Uni vice chancellors grilled over ‘unprecedented’ merger
A federal senate inquiry into Australian universities heard in Adelaide today of the “unprecedented” scale of the state’s current merger, learning many staff and students are still unsure of their future at the new institution.
Adelaide University co-vice chancellors, professors Peter Høj and David Lloyd, fronted the federal Education and Employment Legislation Committee this morning in its Adelaide hearing, where it emerged many current staff members are yet to learn their new roles.
Lloyd told the committee that the merger of the universities of Adelaide and South Australia was “unprecedented in scale and complexity” and that, in hindsight, running the two universities while the merger was ongoing was “probably not the greatest idea that we ever had”.
Høj said that in his and Lloyd’s 30 collective years running higher education institutions, “the regulatory burden has increased very considerably for universities”.
“If you’re a small university, then this increase in regulatory burden takes more and more money away from the academic purpose of serving the students and conducting good research,” he said.
Høj said that 98 per cent of the two universities’ 10,000 staff have transferred into positions that correspond to their current ones.
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He said that staff would know by December 19 if they have a new job description and that if they have not heard by then, their current job title would apply.
He said that “regrettable departures” have been at historical lows at Adelaide University compared to the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia.
“We think that people can see that the effort to create this university will create something that will be stronger than what either of them came from,” he said.
The Education and Employment Legislation Committee is holding a public hearing into the quality of governance at Australian higher education providers today at the Stamford Plaza Adelaide.
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Chaired by Labor senator Karen Grogan, the committee today included senators Josh Dolega, Mehreen Faruqi, Leah Blyth, Barbara Pocock and David Pocock – while senator Marielle Smith was away unwell today.
Asked about recent revelations that 838 casual contractors at the University of Adelaide were underpaid $1.25 million from 2017-2025, Høj said he was “very sorry” and that it was a “great regret”.
Høj said that as 60 per cent no longer work at the university, it was difficult to track some down and repay them, but hoped that most of those affected would be repaid by the end of November.
He said the audit to identify staff who had been underpaid was still ongoing and that it would continue until the university had gone through all the scenarios where it could have occurred.
“I do want to reiterate, senator, that it is a great regret of mine that these underpayments occurred, because one underpayment is one too many,” he said.
Asked about students who are concerned about changes to their courses, Williams said that students have been told in advance what their credit arrangements would be.
“There are going to be moments where students’ degrees will be going from having a name change, but I suspect that many of us here have a parchment on their walls, degrees that have changed over time,” he said.
Adelaide University is scheduled to open in January 2026 and is expected to have around 70,000 students, with international students making up roughly 25 per cent of all enrolments.
The new university will be led by professor Nicola Phillips, whose salary of nearly $1 million was reportedly less than her male predecessors, leading to accusations of gender discrimination.
Following this morning’s evidence, the committee then heard from The Australian Institute and The Ethics Centre executive director Dr Simon Longstaff, followed by Flinders University chancellor John Hood, president and vice-chancellor, professor Colin Stirling and general counsel and university secretary Marc Davies.
Later today, the committee will hear evidence from the University Chancellors Council convenor, professor John Pollaers.
