By Celeste Liddle (Indigenous). The recent announcement from the Abbott Government that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Education Advisory Council (ATSIHEAC) is to be abolished is of deep concern and raises a number of questions with regards to the future of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (A&TSI) participation in higher education in the coming years. More...

By Paul Clifton (NTEU National Office). A survey of more than 7000 academics across the country has shown that university staff have high job satisfaction but are worried about job security.
The National Tertiary Education Union survey of more than 7000 academics across the country has revealed that only 35 per cent of academics at the University of Sydney felt their job was secure, while 81 per cent believe their workload has increased significantly in the past five years. More...

By Paul Clifton (NTEU National Office). Aoraki Polytechnic is a regional polytechnic based in the South Island town of Timaru. It has been struggling financially for a few years now and it is currently considering merging with its big cosmopolitan neighbour, Christchurch Polytechnic and Institute of Technology (CPIT).
At present in New Zealand there are talks or merger processes underway involving six of New Zealand’s 18 polytechnics; Weltec and Whitireia, Waiariki and Bay of Plenty, and Aoraki and CPIT. More...

By Paul Clifton (NTEU National Office). The Abbott Government has taken a leaf out of John Howard’s book. Howard saw John Hewson lose what was seen as the unloseable election in 1993, largely because he said openly what he would do if elected and the voters didn’t like it. So in 1996, Howard was careful not to tell the electors that he was planning the same extreme approach, riding to the Lodge on disenchantment with Paul Keating and a misleading image of reasonableness. More...

By Paul Clifton (NTEU National Office). Just a few years ago, the idea of universities taking a principled stance on fossil fuel investments seemed like a big deal. Soon it may be a bigger deal when they do not. Consider their efforts to secure a reputation for leading the big debates, it’s only fitting universities should want to lead on the biggest debate of our time. As community expectations rise and the global debate moves on, Australia’s sector risks falling behind. More...

By Paul Kniest (NTEU National Office). The NTEU conducted its first State of the Uni survey in April and May of this year.  The survey  covered all staff working at Australian universities and was completed by almost 7,000 respondents from across the sector.  The composition of the respondents was: 56% academic; 50% female; 70% having ongoing or permanent employment, and importantly; 41% not being union members. More...

By Paul Clifton (NTEU National Office). This article has arisen out of a growing concern for staff in the modern university. Despite loads of papers criticising the change, universities are now in the control of a managerial class, as predicted by Lyotard (1979). In fact Ryan (2012, p.4) goes so far as to say we are experiencing (or suffering?) a ‘fifth wave’ of managerialism which is clearly here to stay. So, the war is over! Or is it. More...

By Paul Clifton (NTEU National Office). Against a backdrop of the Abbott Government planning widespread changes to the way Australian higher education is funded, the NTEU has been screening Ivory Tower around the country – a film exploring the changes in America’s university system that have led to a more marketised model of education. More...

By Paul Clifton (NTEU National Office). This diagram appears in the July 2015 edition of Advocate. More...

By Paul Clifton (NTEU National Office). An NTEU survey of staff working at Australian universities shows that while staff worked long hours and were worried about employment security, they were generally satisfied with their jobs even though they had little confidence in their senior management or in the government’s higher education policies. More...