Missed Friday's online briefing about governance reform? Watch the video

27 October 2025

With big changes coming to the way our universities run, NTEU Victorian Division ran an online briefing on Friday 24 October to unpack what's happening with university reform at state and federal level, and what this might mean for staff, students and the wider community. 

Around 500 people attended the Zoom briefing, but if you didn't get to attend you can watch the video recording and catch up on what you missed.

The briefing in brief

At the briefing, Professor Joo-Cheong Tham, NTEU Victorian Division Assistant Secretary (Academic Staff), and Dr Alison Barnes, NTEU National President, outlined: 

• What the Expert Panel report proposes and what the new Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry will be looking at

• How these affect staff and students in Victorian universities 

• What the NTEU’s next steps are: how you can get involved and make submissions to the Victorian inquiry

In a pre-recorded message, Federal Government Education Minister Jason Clare MP reaffirmed his commitment to improving the way universities operate, with specific examples of areas of concern, and gave thanks to NTEU members for their commitment to improving their sector.

Progress towards reform

After years of campaigning by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), governments are finally listening to staff and students about the need for reform. 

On 17 October, the Expert Council on University Governance released a damning report into widespread failures of university decision-making across Australia, with its recommendations echoing much of what NTEU and our members have been campaigning for over the last few years (read more).  these recommendations, the federal government will implement a new set of university governance principles to strengthen accountability, transparency and public trust.

Just days after the release of this report, the Victorian Government announced the launch of a new Parliamentary Inquiry into university governance with the aim of "putting students and staff at the centre of university decision-making, ensuring Victorian universities reflect the communities they serve" (read more).

These are major milestones – and we want you to be part of what happens next.

Why this matters 

Right now, Victorian MPs from across the political spectrum are backing NTEU’s three-pillar reform agenda: 

• Meaningful staff and student voice 

• Transparency in governance 

• Effective controls against management capture 

Recent milestones in the campaign: 

• ✅ In August, the Victorian ALP State Conference passed a resolution backing the NTEU’s three-pillar reform agenda. [Read more] 

• ✅ On 10 September, the Victorian Deputy Premier and Education Minister, joined by other MPs, pledged to reform Victorian university governance. [Read more] 

• ✅ The Victorian Premier voiced support for stronger staff and student voice in university governance [Read more] 

• ✅ A national Senate inquiry into university governance was established this year after NTEU campaigning. Its interim report included many of our recommendations. [Read more] 

With your support, we can turn this momentum into real and lasting reform.  

How you can help

This is a critical moment to show the collective strength of our campaign. Management opposition will only intensify as we get closer to real reform – and that’s why we need members’ active support.

• Make a submission, either individually or as a staff group, to the Victorian inquiry into university governance 

• Join the campaign for Better Universities → Read more and get involved

• Encourage colleagues to join NTEU → Join NTEU

Together, we can win governance reform that restores accountability, gives staff and students a real voice, and protects the public purpose of Victorian universities.