Renewable Teaching and Learning - Untangling the role of the Australian university

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Bulrr

The paper examines the shifting role of Australian universities following COVID-19, arguing that long-running erosion of traditional tertiary values has fragmented academic communities and weakened core teaching and research functions. It traces harms to declining government funding since the 1990s, salary inequity, job loss, deteriorating teaching and learning conditions, and the documented exploitation of sessional and casual staff, including wage theft. It calls for increased public funding and a recalibration of higher education, supported by stronger staff coordination and renewed alignment with a democratic university mission.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Critique of tertiary education funding and managerialism

Impact on teaching, research, and academic working conditions

Wage theft and exploitation of sessional and casual staff

Recommendations for restoring the public university mission

A U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W Renewable Teaching and Learning: Untangling the role of the Australian university Anne Richards Griffith University This paper engages with current debate on the role of the university following COVID-19, exposing the ongoing corruption of traditional values of the tertiary sector, and the shift in teaching and learning expectations across the academy. It highlights the negative impact of the huge decline in government funding since the 1990s, salary inequity, ongoing job loss and decline in teaching and learning conditions within universities, alongside proven wage theft and exploitation of sessional and casual staff. Government neglect of the higher education sector is obvious in its refusal to support any university staff through JobKeeper funding. These issues, together with an ongoing public apathy towards the education sector, have demoralised, disenfranchised and fragmented this vital knowledge-rich professional cohort. The critique argues that government funding to the tertiary sector must be increased to positively incentivise and restore the role of the public university in a democratic society. There should be a clear recalibration of higher education within the public sector. Staff need to work together across disciplines and hierarchies to address proven dysfunctional practices within the academy with a strong, united voice. It advances some recommendations to recapture the spirit of the once idealistic university mission, while also addressing the many-stranded, utilitarian functions that are demanded in a complex, changing landscape. Keywords: Governmentfunding, managerialism, job loss, course cuts, staff morale, wage inequity, wage theft, research subsidisation Introduction Many commentators have stressed that there is a crisis within the tertiary education system. And there is. It crosses most sectors of the university, impacting its core functions that are to provide a platform for quality teaching and excellence in innovative research. Both these arms are considered to be essential for the ‘greater good’ of the society that supports them. One 16th century definition based on Oxford University describes itself as a ‘community of teachers and scholars’, the word scholars including the students (French, quoted in Fisher, 2018). This has a distinct utopian resonance. The university traditionally had a mandate to engage with the broader community for the common good of society. Historically in the western world, there was an acceptance of the university functioning as an active public sphere, promoting community engagement and encouraging democratic citizenship. Certainly, the university of the 21st century is a more complex beast, but it is useful to outline this foundational mission. It supplies a simpler vision of the role of the university. This critique engages with current debate on the role of the university following COVID-19, exposing the ongoing corruption of traditional values of the tertiary sector and the shift in expectations across the academy. It demonstrates the fragmentation and demoralisation caused by ongoing funding cuts and micromanagement that undermines the fundamental conditions required to keep a university 22 Renewable Teaching and Learning: Untangling the role of the Australian university Anne Richards vol. 63, no. 2, 2021 A U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W functioning at a professional, sustainable level. Kenny (2018, pp. 365-6) argues that ‘neo-liberal economic policies have led to significant reductions in government funding, increased managerialism and external accountability mechanisms’ that have disempowered academics and ‘reduced productivity because they ignore the nature of academic work.’ A productive move, garnered from detailed research, is for academics to have ‘strong influence over the way their work is controlled and managed, to ensure the nature of their work is adequ

FAQs

What issues does the paper identify in the role of Australian universities after COVID-19?

It argues that COVID-19 accelerated debates about the university’s role while ongoing funding cuts and managerial practices corrupted traditional tertiary values and shifted expectations across the academy.

How does government funding change the university sector according to the paper?

It links declining government funding since the 1990s to salary inequity, job loss, and deteriorating conditions for teaching and learning, while also noting government refusal to support staff through JobKeeper.

What recommendations does the paper propose?

It recommends increasing government funding for the tertiary sector, recalibrating higher education within the public sector, and enabling staff to coordinate across disciplines and hierarchies to address dysfunctional practices with a unified voice.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Bulrr