The average Australian vice-chancellor¡¯s pay packet reached seven figures last year, setting a high-water mark for remuneration of the sector¡¯s leaders but raising questions about their strategic vision.

A?Times Higher Education?analysis found that the chiefs of the country¡¯s 37 public universities pocketed an average of A$1,002,500 (?547,877) in 2019, almost A$20,000 more than the previous year. Vice-chancellors of the prestigious Group of Eight universities attracted an average of A$1,222,000, more than twice the typical remuneration of their counterparts in the UK¡¯s Russell Group.

The gap would have been bigger but for the temperance of the Australian National University¡¯s Brian Schmidt, whose earnings of A$649,396 made him Australia¡¯s second lowest-paid vice-chancellor despite being the world¡¯s only serving university president with a Nobel prize.

At the other end of the scale, the University of Sydney¡¯s Michael Spence earned around A$1,627,500 ¨C almost A$1?million more?than he can expect when he?takes the helm at UCL next year.

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Higher education management expert Leo Goedegebuure said staff resentment over their bosses¡¯ pay had probably contributed to academics¡¯?reluctance to consider pay cuts or freezes?during the Covid-induced financial crisis. Nevertheless, it was debatable whether A$1?million was enough.

¡°It¡¯s a thankless job,¡± said Professor Goedegebuure, former director of the University of Melbourne¡¯s LH Martin Institute. ¡°It¡¯s 24-7, living in a glass house. I?wouldn¡¯t want a job like?that.¡±

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It is now a less generously remunerated job, with most vice-chancellors accepting substantial pay cuts this year ¨C typically 20?per cent ¨C as Covid-related savings measures. Dr Spence and other Sydney executives followed suit in September after?initially resisting.

Top-earning vice-chancellors, 2019

Source: University annual reports. *Predecessor¡¯s salary

But Professor Goedegebuure said that such gestures were inadequate. He said vice-chancellors¡¯ earnings had been inflated by a corporate mindset that valued university leaders for their revenue-raising prowess ¨C typically through international student recruitment ¨C and now, with that approach torpedoed by the pandemic, it was time for fresh ideas and a different type of leadership.

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Instead, universities were ¡°firing people by the thousands. I?would expect a much more measured response [recognising that] we¡¯ve got a short-term issue and a long-term issue. Let¡¯s deal with the short-term issue in the context of long-term solutions ¨C and that is not by firing young staff.

¡°What we¡¯ve seen is purely an internal response saying we¡¯ve lost money, we need to cut in order to survive. It¡¯s not about how can we strategically invest ourselves out of this. If you pay people that much money for an executive role in a?complex organisation, that is what I?would expect.¡±

He acknowledged that replacing the ¡°rivers of gold¡± from international students was no easy challenge. ¡°I?don¡¯t know the answer, but I¡¯m not being paid a million bucks a year.¡±

Remuneration committees showed restraint last year, increasing vice-chancellors¡¯ average earnings by 2?per cent ¨C marginally more than the 1.9?per cent rise enjoyed by the average staff member, but well below the 5.2?per cent increase university bosses enjoyed in 2018.

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Eleven institutions paid their leaders less in 2019 than in 2018, although in some cases this was because they were new in the role and their predecessors¡¯ income had been inflated by separation payments.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com