David Pocock has called on the federal government to urgently intervene into the leadership crisis at the Australian National University as pressure mounts on the chancellor and vice-chancellor to resign.
It comes after the independent senator told ABC earlier on Tuesday he hoped to see “some change in leadership at the top” of ANU, following a tumultuous year including redundancies, proposed course closures and allegations of a toxic work culture.
“I would urge the council to get on with it now. Based on what I hear, the current leadership simply doesn’t have the trust or any faith that they can be turned around,” Pocock said.
Five of the six college deans have advised the council and chancellor, Julie Bishop, that they no longer have confidence in vice-chancellor Prof Genevieve Bell’s leadership, sources have confirmed.
Pocock also said Bishop also had “serious allegations” levelled against her and an independent investigation under way, which would be better “dealt with” at “most workplaces”.
Sign up: AU Breaking News email
Speaking to Guardian Australia, Pocock said he had spoken with a “huge number of people” at the ANU, including deans, and it had become “very clear” that there was “no faith” in Bell or Bishop’s leadership and council needed to play a “far more active role”.
“It is deeply concerning just to see the level of fear and distress people at the ANU are under,” he said.
ANU’s governance has come under increased scrutiny over a drastic restructure that has led to at least 399 redundancies and the proposed disestablishment of the Australian National Dictionary Centre, the centre for European studies, the humanities research centre and the ANU School of Music.
Last Tuesday, Bishop held a full day of meetings on campus with deans, council members and members of the union, sources told Guardian Australia.
ANU’s next council meeting is due to be held on 3 October; however, an out of session meeting may be arranged earlier to vote on the future of Bell’s leadership.
An investigation into ANU by the The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Teqsa) is ongoing after “significant concerns” were raised by Jason Clare in a rare commonwealth intervention into university governance in June.
Pocock said there was a “clear role” for Clare to play to ensure there was proper governance at ANU – the only university that reports to the federal parliament.
“I’m totally against political interference in things like research … but when it comes to governance failures, that is where you do actually want a minister ensuring that … the ANU Act is being upheld,” he said.
“I get that [Clare] is in a tight spot on this, but there’s a lot at stake, and by just kicking the can down the road to … the regulator, I’m concerned about the damage that can be done in that time frame.”
Sources told Guardian Australia Bell’s announcement in late August that no further non-voluntary redundancies would happen as part of the restructure was a tipping point for the deans.
Academics were informed of the news around midday that day in an all-staff email, the same time an opinion piece by Bell justifying the changes was published in the Canberra Times.
The language of Bell’s email, which said “all future changes under Renew ANU will be achieved without involuntary redundancies”, left many wondering if their job was safe or not.
An estimated 100 job cuts across the institution, including the College of Arts and Social Sciences and the College of Science and Medicine, were still on the chopping block at the time, however, according to an NTEU estimate.
Hours later, the general manager of the College of Arts and Social Sciences, Matt Talbot, emailed his community acknowledging the announcement had caused “a great deal of concern, anxiety, and a high volume of emails seeking clarification” on the ambiguous wording of Bell’s email.
ANU has since released its self assurance report and cover letter for Teqsa, and will undertake its own investigation into its council and senior leadership team after a prominent academic alleged at a Senate inquiry last month that she was “bullied into near suicide” while serving on ANU’s university council and suffered a miscarriage in the weeks after two distressing meetings with Bishop.
In a statement in August, Bishop said: “I reject any suggestion that I have engaged with council members, staff, students and observers in any way other than with respect, courtesy and civility.
“The witness concerned has initiated grievance proceedings and it is not appropriate for me to comment further at this time.”
The self assurance report was made public a few hours before Pocock’s request for hundreds of internal ANU documents to be released was voted down by Labor and the Coalition in the Senate.
Pocock has repeatedly questioned the extent of ANU’s financial troubles, tabling documents in the Senate provided by a whistleblower of the university’s five-year financial plan which suggested ANU was still in a sustainable financial position at the end of 2023.
The president of ANU Students’ Association, Will Burfoot, who is also a council member, said students had been raising their voices against the proposed cuts and “damage being caused” to the university since the Renew ANU process was announced last October.
Next week, ANUSA will hold a special general meeting voting on Bell and Bishop to resign. He said the meeting would allow students to collectively say “we have had enough” and expected the vote to be “unequivocal and emphatic”.
A spokesperson for ANU said it was not “commenting on speculation” in media reports.
Clare was approached for comment.
