Australian universities should stop trying to defend their executives¡¯ salaries and talk more about the value they create for their communities, according to the nation¡¯s newest higher education boss.

University of Canberra (UC) vice-chancellor Bill Shorten said university executives were on a hiding to nothing if they tried to justify their pay. ¡°It¡¯s a killing field for the vice-chancellors to be out there arguing their own wages,¡± he told the Brand Australia 2025 symposium, hosted by the Future Campus news site.

¡°You¡¯ve lost before you start. It¡¯s a bit like politicians¡¯ wages. They wouldn¡¯t have been happy [until] politicians in Canberra¡­were camping on the lawn and hitchhiking from home.¡±

Shorten joined UC in January after an 18-year career in federal politics, including six years as opposition leader. The previous substantive vice-chancellor, Paddy Nixon ¨C who left UC in late 2023 with over a year remaining on his contract ¨C received a?sector record A$1.785 million?(?899,000) in his last year.

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Asked about his predecessor¡¯s remuneration, Shorten said the final settlement had included a ¡°notice provision¡± that ¡°bundled¡­two years¡¯ wages into one¡±. He said that as a politician and union leader, he had ¡°run campaigns¡± both for and against people¡¯s wages.

¡°I think if a vice-chancellor performs well, they¡¯re probably worth the money. They¡¯re complex positions. But I¡¯ll leave it to other vice-chancellors to defend that. All I know is, I practise what I preach. I cut my wage.¡±

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The Australian?newspaper??that Shorten had accepted a package of A$860,000, 15 per cent less than Nixon¡¯s regular salary. This would leave the?former political leader among the dozen lowest-paid vice-chancellors, according to the most recently published institutional accounts.

Shorten said the sector¡¯s social licence was under threat, partly because ¡°many Australians do not have a clue what happens at universities. Surely everyone knows what we do. Well, I¡¯m here to tell you, a lot of people do not.

¡°Public life in this country is a bit like nature. It hates a vacuum. If we don¡¯t fill the agenda, then others will. And if we can¡¯t recognise that sometimes some of the criticisms have a grain of truth, then I think it becomes very hard to deal with the challenges.¡±

He said the ¡°outrage¡± directed at universities was sometimes justified. ¡°How do you handle outrage? The answer¡­is don¡¯t cause outrage,¡± he said.

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¡°How can you have a situation where¡­staff are not being paid properly? How do you have a situation where people do not feel safe? Where Australians of Jewish heritage¡­think about dropping out of university altogether, or academic staff feel threatened?

¡°I think the real issue is not the wages, although that¡¯s a legitimate topic of inquiry. It is [whether] people think they¡¯re getting value for money from Australia¡¯s universities. If we can answer that question in our value proposition, then I think people put up with some of the other stuff. You can have a less heated debate and a¡­legitimate discussion about governance.¡±

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com