Laura Rademaker

We're very proud of Zoe at ANU!

Neither corporate nor government: Why university governance needs to be different, and better Marija Taflaga, Francis Markham and Keith Dowding. Preprint, 29 August 2025. https://doi.org/10.25911/MWW4-9781 Abstract Australian universities face a governance crisis rooted in failures of accountability. Unlike parliaments and corporate boards, university councils lack effective mechanisms for principals to discipline agents. In parliaments, voters can replace elected representatives; in corporations, shareholders can vote out directors. Both systems close the delegation–accountability loop, ensuring alignment between principals and outcomes. University councils, however, are self-perpetuating bodies dominated by external appointees, and in recent decades they are typically from corporate backgrounds. As neither producers nor consumers of universities’ core product—knowledge creation and dissemination—they have minimal intrinsic stake in academic outcomes leaving councils detached from the university’s core mission. This misalignment fosters mission drift, weakens oversight, and contributes to repeated scandals. Because councils largely appoint their own successors, they remain insulated from meaningful scrutiny, unlike boards or parliaments where underperformance is sanctioned externally. Restoring accountability requires giving academic staff and students a renewed oversight role, alongside clear safeguards for the public interest. Because academics and students are both producers and consumers of knowledge, they have a direct and enduring stake in its quality. We recommend two mechanisms to do this are: 1. Academic Senates empowered to appoint and review council members, ensuring councils reflect the university’s purpose. 2. Robust Committee Systems that embed staff and student voices in decision-making, reduce information asymmetries, and align incentives with academic purposes.

Australian universities are in a governance crisis. VC pay blowouts, scandals, mission drift — these aren’t random, they’re structural.

This new working paper with @marijataflaga.bsky.social & Keith Dowding digs into why the system is broken, and how to fix it.

doi.org/10.25911/MWW...

A thread:

Petition to ANU Council In support of our petition, we observe that:  • ANU Council has the entire control and management of the University and is required to act in all matters concerning the ANU in the way it thinks w...

This is the big one. Anyone is welcome to sign, you don't have to be at ANU, you just have to care about higher ed. www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/pe...

Universities have lost their way, but cost-cutting and consultants are not the answer Last week in Sydney, we saw a melodrama acted out that could stand in for the state of Australian universities more generally.

theconversation.com/universities...

ANU and the Search Foundation are offering a PhD with $100,000 top up to complete the final (1970-91) volume of the history of the Communist Party of Australia. 👇

Chancel Culture, David Pope

ANU academic Liz Allen tells the Senate Education and Employment Education Committee that she's been "bullied into near suicide" Follow the latest news headlines from Australia's most trusted source. Read in-depth expert analysis and watch live coverage on ABC News.

Courage @drdemography.com www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...

It is massive. Thanks to Peter Deppeler on Twitter for the footage. #GazaGenocide #MarchForHumanity

A shoutout to all the academics who are also working 9 to 9, 24/7 👩‍💻

We also have a fancy new website therha.com.au

Do you have some great work on religious history, but need financial support to get to a conference? The Religious History Association has a new Conference Bursary Scheme! therha.com.au/bursary-sche...

Your support is needed - sign the petition opposing the Job-ready Graduates Scheme www.openpetition.org/au/petition/...

@austhistassoc.bsky.social

Job-Ready Graduates attacks the arts and humanities and presents an often insurmountable obstacle for those looking to undertake further study study. Follow the link for an Open Letter to @albomp.bsky.social calling for the repeal of JRG, and sign our petition. linktr.ee/aushistorica...

Tim Winton among 100 high-profile Australians calling for university fees that don’t ‘punish’ arts students Open letter urges Labor to reverse JRG scheme, introduced by Coalition in 2021, as cost of humanities degrees reaches more than $50,000

‘If Labor won’t act to defend equity in education, what is the point of them – I mean, what do they really stand for?’ www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

"cultural vandalism on a breathtaking scale"

"These are just highly talented and idealistic young people... These are the kind of people the country needs, now and in the future."

"A threat to the health of Australia’s humanities sector" historycouncilnsw.org.au/anu-restruct...

Never mind that they're the top ranked anthropologists in Australia, and in the top ten in the world. This is how they're treated

"Let the people who built this place do their work" #ourANU

Australia can't withstand further humanities cuts The Australian Academy of Humanities views with great concern the impact on staff, students and the wider community of the ANU’s plan for the humanities and social sciences. Now is not the time to red...

humanities.org.au/power-of-the...

The Wild Australia Show <p>The Wild Australia Show was a troupe of 27 Aboriginal performers recruited from northern Queensland in the 1890s for a world tour that would culminate at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago...

The Wild Australia Show, now out as a free download! Congratulations to the authors! doi.org/10.22459/WAS... doi.org/10.22459/WAS...

An illustration showing five figures in profile, increasing in height from left to right. Each figure is dressed in patterned, flowing garments in shades of yellow, blue, green, ochre, and red. A large yellow sun is in the top left corner, with swirling blue and black patterns in the background. At the bottom, there is a logo and text that reads: 'THE NEXT GENERATION: STRENGTH, VISION & LEGACY, 6–13 JULY 2025'.

NAIDOC Week 2025 marks a powerful milestone: 50 years of honouring and elevating Indigenous voices, culture and resilience.

Explore over 50 titles on Indigenous culture in our list, available in multiple formats: press.anu.edu.au

Kids four minutes into the first day of school holidays: "I'm boooooorreedd"

But we're the poorer for not having you!

The world is going troppo: and things in universities are not looking up. This week I went to a *really* good conference with the theme 'Looking Up'. But I was alarmed at the experience of those currently working in universities, many of whom are not able to look up rn.

With a million thanks to @stplbrk.bsky.social for the best collegiality ever, I had two incredible days but a bazillion heartbreaking conversations in North Queensland hannahforsyth.substack.com/p/the-world-...

The power of suggestion: engagement, industriousness and General Motors–Holden’s suggestion plan After World War Two, General Motors–Holden launched an employee suggestion scheme that paid out millions of dollars in rewards for suggestions leading to improvements in productivity and workplace ...

Great new article by Carolyn Collins & Paul Sendziuk
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Brisbane friends!

Look what's arrived!

Historicising industriousness… Hannah Forsyth and Matthew Bailey set the scene. Read open access at www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
#history #australia