In late 2025, the Australian National University (ANU) found itself in the spotlight for reasons less flattering than its academic reputation. After only two years at the helm, Professor Genevieve Bell resigned as Vice Chancellor. There were months of speculation, debate, and even criticism.
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The Australian
by Bernard Lane
29 August 2017
“Earlier this month we reported remarks by former ANU business dean Keith Houghton that although his research showed that universities as a sector had lifted efficiency over recent years, the track record of some institutions suggested they would struggle to find the productivity to meet the government’s 2.5 per cent efficiency dividend……..Universities would only have to boost their productivity to save more than the $1.2bn the Turnbull government is trying to cut from university funding in the next four years, according to a new study. Research by economist Keith Houghton shows that if all universities could reach at least 85 per cent of the productivity level attained by Australia’s most efficient universities, the university system could save well over $500 million a year, or in excess of $2bn over four years.” It’s the if that makes all the difference”
Australia has, on average, some of the largest universities in the English-speaking world. Some might speculate that this is an idiosyncratic outcome of the Australian education funding approach. While this is possible, even likely, the effect of global ranking algorithms may also factor into this. Those who have attempted to reverse engineer the three or four largest rankings appear to recognise that controlling for scale is a near-impossible task.
Earlier this year, the Higher Education and Research Group released its latest annual analysis of the productivity of the Australian university sector, including, for the first time, the three large private universities.