.social!

“This won’t be the end of the turmoil at ANU. A Senate inquiry continues, and a new vice-chancellor must be found. For now, Chancellor Bishop holds on at ANU, but how long she can retain her position remains open to question.” @beneltham.bsky.social www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/12/g...

“dialogue is the antithesis of either top-down or bureaucratic decision-making. It acknowledges the place of risk in the interactions between participants, as they make themselves vulnerable by engaging with a wide range of people...” ANU Governance Project www.canberratimes.com.au/story/906463...

"The core problem is a vacuum of accountability. In the university sector, no one is held responsible for failure, at least no one at the top." @jack-thrower.bsky.social in the Canberra Times Read: www.canberratimes.com.au/story/906393...

A grassroots group of academics, Our ANU, said “only genuine accountability” would allow the institution to reset and rebuild. “We ask all remaining executives to ask themselves if they are the people right for the job of finding new ways to work with the ANU community,” they said.

ANU academics! You will have read about the draft ANU governance report in the Canberra Times and AFR. We'll use it inform, amongst other things, a paper to the senate inquiry. Please share widely! We can make a difference. More here: assets.nationbuilder.com/davidpocock/...

@thesiswhisperer.bsky.social Queen! We are watching you from the campus pub and cheering!

This is absolutely spot on! A huge thank you to you Senator Faruqi for your ongoing advocacy and support for the change we need at ANU. Let’s make the most of this opportunity.

With luck this will give us the opportunity to regroup, rebuild and develop a better version of ANU which has, to be honest, not been a nurturing environment for some time now.

Professor Bell’s resignation is the culmination of months of scandal, plummeting staff and student morale, and a governance system that is completely broken. Let’s not forget that Chancellor Bishop’s leadership has also been fraught, and she too must be held accountable for the crisis at ANU.

A grassroots group of academics campaigning against the staff cuts said ... “The issues at the heart of this crisis go beyond the vice chancellor. This has been years in the making, the product of deep governance failures that have damaged the university’s finances, reputation, and community trust.

The vice-chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU) has tendered her resignation after a tumultuous two years at the institution, marked by redundancies, proposed course closures, and allegations of a toxic work culture. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

“ANU urgently needs new direction and new leadership – one that restores its focus on research, education, and the free dissemination of knowledge.” Our ANU’s statement on the VC’s resignation 👇 drive.google.com/file/d/1e3Lh...

Our ANU will be posting a statement shortly… www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...

"On Wednesday, a group of academics met with chancellor Julie Bishop to deliver the ANU Governance Project report, which found that 96 per cent of the 700 respondents believed the university’s governance was not fit for purpose and should be reformed..." www.afr.com/work-and-car...

The ANU Governance Project Working Group invites the ANU community and stakeholders to offer feedback on the draft report over the next 48 hours (by midnight on Thursday, 11 September). anugovernance-davidpocock.nationbuilder.com/statement_re...

Speaking to Guardian Australia, Pocock said he had spoken with a “huge number of people” at the ANU, including deans, and it had become “very clear” that there was “no faith” in Bell or Bishop’s leadership and council needed to play a “far more active role”. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

"We think that the ANU community best knows how existing decisions have impacted them, and what principles and frameworks might be necessary to improve future governance outcomes," the Governance Project said. www.canberratimes.com.au/story/906187...

"It is the case I have had to say at this university, 'The deans work for me, not the other way around," Professor Bell told ABC's Stateline in March. … I am the one that makes the decisions here — but I like to make them as collectively as we can." www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

I’m devastated to learn - via media - that all members of the Council-appointed investigation committee into Senate evidence have met with the Chancellor. Even before I’ve met with them, or been provided the terms of reference. Due process, this is not. www.afr.com/work-and-car...

I’m calling again for the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor to all step aside while the evidence provided in the Senate inquiry is examined. Fair and due process cannot be achieved under these circumstances.

tinyurl.com/bv9796hm "...it emerged 5 of the 6 college deans had delivered an ultimatum to the council that either Bell went, or they would, a person who has seen the letter but asked not to be identified told The AFR" @ouranu.bsky.social @drdemography.com @nteuact.bsky.social

Leadership must ‘come clean’ on speculated VC ousting, for the sake of the University community’s psychosocial safety. Shocking staff and students have had no official communications. Media is the only source of information atm. Incredibly bad governance. region.com.au/pressure-mou...