Latest news with #GenevieveBell
ABC News
10 hours ago
- Business
- ABC News
Australian National University announces first round of job cuts as part of effort to turn around financial issues
The first of several rounds of job cuts has been announced by the Australian National University (ANU), as it continues to grapple with its dire financial position. After years of operating deficits, the university has been seeking to make $250 million in savings by the end of the year, including $100 million to come from salaries. ANU Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell said the university was now just over halfway towards their salary savings target, made mostly through voluntary redundancies. "This is a hard time for our community and it has been a hard journey," Professor Bell said. "We are going to keep having to make hard choices." The first of several "change proposals" has been released by the ANU, focusing on the institute's Information Technology Services, Information Security Office, and Planning and Service Performance division. A total of 37 jobs are proposed to be cut, representing a reduction of between nine per cent and 14 per cent of staff for each of those three areas. Professor Bell said it was a "difficult day". "I know that is going to be a difficult journey to get us there, but I also know it's the right thing to do for this remarkable place." In coming weeks, proposed job cuts and restructures will be released for the Academic Portfolio, Research and Innovation Portfolio, the College of Science and Medicine, and the College of Arts and Social Sciences. ANU Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Churchill said there would be a consultation period after the release of each change proposal, promising to consult "every step of the way". "Only after considering this feedback will final decisions be made." The university said the number of jobs being cut wasn't representative of the number of affected staff because, in some instances, reductions have been found in vacant roles. Mr Churchill said the ANU had made "every effort to minimise the impact". "We recognise this is an incredibly challenging time for our whole community, but we also need to make changes to ensure we can continue to deliver world-class teaching and research into the future," he said. "We are grateful to our staff and students for their patience, engagement, continued hard work and care for others throughout this process." The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) ACT division secretary Lachlan Clohesy said the proposed cuts were a "slap in the face to university staff". "These job cuts are the tip of the iceberg," he said. "We're expecting ANU leadership to announce hundreds more job losses by the end of September." Dr Clohesy said there was no financial rationale for job cuts, repeating a call for the vice-chancellor to be sacked. "These cuts, and the broader ANU situation under this vice-chancellor, have completely trashed the ANU's reputation and damaged staff and students. "The vice-chancellor's tenure has been a disaster." Last week, more than 500 ANU staff signed an open letter calling on university leadership to stop plans for further job cuts. The university said it had identified $25 million in non-salary savings so far this year, in areas including travel, software and campus services. "It's important to note that most non-salary savings take longer to realise — for example, having to wait for contracts to expire," ANU Chief Finance Officer Michael Lonergan said. "Further work continues to identify and realise further savings, and we remain confident of reaching our target."
The Guardian
16 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
ANU investigates possible hack after vice-chancellor's account liked ‘highly offensive' LinkedIn posts
The Australian National University (ANU) has contacted authorities about a possible hacking incident after its vice-chancellor's account liked a number of 'highly offensive' LinkedIn posts about Gaza and Julie Bishop. One of the posts liked by Genevieve Bell's account was an inflammatory post about Gaza, while another made negative comments about Bishop, the ANU chancellor and a former foreign minister. A spokesperson for ANU said it was made aware on Wednesday morning that Bell's LinkedIn account had been 'compromised'. 'The LinkedIn account had 'liked' certain posts that the VC had never seen,' the spokesperson said. 'Some of the liked content was highly offensive and objectionable to the VC and which are also inconsistent with the values set by the Council for ANU. 'We take this type of behaviour seriously.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email An internal investigation was under way, and the matter had been referred to the Australian Cyber Security Centre. The senior reporter for the Saturday Paper, Rick Morton, posted to Bluesky on Wednesday afternoon that he had notified ANU about a series of questionable posts liked by Bell's account. 'The 'likes' were in among normal posts the VC account had liked or reacted to about the work of the university and her former and beloved school, Cybernetics, so it's a very strange one,' he wrote. 'I look forward to what the investigation finds.' The incident comes amid a restructure at ANU to cut about $100m from staff costs via its Renew ANU plan with the goal for a break-even operating result for 2026. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion It also follows a damning report on the institution's culture released late last month. The independent review into ANU's former College of Health and Medicine, led by Prof Christine Nixon, outlined allegations of sexism, racism and entrenched disrespect in the now defunct college, described as sobering reading by Bell. In a statement on Tuesday updating staff on the university's finances, Bell acknowledged it had been a 'really hard period' for the community. 'I know that each of us cares for this place and for our colleagues and students,' she wrote. 'And I know we are trying to have conversations as respectfully and as empathetically as we can because every conversation has ripples to the people and teams they impact. 'And I know we have so much work ahead of us – with the Nixon report, with the changes we are making, with the complexity of the world changing around us that we have to keep navigating.'
ABC News
28-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
ANU Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell says she's committed to implementing the report's recommendations.
Australian National University Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell says an external investigator will review allegations of "wildly inappropriate behaviour" within the College of Health and Medicine. The allegations are contained in a second, confidential report by Professor Christine Nixon who yesterday released a damning review of the "toxic" culture within the college.
ABC News
28-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
'Wildly inappropriate behaviour' within Australian National University medical college to be investigated
People accused of "wildly inappropriate behaviour" at the Australian National University's medical college could be fired if allegations are proven, Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell says. A report by Professor Christine Nixon into gender and cultural issues at the College of Health and Medicine and its constituent schools — found an entrenched toxic culture and a "remarkable tolerance for poor behaviour and bullying". The college includes the John Curtin School of Medical Research, the School of Medicine and Psychology, and the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health. Professor Bell said a second, confidential report by Professor Nixon was also presented to university leadership, which included allegations about people who still worked at the university as well as ex-staff. "We expected, as people talked to [Professor Nixon], that people were going to disclose and make allegations about really wildly inappropriate behaviour and we asked her to quarantine that from the report," Professor Bell said. Professor Bell said an external investigator would be appointed to review those allegations. "At the moment they are allegations and the thing about that is they need to be investigated appropriately," she said. She did not rule out firing people if the allegations were found to be true. "When we have had serious misconduct we will manage it within the parameters that we have," Professor Bell said. Professor Bell said the report primarily focused on one college — arising from "disturbing accounts" of what had been happening. Since the review was commissioned last year, ANU closed the College of Health and Medicine and created a combined College of Science and Medicine. Professor Bell said the eight key findings and 17 recommendations made in the report were "absolutely" applicable across the university. Profesor Bell said previous reports into different aspects of the College of Health and Medicine over the years had pointed to challenges in the culture there. "I suspect this is not a recent phenomenon," she said. "Something that's been there that long will take time to unpick and change." She said she read the report alongside her predecessor Brian Schmidt, and said all previous vice-chancellors had "done their best" to improve the university. "He reflected on how hard it is to change large institutions," Ms Bell said. "He said it was a hard read — which it has been for all of us." ANU Students' Association president William Burfoot said the report's findings were "shocking and incredibly, incredibly concerning" but reflected a culture not limited to just the medical school. "I don't think it's unique to the medical school. "It is a more pervasive issue and that just requires us to do much, much more to address it and to make sure that these kinds of things can't continue to happen." Mr Burfoot said it was great the report was initiated and shared publicly, but the community needed to see "top to bottom" change implemented. Professor Bell said the university was already taking steps to implement the report's recommendations. She said a leader had been allocated to each recommendation and would report back on first steps taken by July. "There should be an expectation about accountability. There should be an expectation about action." Professor Bell said Professor Nixon would carry out a follow-up assessment at the beginning of 2026.
