Media Release
18 June 2026
The National Tertiary Education Union has saved more than 140 jobs at Deakin University after successfully pressuring management to scrap its damaging plan.
Two weeks after announcing a proposal that would have made crucial professional staff redundant, Deakin on Thursday confirmed it was withdrawing the plan in full.
Just days after the cuts were announced, Deakin University Vice-Chancellor Iain Martin resigned.
The positions of an estimated quarter of the workforce would also have been affected with many staff having to re-apply for a job.
The NTEU is urging Deakin to establish a working party of staff, students and management to advise the University Council on lessons to be learnt from the withdrawn proposal in order to establish best-practice protocols for any future major workplace change proposals.
NTEU Victoria Division Secretary Sarah Roberts welcomed the withdrawal of Deakin’s flawed plan.
"These cuts would have had a devastating impact on livelihoods and torn at the fabric of the entire university,” she said.
“This is an enormous victory for NTEU members who stood up against a terrible plan that would have sent shockwaves through the communities that rely on Deakin.
“Unfortunately this process has severely damaged the relationship between staff and management. It’s essential we start work on rebuilding trust immediately and put in place measures to prevent such an awful process ever being repeated.
“We have had strongly constructive discussions with the Chancellor and the Caretaker Vice-Chancellor after the decision to withdraw the proposal was communicated, stressing the need for a reset centrally involving staff.”
NTEU Deakin Branch President Professor Reece Walters said the roles that were saved are critical to the university.
“The sense of hurt and confusion among staff is palpable. These wounds can’t be healed overnight, and Deakin management now has a serious challenge in front of it to rebuild trust,” he said.
“The NTEU stands ready to help them with that, provided there’s a genuine effort to base the relationship between senior leaders and staff on a spirit of collaboration and mutual respect.
“Establishing a working group of staff, students and management that puts in place guardrails around how major changes are handled in future is a critical first step.
“No one is more invested in ensuring Deakin thrives than its staff, which must be central to any decisions about its future under the new leadership.”
NTEU National President Dr Alison Barnes said the botched process was further evidence university governance was broken.
“Right around the country, the NTEU is stopping vice-chancellors from hurting staff, students and communities with unjustified cuts.
“We need major national governance reform so million-dollar vice-chancellors can’t wield the axe with impunity and hack into our university workforce, which is critical to our society.”
Under the abandoned proposal, the university would have cut 105 professional staff who play crucial roles supporting students.
A further 33 working in critical roles in campus facilities and digital/technology would have been lost.
The jobs were across the Burwood and Geelong (Waterfront, Warun Ponds) campuses.
Media contacts
Reece Walters 0420 343 292 / Matt Coughlan 0400 561 480 / [email protected]