WA university vice chancellor joins ‘million-dollar club’
WAtoday understands this to be the case, and that Pollock’s payment from September to December is listed separately.
Western Sydney University Vice Chancellor George Williams recently revealed he asked for a pay cut when he took the job and believed that vice chancellors’ salaries, which exceed $1 million at more than half of Australia’s universities, should be aligned with public servant wages.
“I actually asked for a pay reduction. I was going low and [the chancellor] went high. We negotiated and came around in the middle in the end,” he said, noting he had taken a pay cut of “about 20 to 25 per cent” from his predecessor.
“I’m not crying poor here, I’m still paid very well,” he said.
“But it’s benchmarked to about where the lowest paid secretaries of a [federal] public sector department would be paid, and that’s where they should be benchmarked.”
WA’s annual reports also showed none of the universities’ budgets were in the red for the first time since the pandemic.
Loading
ECU recorded a net gain of more than $256 million, while UWA recorded a gain of $198.1 million.
Murdoch University recorded more minor growth – $36 million – but higher than their 2023 and 2022 figure, which was in the red.
In 2023, Curtin recorded a net operating loss of $13 million. Their latest data for 2024 shows a profit of $70,816.
UWA Vice Chancellor Amit Chakma said the main challenge the university faced was the proposed caps on international students, while Pollock, from ECU, said 2024 had been a year of “significant policy reforms”.
Murdoch University Vice Chancellor Andrew Deeks said domestic and international student recruitment numbers were “affected by forces largely beyond our control”.
“The economic situation remains challenging for WA universities, resulting in ongoing delays in recovery of domestic intake, while international student intake decreased dramatically in the second half of the year due to changes (in) federal government policies and discussion of caps on visas,” he said.
“This directive will potentially limit our 2025 international student intake to levels similar to 2024, a decrease of approximately 1700 on 2023 international student commencements.”
Curtin University Vice Chancellor Harlene Hayne said she had always believed the recruitment of international students should be done judiciously.
“Although they make a significant financial contribution to the University, the primary purpose of international students is to give Australian students the opportunity to study alongside their peers from around the world,” she said.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
