Inside the ANU's baffling financial nightmare
One of Australia's most prestigious universities, which counts former foreign minister Julie Bishop and former CBA director Genevieve Bell among its senior leaders, is suddenly facing a financial cliff.
When celebrated anthropologist, former Intel executive and Commonwealth Bank director Genevieve Bell took over as vice chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU) in January, she knew she was stepping into a precarious financial situation.
The ANU, one of Australia’s most prestigious universities, had posted a net surplus of $146.6 million in 2023. But one-off sugar hits – including insurance payouts from a 2020 hailstorm, which could not be spent on salaries – were masking a dire reality.
A projected deficit of $60 million for 2024 had blown out to over $200 million.
A scramble to cut $250 million from ANU’s annual operating budget, including $100 million from expenditure on staff, was underway. Jobs would have to go.
