The Albanese Labor Government has commenced consultations on legislative reforms to the Australian National University Act 1991, to be introduced into the Parliament later this year.
The ANU is a unique national institution and world-class university. It is also central to the Canberra community and economy.
The proposed reforms will modernise the ANU Act, strengthening accountability, representation, appointment processes and institutional culture.
Proposed amendments would:
• reflect in the ANU Act the best practice governance approach as recommended by the Expert Council on University Governance;
• reinforce the ANU Council's responsibility for institutional culture;
• ensure the Council has equal numbers of elected and ministerially appointed members;
• require the Council to be representative of the community and include the skills and experience needed for the ANU to fulfil its mission, including higher education governance or public sector experience, financial expertise, gender diversity and First Nations representation;
• ensure responsibility for appointing members to the Nominations Committee rests with the ANU Council;
• establish ex officio Council membership for the Chair of the ANU Academic Board; and
• remove the requirement for the Council to approve Deputy Vice-Chancellor appointments, bringing the ANU into line with other Australian universities.
These proposed amendments respond to the advice of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA).
A consultation paper and the details of the consultation process are available on the Department of Education website.
