UniSA brand can’t be scrubbed as Premier officially opens merged uni
An immovable nod to UniSA will likely mark the merged Adelaide University for years to come as Premier Peter Malinauskas officially opens the institution that will teach the most Aussie students in the nation.
As Premier Peter Malinauskas unveiled the plaque at the official launch of Adelaide University this morning alongside Vice Chancellor Nicola Phillips and Chancellor Pauline Carr, news of a large, enduring logo for the now defunct Uni SA emerged.
Phillips revealed that the new university had yet to remove the large black University of South Australia logo created on the bottom of the Pridham Hall pool that was opened in 2018 in the city’s West End.
“I recognise that there were some obstacles that couldn’t be overcome, like the fact that emblazoned across the bottom of the swimming pool in Pridham Hall is a giant UniSA logo, but that’s going to have to stay for a while,” she said.
Phillips was announced as Vice Chancellor and President of Adelaide University in June 2025 and has 30 years of experience in the higher education sector in Australia and the United Kingdom, having previously served as Provost at the University of Melbourne, where she was also a Professor of Political Economy.
Phillips also held senior leadership roles at King’s College London, The University of Sheffield and The University of Manchester.
Today, Phillips acknowledged the thousands of people “who went above and beyond to help build this university”.
“I understand fully the magnitude of the task, the imagination, the hard work that was required, and the obstacles that everybody has had to overcome,” she said.
Malinauskas called it “a genuinely historic day for our city and our state as a whole”.
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“There are countless reasons to have not brought these universities together, but there is one reason that we should, and that is the interests of young people in the state of South Australia writ large,” he said.
Malinauskas said that Adelaide University was now the largest educator of domestic students in Australia. Adelaide University’s first students start next month, with 56,000 having transferred from its foundation institutions and more than 11,000 offers made to domestic students.
“That invites more perspectives, that invites more ways of thinking, that then can underpin yet more opportunity for others who are yet to walk through these doors,” he said.
“Now, if you’re not willing to get excited about that proposition, I’m not too sure what will excite you.
“These are not just educational institutions – these are economic institutions, because when we advance learning and knowledge, our economy grows on the back of innovation that leads to improved living standards.”
Mature-aged secondary teaching student Mel Leaver said that the merger had been “quite stressful” but said the “dedication and the hard work of professional and academic staff is phenomenal”.
“I’m a continuing student from one of the foundation universities, so for a little while, we weren’t exactly sure what was happening with our degrees and everything else, but enrolment is always stressful,” she said.
Leaver felt like she had enough support, but at times felt that communication was lacking and was looking forward to new courses on offer.
“I know that comes from systems and not exactly being sure, and maybe not being certain exactly what was happening,” she said.
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Asked previously about how the merger was going, Phillips admitted that there had been “some glitches and some lumps and bumps in the way” and expected further ones, but was adamant that “we’re on top of it”.
“Obviously, this process has been unprecedented in its scale and in its complexity, but we have exceeded our own expectations, particularly in terms of how the system’s cutovers have gone,” she said.
“We know where the glitches are, we are working through them, and we’re striving to work with individual students and members of staff, and make sure we have circumstances that are absolutely clear.”
She said that the university would be conducting a series of “quite intensive audits” to make sure that all personal details and completion requirements are in order for students.
“I do understand, though, that processes of change, particularly on this kind of scale where everything is new for our students, can create a lot of anxiety and a lot of difficulty,” she said.
“The commitment is absolutely rock solid to make sure that all of our students are taken care of as we move into semester one and throughout the course of the academic period – we have lots of people working on that.”
Asked about concerns from staff about what they claimed was insufficient workload relief and staff to carry out the merger, Phillips said that she was “under no illusions at all about what it’s taken to get to this point”.
Dr Andrew Miller, who is SA secretary of the National Tertiary Education Union, previously told InDaily that the merger had been “really challenging” for staff over the past 12 months.
“I’m deeply inspired by the commitment and the hard work that has been put in,” Phillips said.
“I need to be able to check the temperature, hear what people are thinking and feeling, understand what kind of experience this has been for our staff and make sure that we are responsive to what they need now for this next period.
“I’m very gratified to hear, for many, that they’re optimistic about the future. They feel proud of what’s being achieved, even though they are feeling tired, and they are optimistic about what is now possible at university.”
The merger comes less than 31 months after the Malinauskas Labor government signed a Heads of Agreement with the universities of Adelaide and South Australia to create Adelaide University.
The government said it has committed more than $400 million, including a $200 million perpetual research fund for the merger.
Opposition Legislative Councillor said that the SA Liberals supported the merger but that there were “some serious teething problems”.
“It simply isn’t good enough, and those teething problems certainly need to be sorted out sooner rather than later so that our students, new and existing, can enter into this year, 2026, full of hope and ready to go,” he said.
