The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has called for an overhaul of university donations disclosures after revelations that two people who made enormous donations were later appointed as chancellors of the institution.
Current University of Melbourne Chancellor Jane Hansen AO, who was appointed on January 1 2023, donated $40 million with her husband Paul Little across two separate gifts in 2018 and 2015, new NTEU research reveals.
Her predecessor Allan Myers AC QC donated $10 million to the University Of Melbourne’s Believe fundraising campaign in 2013. Mr Myers served as chancellor from 2017 to 2022.
There are no suggestions of impropriety by Mr Myers or Ms Hansen.
The research also revealed potential conflicts of interest for Victorian vice-chancellors linked to consultancies and directorships.
Swinburne Vice-Chancellor Pasquale Quester consulted for the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry including promoting the organisation’s 2022 election platform.
Former University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor Duncan Haskell held seven directorships (including directorship of Australia’s third largest company, CSL Limited) while also running one of Australia’s biggest universities.
The NTEU is calling for all Victorian universities to be forced to disclose donations above $500,000; compulsory disclosure of vice-chancellors’ consultancies and directorships; and an auditor-general investigation of vice-chancellors’ interests in companies that their universities have contracts with.
Professor Joo-Cheong Tham FASSA, NTEU Victorian Assistant Secretary (Academic Staff) and Professor, Melbourne Law School with expertise in public integrity said:
“The large donations made by two Chancellors of the University of Melbourne prior to their appointments raise troubling questions for university governance.
“If a large donor to a political party later became its President, there would understandably be a perception of undue influence.
“Universities should be subject to governance standards no less exacting than those that apply to political parties.
“As leaders of major public institutions, Vice-Chancellors are expected to dedicate themselves full-time to their university roles.
“When Vice-Chancellors have multiple consultancies and directorships – especially those of multi-billion global companies – the community will rightly query how effectively they are leading their universities.”
“The commercial arrangements of universities should be conducted with strict probity. Multi-million contracts between universities and companies where their Vice-Chancellors are directors call into question whether this standard is being met.
“University governance is in desperate need for fundamental reform – particularly, greater voice for university workers, enhanced transparency and effective standards of integrity.”
The report, University Governance Concerns in relation to Victorian Vice-Chancellors and Chancellors is available here.
