r/Anu

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9331957/canberra-times-gordon-de-brouwer-takes-on-anu-crisis-amid-governance-issues/

By The Canberra Times

August 18 2026 - 5:30am

The troubled Australian National University has secured a highly regarded public servant to guide it through a major crisis of governance.

Economist Dr Gordon de Brouwer assumes the role of chancellor this week. He brings invaluable experience to the university council, having served as the Australian Public Service Commissioner and holding senior roles at Treasury, the Reserve Bank, and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Holding a doctorate in economics, Dr de Brouwer has the skills to stem severe financial losses and his appointment warrants optimism. That said, the staggering scale of the task ahead cannot be overstated.

The ANU has suffered serious reputational, institutional, and fiscal damage over the past decade. It is battered and bruised.

The Auditor-General recently condemned chaotic cost-cutting measures and sudden departures at the highest levels of administration. The field audit noted the university spent $35.9 million to cut salary costs by $74.8 million, an approach it determined was executed without sufficient understanding of the problem or the implementation risks.

In her response before resigning, former chancellor Julie Bishop argued the $250 million savings plan materially improved the financial position, although the audit found it lacked clear evidence.

This dysfunction culminated in a $424,227 termination payout to the former vice-chancellor, who quit after less than two years.

While Dr de Brouwer arrives without the political baggage of his predecessor, he must manage an organisation in disarray. The 2025 annual report exposes an underlying operating deficit of $29.4 million. Furthermore, the university faces market concentration risks. It reaped $296 million in tuition fees from international students, who made up 52 per cent of new enrolments last year alone.

This reliance heavily intersects with foreign relations. The ANU has more research collaborations with China than any other nation, holding 48 active agreements. Conversely, it signed far fewer partnerships with Five Eyes allies. Over the weekend, Foreign Minister Penny Wong intervened, terminating the Joint Science College with Shandong University on national security grounds. It seems remarkable that arrangement proceeded for so long given the previous chancellor was a former foreign minister herself.

Adding to the turbulence, the administration faced intense criticism over its handling of anti-Semitism on campus and pro-Palestinian protests post-October 7.

The university controversially backed out of adopting the definition of anti-Semitism agreed to by the Group of Eight universities. Instead, the academic board endorsed an amended approach, pushing the issue to committees and working groups to address racism in all its forms.

The administration also failed to act regarding adverse findings against former council members following an independent investigation.

Dr de Brouwer faces a monumental rebuilding effort. He must work alongside interim vice-chancellor Rebekah Brown to restore confidence, establish strong governance, and forge a compelling shared strategy.

The national university holds a unique and vital position in Australia, receiving specific federal funding to maintain concentrations of excellence in research and education.

The new chancellor assumes control at a time of profound geopolitical and economic change. He must navigate these complexities, repair fractured relationships with government regulators, and ensure the university remains a trusted national institution.

The path forward requires steady leadership and a complete departure from the destabilising scandals of recent years.

https://www.crikey.com.au/2026/08/17/anu-new-chancellor-gordon-de-brouwer-replacement-julie-bishop/

Julie Hare

Aug 17, 2026

Indiscriminate carnage has followed Australian National University over the past few years. Will a former APS commissioner be able to clear up the mess?

Julie Bishop’s replacement as chancellor of Australian National University has been named: Gordon de Brouwer, a former senior public servant, a Canberra man through and through, and an alumnus of the university.

It’s fair to say that de Brouwer is the polar opposite of his predecessor. He does have an Instagram page, but it has just 75 followers and no posts. A former commissioner of the Australian Public Service, de Brouwer is no show pony.

To have taken on the job, de Brouwer must be very clear about the task at hand. Not only does he have the responsibility of getting ANU back onto a stable footing after the indiscriminate carnage of the past few years — which I’ve written about for Crikey here — but also his first job will be to find five council members whom the ANU community can trust.

That’s no small feat in an institution that was sent to purgatory by a stacked, complicit council and devastatingly incompetent leadership.

A new, frighteningly generic and unspecific strategy was released last week: “ANU by 2030”, published under interim vice-chancellor Professor Rebekah Brown. Thankfully, it leaves Renew ANU — the university’s $250 million cost-cutting program axed last year following controversy, leadership resignations, and a critical federal audit — in the dust.

But whether de Brouwer embraces the learnings (God, I hate that word) of the ANU governance project will be a test of his leadership.

He’s also walking into a new policy environment that will impose government command-and-control over both domestic and international student numbers, as Education Minister Jason Clare ushers in his deeply problematic Opening the Doors of Opportunity Bill, which aims to reshape higher education funding.

This agenda is anti-Group of Eight: the coalition of eight leading, research-intensive Australian universities, of which ANU is a member. It seeks to shift student preferences toward outer-metropolitan and regional universities, ignoring the mountain of evidence that students do — and should — choose what and where they want to study.

This bill is unlikely to be kind to the likes of ANU, an institution populated by “elites”. These are not the sort of kids Clare thinks will benefit from his overly ambitious, some might say fabulist agenda to increase university attainment by 2050, and even by 2030.

Those ambitions are based on untapped demand: a cohort of students, particularly males, who have never seen university as part of their life plans. We have seen how the demand-driven system failed them, and I wonder if Clare’s targets — 55% of school-leavers obtaining a degree — will fail them again.

But back to de Brouwer. 

ANU was taken to its knees by narcissistic incompetence. As a Senate hearing heard a couple of months ago, the reputational cost of that sits around $100 million. Institutions are the sum of their history and present. ANU, once the most highly ranked and esteemed university in the country, is no longer either of those things. But it should be.

ANU should be different. It has a national mandate to be part of the national conversation, to help us become better and wiser people, and to contribute to a better, more functional economy. That is important, and it receives an additional $200 million a year for it.

We need ANU to be a university that meets the very high expectations set down in its founding legislation. 

I, for one, hope that de Brouwer is the person who can get the university back on track.

I'm currently at Uni and trying to build a small app called Larna. It's just me at the moment. It connects to your bank through Australia's open banking system, sorts your spending automatically, and tries to tell you something useful about it. No manual entry, no spreadsheets.

Before I build any more of it I want to know what people actually need instead of being stuck with what I assume they need. I've. tried to put together a short survey its under 5 minutes, anonymous, no bank details, nothing to sign up for.

What I'm hoping to learn: what your bank's app already does well, where it falls short, and which features are worth building versus which ones sound good and would never get used. Honest answers help me far more than encouraging ones. If something on the list sounds pointless, say so.

These answers go straight into what gets built. It'll be free for uni students. Please let me know if you have any feedback for the survey as well.

Also happy to post a summary of the results back here once responses are in.

https://tally.so/r/zxADag

https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/anu-to-unveil-replacement-for-julie-bishop-within-days-20260812-p60nrn

Maani Truu

Education correspondent

Aug 14, 2026 – 2.05pm

The Australian National University will unveil who will replace Julie Bishop as chancellor within days, as the acting chief executive revealed the troubled institution’s overarching plan to rebuild trust after years of instability.

In her first media interview this year, interim vice chancellor Rebekah Brown said the ANU’s new 2030 strategy – a high-level statement of priorities, without detailed policies – was focused on strengthening the university’s foundations.

“It’s a really important moment for us because we’re in transition in our governance,” she said.

“And it’s at a time when our incoming chancellor and our forthcoming substantive vice chancellor will have a real role in shaping how we realise the intent of our strategy.”

Among the ambitions laid out in the 23-page document is “good governance”, which the report states will be informed by meaningful staff and student engagement and underpinned by clear communication.

The Canberra institution has been in a state of tumult since 2024, marred by successive scandals involving governance, internal culture and leadership within its 15-person council. Embattled vice chancellor Genevieve Bell resigned in September last year, but Bishop vowed to stay on.

Then in May, the former deputy Liberal leader announced she would step down months before the end of her tenure as chancellor, accusing the higher education watchdog of threats and regulatory overreach over its involvement in the recruitment process for her successor.

Five of the seven external council members also quit, and their positions remain vacant.

The ANU council entered into a voluntary undertaking with the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency earlier this year, which gave the regulator the power to handpick a panel to steer the search for Bishop’s replacement.

In his resignation letter from the council, former chief justice of Western Australia Wayne Martin accused TEQSA of taking “complete control” of the governing body through “coercive, unlawful threats”.

Bishop, in an equally scathing resignation later, said the watchdog’s overreach had “grievously constrained my capacity to discharge my responsibilities and legal duties”.

The panel, led by former Queensland University of Technology vice chancellor Peter Coaldrake, has now made its recommendation to the council, which has signed off on the selection.

Once the new chancellor is in place, Brown said the university will embark on the hiring process for a new vice chancellor.

The “much smaller” council continues to meet several times a week, Brown said. “This has been a very deliberate, careful process, attracting new people to our council.”

She did not answer questions about whether she would apply for the permanent top job once it is advertised.

“It’s a privilege what I’m doing. The interim vice chancellor is not an easy role … let’s get through today, let’s get through our community meeting tomorrow,” she said.

“We need a new chancellor, we need the full complement of our new council, and then that council will decide, together with the community, the sort of leadership that’s needed going forward.”

Neither Bishop nor Bell attended an official ceremony to mark the reopening of ANU’s University House – after it was damaged in a hailstorm five years ago – which coincided with the institution’s 80th anniversary and the launch of the new 2030 strategy on Friday morning.

In June, Brown told a Senate estimates hearing the reputation damage caused by the controversial Renew ANU restructure plan and subsequent leadership turmoil had cost the university “in the order of $100 million” so far.

“We will return a deficit this year, like we did last year, but it will be in relative terms smaller than it was a couple of years ago,” Brown said.

“This is why we have to focus much more on the revenue side of what we do here at ANU, which hasn’t been a focus for a number of years. We have a number of plans in place.”

Brown did not provide further details on those plans when asked. “It’s a day for us to celebrate, it’s a day for us to put the last two years, some of that, behind us and to look forward.”

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9330218/rebekah-brown-anu-2030-vision-launched-key-deficit-questions-unmet/

By Steve Evans

Updated August 14 2026 - 2:15pm, first published 12:00pm

There doesn't seem to be much pain in Rebekah Brown land. The head of the Australian National University offered a positive view of the future but no mention of any bumpy road getting there.

As she faced the press, Professor Brown, the ANU's interim vice-chancellor, exuded warm words about the future of the "fantastic institution" she now leads - but no details of any pain the recovery from a series of crises might involve.

The only leader of the ANU left standing after both the previous vice-chancellor and chancellor resigned faced the press to talk about the newly-published "ANU by 2030" strategy.

The tough questions bounced at her: How much would she need to take out of the salary bill? Would she be in the running to take over the job permanently? How many jobs would go when AI took over administrative work? When will the ANU's deficit be cleared?

But hard questions didn't get hard answers. She showed all the skill of a dead-bat cricketer determined to get back to the pavilion with her wicket still standing.

"When do you think your deficit will have gone? When will the negative become positive?" she was asked.

"We, of course, hope that's sooner rather than later. There's a lot of structural forces globally that we're planning and working through. But I really would prefer ... Today is a day for our community. It's a day for us to celebrate," she replied, alluding to the 80^(th) birthday of the ANU and the reopening of University House, six years after it was damaged by hail.

It's true that University House is a magnificent mid-century-modern accommodation place - a hotel in all but name - for senior people, complete with Boffins Restaurant and Private Dining Room "offering refined dining in a heritage setting".

But the questions at the press conference concentrated, unhelpfully perhaps, on how the ANU would achieve the sunny uplands outlined in the glossy "ANU by 2030" brochure which Professor Brown was also there to talk about.

"Will that implementation plan include guarantees about staff numbers," a reporter asked. Would the way the ANU was governed be improved?

"Well, our community's been really clear," was the response, "and so is our council about the really important role that our staff, students, and alumni play in our governance. We talk in the strategy around meaningful participation in university and institutional decision-making, and I expect that we will see that throughout all our internal governance structures."

The "ANU by 2030" document says: "Artificial intelligence enabled services will handle the routine reliably and at scale, freeing our people for the wisdom and care that only people can provide. It imagines that "human and machine intelligence work in concert, expanding what we can imagine, discover and achieve together".

So, reporters sought detail from Professor Brown. Would AI replace jobs?

On this, she seemed to be clearish: "No. We're, we're really, really clear that ... We're already using AI at ANU, like universities and other organisations across the country and across the world. But we want to make sure that we're using it well, and we're using it meaningfully, and we're really deliberate in how we use it, and it's really to support our people so that we can spend our time being really strategic with our efforts."

And then came another bouncer: Would she, as the interim vice-chancellor, put in for the job when it was advertised on a long-run basis?

"Oh, look, look, it's a privilege, what I'm doing. Interim vice-chancellor role's not an easy role. It's a privilege. Let's get through today. Let's get through our community meeting tomorrow."

And then a soft ball: "What is the core message behind the 2030 strategy?"

"The core message is that we're actually a fantastic institution. We deliver on our promise, a great research, great education, and really important convening for the nation. We contribute to sovereign nation, national capability building, and the strategy is about investing in that, reinforcing that, our fundamental principles, but looking at how we do that, for a new age, for the next 80 years."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-14/anu-plan-to-restore-reputation/107036750

By Tahlia Roy

The Australian National University's (ANU) interim Vice-Chancellor has spoken publicly for the first time this year, seeking to turn the page on controversies that have marred the institution's reputation and funds.

But Professor Rebekah Brown's ANU by 2030 strategy comes as the roles of chancellor and vice-chancellor remain unfilled. And the ANU Council, which is the university's governing body, also has vacancies.

"The last couple of years have been really, really difficult for the ANU," Professor Brown said.

She took on the interim role after former vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell resigned in September last year, following pressure from staff and students to stand down over a controversial $250 million savings plan, which included cutting jobs.

An Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) report later found the ANU's then-leaders had no clear evidence that cuts were needed as part of its now-abandoned savings plan, titled Renew ANU.

Former chancellor Julie Bishop also faced pressure to resign, which she did in May, several months before her term was due to end.

'None of that is true'

When Professor Brown was asked today about previous allegations that she had acted against the former vice-chancellor, Professor Bell, she emphatically denied the claims.

She also said she hoped all council members had put previous grievances to bed.

"Of course, none of that is true," she said about the claims.

"I would like to believe that's all ended and we have left that behind."

She did not rule out having ambitions to permanently take on the role of vice-chancellor.

The ABC understands the vacant roles are unlikely to be filled until after the regulator, Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, wraps up its probe into the university's governance.

Too few students

The university's new strategy reads as a brand statement that highlights the ANU's uniqueness as the country's only national public university.

"At the moment we're in an environment where we're saturated with information and disinformation across society," she said.

"We know that the next 80 years are not going to look like the first 80 — the way that ideas are used, the ways that knowledge is tested, these are new phenomena."

Professor Brown added that the university's slower and more rigorous processes of researching and testing knowledge were vital to the nation, particularly in the age of artificial intelligence.

She conceded current student numbers were too low and that driving up enrolments was a major goal.

"Our student population size is too small, and we need to increase that," she said.

Professor Brown also said she expected this financial year's bottom line would again reflect a deficit but said it would not dip as far into the red as it had previously.

I received an email from ANU on Aug 1, but my StudyLink status still shows “Submitted” and there’s no offer letter. Does anyone know what is the reason/purpose of this email, and what it means for my application?

Mine and my idp agent portal both show submitted status.

Is this mail just a marketing or promotional stunt..

But why direct me with detailed steps

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9329786/australian-national-university-unveils-anu-by-2030-strategy/

By Steve Evans

Updated August 14 2026 - 8:23am, first published 8:00am

The leadership of the troubled Australian National University has vowed to get the institution back on track by 2030 after suffering a series of serious mishaps which severely dented its reputation.

Its newly-published strategy, "ANU by 2030", admits that mistakes were made but vows that they will be rectified.

The glossy 15-page document also says that artificial intelligence (AI) will take over some of the administrative tasks currently done by human beings.

"Artificial intelligence enabled services will handle the routine reliably and at scale, freeing our people for the wisdom and care that only people can provide," the document says. It imagines a future where "human and machine intelligence work in concert, expanding what we can imagine, discover and achieve together".

The ANU has gone through a series of crises in the last two years since its serious financial difficulties emerged in 2024. In May, its chancellor Julie Bishop resigned. In September last year, the vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell, responsible for the day-to-day leadership of the ANU, resigned. This means that both of the top positions at the ANU remain unfilled on a permanent basis.

Professor Bell was succeeded by interim vice-chancellor Rebekah Brown. In June, she told the Senate education committee that the best estimate of the cost of the reputational damage of the repeated crises was $100 million.

Now, in "ANU by 2030", she vows to put the failures right: "Good governance at ANU will be transparent, inclusive and fiscally responsible," the document under her name says.

"It will deliver community safety; academic freedom; disciplined risk management; and contestable resource allocation. We recognise that we have not always met these standards. Rebuilding trust requires us to be open about where we have fallen short and disciplined in how we improve.

"Our institutional governance will be informed by meaningful staff and student participation and engagement. Institutional decisions will be communicated clearly, with the rationale, evidence and risks openly explained. We will deliver a responsive budgetary model that will sustainably support our purpose."

When Professor Brown took over as interim vice-chancellor, she abandoned Professor Bell's "Renew ANU" which had become highly controversial and vehemently opposed on the ANU campus.

Its aim was to cut $250 million of expenditure by the start of this year, including $100 million off the salary bill. Much of the costs to be cut were through losing staff and merging departments.

Professor Brown has not made clear since how she would get costs down or revenues up, and the new "ANU by 2030" document does not provide any details - it is long on broad aspirations and short on specifics.

But one view is that the deficit was over-stated by the ANU's previous leadership. It may not be as bad as previously touted, on this argument.

Professor Brown has been active in trying to shore up the relationship with the federal government, particularly because the ANU is the only truly national university funded by the Commonwealth.

It has a unique role, receiving a National Institutes Grant to (as it puts it in internal documents) "recognise the role the University plays as a national institute in facilitating key activities that are of national significance" like "maintaining and enhancing distinctive concentrations of excellence in research and education, particularly in areas of national importance to Australia".

The aim may be to signal a new start to government. It was founded 80 years ago under a previous Labor premier.

In "ANU by 2030", Professor Brown states: "Then Prime Minister Chifley's proposition remains as relevant today as it was in 1946: that Australia should develop its own understanding of the world and place that knowledge in service of the public good. We, at ANU, embrace and celebrate our ongoing obligation to achieve this national mission."

Hi Reddit!

I'm Dr Jessie Moritz.

I designed and led the ANU Governance Project – which brought together over 600 ANU staff, students, and community stakeholders to improve our university from the ground up. 

I’m running to be your next Academic Staff (Faculties) member on Council and I need your support.

Voting opened today (Wed 12 August) and will continue until Fri 4 September. If you're an academic staff member, you would have received a link to vote to your ANU email earlier today. I'm here on Reddit to ask that you consider voting for me - and to take questions!

Why I should be your #1 vote for Academic Staff (Faculties) representative:

• I’ve got a track record of bringing faculty voice into decision-making. I designed and led the ANU Governance Project – a community-led project involving over 600 ANU staff, students & community stakeholders to improve our university from the bottom-up. I designed the project, led the team of 30+ staff and students to deliver it, led the analysis and write-up of both the draft and final reports, spoke at Senate to explain our findings, and have been staunchly advocating at every level for adoption of the reforms the ANU community said they wanted to see.
• I know what reforms are possible because I’ve done the groundwork to make them happen. I’ve spent the last six months meeting with university decision-makers – from research school directors up to ANU Executive & Council members, Senators and MPs, regulators & the Department of Education – to build consensus on reforming ANU in line with community expectations. ANU Council is where most changes will ultimately succeed for fail – I want to be there to ensure we produce real change for our university.
• I have a plan to bring YOUR voice onto Council. To see how it'll work, visit Jessieforcouncil.org

What will I advocate for if elected to Council?

• Faculty input on critical decisions that affect our work, including casualisation, teaching and administrative workloads, access to research funding and support services, etc.
• Increased accountability of ANU Executive and Council to faculty by strengthening academic board and establishing a university senate.
• Transparent senior appointment selection processes (like the next Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor!)
• Financial transparency. Faculty should have access to sufficient financial information to be able to evaluate the impact of change management. Other universities do it as a matter of routine – we can too.
• Academic freedom and institutional integrity. Faculty should determine the content and format of their research and teaching, not administrators or external politics.
• All the reforms that have already emerged from the ANU community through the ANU Governance Project. I will advocate staunchly for the reforms put forward by over 600 members of our community through the ANU Governance Project, which you can read in detail on the ANU Governance Project website.

These reforms might not have seemed possible 12 or 24 months ago – some may now be required by federal legislation and the TEQSA/Briggs Review. How they are implemented matters. I have the detailed knowledge of higher education governance and the changes already underway at ANU needed to ensure that Council’s commitments are meaningful and will deliver real change for staff at the ground level.

Our sector remains under pressure. My goal will be to work through Council to help reshape internal governance so that the next time we face a crisis, ANU’s faculty are positioned to work transparently with ANU leadership in determining the response to that crisis and holding them accountable for its delivery. That’s how we prevent a repeat of RenewANU.

Who am I?

I’m a Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Arab & Islamic Studies at the Research School of Social Sciences. Normally, I research authoritarian governance and how citizens create reforms where there are no elections or formal mechanisms for popular participation. It’s surprisingly applicable to university governance! 

Part of my work focuses on how billion-dollar economic development programs translate into incentives for citizens on the ground level. Put simply: the goals leaders have at the top can result in very different – even perverse – outcomes at the bottom once they filter through each layer of bureaucracy. It’s a basic principle of good governance – whether of a state, a corporation, or a university – to have effective mechanisms for upwards information flow about how decisions are playing out on the ground. At the ANU, we need better systems to get information from faculty about what we need in terms of teaching & research up to decisionmakers on Council – this will be my top priority if elected. 

Every year I teach undergrad & grad courses at the ANU. In RenewANU, we lost our local administrator – and I’m seeing my teaching and administrative workload balloon out as a result, even as I have less access to research support services. I don’t think this is a natural outcome of cost-cutting – it’s because academics have so little say in the policies and services meant to support them. That’s what I mean to work at Council to change. 

I also have a child at one of the community-run childcare centres on campus. ANU is a community, not a corporation, and I’ll work on Council to safeguard the services that makes our professional work possible.

I want to hear from you - what do you want to see out of your next representative on Council? What can I do to win your vote?