Australia¡¯s top-ranked university says it is fulfilling its pledge to reduce casualisation, but employee representatives claim it is shedding staff ¨C and foisting more work onto the survivors ¨C under cover of proposed?international student caps.

Casual arts academics at the University of Melbourne have been told that they will share just 5 per cent of their faculty¡¯s salary budget next year, down from 8 per cent this year and 24 per cent at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

They have also heard that the faculty¡¯s earnings will fall by about A$3 million (?1.5 million) next year after rising by A$40 million in 2024. The prediction reflects Melbourne¡¯s proposed overseas enrolment cap, which would reduce international student commencements by 15 per cent and cut anticipated institutional revenue by A$85 million next year.

The university also plans to return to a ¡°break- even position¡± in 2025 after running considerable operating deficits over the past three years. Administrators want to achieve operating surpluses of around A$40 million a year from 2026.

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Sessional academics blame Melbourne¡¯s financial pressures for a recruitment freeze, with next year¡¯s jobs yet to be advertised. Staff who have worked casually at the arts faculty for many years are fearful of losing their livelihoods.

A Melbourne spokeswoman said the university was ¡°successfully increasing secure employment and reducing the employment of casual staff and the use of short-term fixed-term contracts¡±.

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She said the casual proportion of Melbourne¡¯s full-time equivalent staff had been reduced from 16 per cent in late 2019 to 10 per cent by the end of 2023, reflecting a decline of almost 30 per cent in casual staff numbers. ¡°We have?consistently said?that an overreliance on casual employment is neither desirable nor sustainable.¡±

Times Higher Education?asked whether the university would appoint staff permanently to compensate for the decline in casual academic numbers. ¡°We cannot confirm how many additional appointments will be made across the university in the future,¡± Melbourne¡¯s spokeswoman said.

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) says Melbourne has signalled that there will be ¡°no funding¡± for sessional staff in 2025. The union says the proposed international student caps were ¡°providing a convenient justification for universities to downsize and shift more workload onto fewer staff ¨C plans many institutions were already considering¡±.

The NTEU has scheduled an online meeting to discuss job cuts across the sector. ¡°During the pandemic, despite record profits, universities still made significant jobs cuts and increased workloads,¡± the union?. ¡°Now, international student caps are being used to justify similar actions. This isn¡¯t just about responding to government policy; it¡¯s about organisational priorities.¡±

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In an email to staff, Melbourne provost Nicola Phillips and chief operating officer Katerina Kapobassis acknowledged the caps¡¯ ¡°unsettling¡± impacts. They say the university has taken ¡°common-sense¡± steps such as reducing discretionary spending and pausing non-essential recruitment.

¡°We will not be introducing any other university-wide measures until we have a better understanding of the full financial impact of the proposed cap,¡± the email says. ¡°For now, we will take a careful, prudent approach to managing our finances¡­just as we did during the pandemic.¡±

Melbourne is offering permanent employment to casual staff who meet strict criteria. They include doing enough casual work to earn at least 40 per cent of an equivalent permanent academic¡¯s salary for each of the preceding three years.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com