But while ‘pandemic’, ‘iso’ or ‘uncertainty’ could have all also registered highly, it was ultimately the government’s much criticised and slow implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination that gave rise to 2021’s word of the year: aptly titled ‘strollout’. 

It was chosen from a list of words and phrases that were used by Australians widely in another COVID-dominated year. Every year the centre, located at the Australian National University, selects an expression or word that “has gained prominence in the Australian landscape”. 

Dr Amanda Laugesen, director of the centre, says this year’s words were inevitably related to the COVID-19 vaccination program.  

"These became part of the everyday language of ordinary Australians," she said.

“As the Delta strain of COVID-19 spread around Australia the urgency of vaccinating the population became clear, with words like vaccination hubs, vaccine hesitancy, vaccine passports, vaccine rollout, and double-vaxxed gaining prominence. 

“Large-scale programs to vaccinate millions were implemented worldwide. In Australia the rollout was initially described by political leaders as ‘not a race’. For many Australians, the pace of the rollout was considered too slow.  

"The Australian term strollout captured this mood. The slowness of the rollout didn’t change momentum until vaccination was seen as the ‘pathway to freedom’, particularly as case numbers rose in NSW.”

Such was the popularity of the term that it was even used in high-profile publications, such as The Washington Post. 

“It’s yet another example of how a truly Australian expression can make waves globally,” Laugesen said. 

“It’s also captured a very particular moment in our nation’s history. The pandemic has had a profound impact on our society and lives.” 

The centre’s shortlist of words of the year not only reflect the impact of the continuing pandemic, but also the ongoing climate emergency and regional security. 

The 2021 shortlist includes:

• double-vaxxed: having received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. 
• Clayton’s lockdown: a lockdown considered to be inadequate to slow the rate of COVID-19 community transmission. 
• Fortress Australia: Australia regarded as a country protected and isolated from other countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• AUKUS: a security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States centred on the Indo-Pacific region. 
• net zero: a target of offsetting the amount of greenhouse gases produced by human activity through reduction measures. 

Campus Review asked Laugesen what makes a word popular, whether it's through media and/or political discourse, or something else.

"Different factors play a role. Some words gain popularity and visibility through social media – for example, a viral trend on TikTok. It might also be popularised through popular culture (eg television) or through its use by a politician or a celebrity," she said.

"Sometimes it might be the case that word describes a new trend, technology, or other thing that becomes part of our lives and that’s why a word comes into everyday usage."

The ANU centre's director also said that Australians have a "particular gift" for using words creatively.

"Australians certainly identify with the idea that they have a particular gift for using creative language. Australian English is notably informal – we are more likely to use informal and colloquial language even in relatively formal settings than some other countries," she said.

"Language is also arguably part of our identity, both through the Australian accent and through the use of particular words/colloquialisms.

"While Australian English continues to evolve and thrive, we of course also make much use of words that are used elsewhere. While there has been much shared language during the pandemic, there are many things that are particular to certain countries/localities. US politics has no doubt had an influence on language trends there over the last two years," Laugesen said.

One of the university’s priorities is to bolster the strength of the current nuclear workforce.

“For more than 70 years, ANU has trained the nation and the world’s nuclear scientists and experts and is the only university in Australia providing comprehensive training in nuclear physics from the undergraduate to postdoctoral level,” the university said. 

“ANU also runs the country’s highest energy heavy ion accelerator – the only facility in Australia dedicated to nuclear physics research which enables hands-on training.”

Head of the ANU Department of Nuclear Physics, Professor Andrew Stuchbery, said the historic deal opened up exciting opportunities for nuclear science in the country, “which until now had limited workforce needs in the field”.

“This deal changes everything when it comes to nuclear science in Australia,” Stuchbery said. “It ushers in a new era for the nation.

“In the past, Australia’s nuclear technology workforce needs have been minimal and a lot of talented and trained people from across nuclear science have headed overseas.

“So it is absolutely vital we build sovereign capability in nuclear science. That’s exactly what we do every day at ANU.”

The nuclear physics scientist said ANU’s undergraduate and postgraduate programs in this field cover the gamut of nuclear science, such as reactor science, nuclear fuel cycles, and ensuring “policy debates on nuclear issues are informed by science and best practice”.

“For decades we’ve been training the nuclear experts Australia needs to safely deploy nuclear energy and technologies, including intensive courses with the Department of Defence,” Stuchbery said.

“We look forward to training the future generations of practitioners Australia will now need and who will help build, deploy and manage these new technologies as a consequence of this historic security deal.”

Professor Mahananda Dasgupta, director of the ANU Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF), said the facility is the only one in the country dedicated to “fundamental nuclear research” and also has the support of the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Fund.

“With Australia now taking on nuclear-powered subs, it is vital that the workforce understands the underpinning science and gets hands-on training in handling sophisticated instruments. That’s what the HIAF enables,” Dasgupta said.

“It drives new knowledge on fundamental nuclear processes, including nuclear reactions, nuclear structure, and highly sensitive detection methods to enable environmental monitoring at world-best levels.

“We also provide a lab environment for training personnel from Defence, ANSTO, ASIO, ONA, DFAT and Customs to learn and develop a hands-on understanding of nuclear science."

Professor Tim Senden, director of the ANU Research School of Physics, said ANU was equipped and prepared to spearhead Australia’s development in this area and “serve the nation”. “It is no different when it comes to the vital field of nuclear science,” he said.

“Australia will need talented, well-trained and knowledgeable experts in nuclear science. At ANU we have the capability, the will and the desire to deliver the experts our nation needs.

“There is no better place than ANU when it comes to harnessing the latest nuclear science research and teaching.” 

Senden also invited anyone with a passion for working in this area to join the university’s activities. 

International reactions to the AUKAS alliance

While Prime Minister Scott Morrison believes the higher-tech nuclear-powered submarines are essential in maintaining stability in the Indo-Pacific with rising Chinese influence, French leaders are livid with the dumping of the deal.

French Foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Dria, who was instrumental in brokering the original deal in 2016, told French radio: “This brutal, unilateral and unpredictable decision reminds me a lot of what Mr Trump used to do. I am angry and bitter. 

“It’s really a stab in the back. We built a relationship of trust with Australia, and this trust was betrayed. This is not the end of the story."

It is widely understood that the French government will demand compensation for the broken deal. However, it’s also worth noting that Australia’s deal with a French shipbuilder to replace our current Collins Class with 12 new French submarines that run on conventional diesel-electric has been plagued by delays and blowouts over the last 10 years. 

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian also expressed his disappointment with the new deal, stating that it "gravely undermines regional peace and stability," and "aggravates" the arms race.

Zhao also warned Australia that the latest deal would "only end up hurting their own interests" if they continued to engage in a "cold war mentality".

On Sunday, following France's recalling of its ambassadors to Australia and the US, the new Prime Minister of Malaysia, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, released a statement raising concerns the new deal could heighten military tensions in the Indo-Pacific region.

"[The deal] will provoke other powers to take more aggressive action in this region, especially in the South China Sea," he said.

John Blaxland, professor at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at ANU, wrote in The Conversation that the decision will "more tightly enmesh Australia into the US orbit".

"Technologically and militarily, it means if the US goes into a conflict in the Indo-Pacific region, it would be much more difficult for Australia not to be directly and almost automatically involved," he said.

"The other side of argument is this is a good thing because it will at least incrementally add to the deterrence against China.

"Chinese strategists and leaders will have to weigh up the risk and presumably be less likely to decide that crossing the threshold of war is something they are prepared to do. The hope is that added deterrence will make the stakes higher for the Chinese and the prospects of success lower."

Domestic anxieties

While Australia currently does not have much nuclear capability, AUKUS partners the US and the UK will collaborate with Australia during the next 18 months to decide how the plan will be realised, as well as how the nuclear-propelled submarines will be refuelled. 

And while defence department secretary Greg Moriarty said that “the management of waste, the disposal of the submarine at the end of its life, all of those are issues where we will be engaging with our US and UK partners,” other politicians aren’t convinced.

Greens leader Adam Bandt, for example, has called the nuclear submarines "floating Chernobyls", adding his party would vigorously oppose the new agreement.

Concerns have also been raised by Naval Group employees, who are based in South Australia and had been working on the new French submarines. A Naval Group worker told the ABC they knew little about what their futures would hold.

"It's very fresh so we don't know," he said.

"I'm not really sure how to react at the moment.

"We were not expecting this."

However, while finance minister Simon Birmingham said there was a "firm commitment" to helping them transition into new roles, he could not guarantee that all of Naval Group's employees would retain their jobs.

This story was updated at 8.51am on 20 September 2021.

COVID-19 misinformation has appeared and been shared since the beginning of the pandemic, with so-called “miracle” treatments appearing on a host of social media sites. An Australian government website lists many of these, including that hot temperatures kill the virus, vitamin C can be an effective treatment, and UV rays kill COVID-19, to name a few. 

There have also been more bizarre claims shared, such as 5G networks spreading the virus. As the World Health Organisation (WHO) was quoted on the same website:

 “Viruses cannot travel on radio waves/mobile networks. COVID-19 is spreading in many countries that do not have 5G mobile networks.

“COVID-19 is spread through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks. People can also be infected by touching a contaminated surface and then their eyes, mouth or nose." 

While such misinformation is dangerous in and of itself, it becomes more hazardous when promulgated by people in power, celebrities and other highly influential people. A key case in point is the use of the drug hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, a falsehood spread by former US President Donald Trump and also Australian MP Craig Kelly.

“Despite advice from the Therapeutic Goods Administration explaining that hydroxychloroquine is not an effective treatment for COVID-19, MP Craig Kelly has continued to promote the opposite on Facebook. A letter he wrote on the same topic, bearing the Commonwealth coat of arms was also widely distributed," Associate Professor Adam Dunn from the University of Sydney wrote in The Conversation at the beginning of 2021. 

“He has also incorrectly advocated the use of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19, and encouraged people to protest against what he called “health bureaucrats in an ivory tower”.

The ANU study

The study involved 742 participants who were shown five refuted COVID-19 claims that had been circulated and five accurate statements about the virus from public health authorities. The participants were then required to complete a test relating to their thinking style. 

The study aimed to compare “intuitive thinkers, those who tend to make decisions on immediate instinct, with reflective thinkers, or those who stop and reflect on the accuracy of information presented to them”. The researchers then analysed how the different thinkers responded to the debunked COVID-19 information and the five accurate statements. 

ANU PhD researcher and lead author of the study Matthew Nurse said individuals who leaned towards intuitive answers in their thinking style test were “significantly worse” at distinguishing COVID-19 misinformation from accurate statements about the virus. 

“Viral misinformation about COVID-19 has spread just like the virus itself,” Nurse said. 

“Knowing that a reliance on intuition might be at least partly responsible for the spread of COVID-19 misinformation gives science communicators important clues about how to respond to this challenge.  

“For example, simply reminding people to take their time and think through dodgy claims could help people reject misinformation and hopefully prevent them from following ineffective or dangerous advice.

“Encouraging people to think twice before sharing might slow down the spread of false claims too.” 

The study was published in the journal Memory and Cognition, and aligns with other research findings from the US, the UK, and Canada. 

Most Australian universities also rose on last year’s results rather than regressing.

Hot on the heels of ANU in the 2022 World University Rankings — and all landing top 50 positions — are The University of Melbourne (37th), The University of Sydney (38th), The University of NSW (43rd) and The University of Queensland (47th). The latest QS World Rankings also show two Australian universities have achieved their best result in more than a decade.

Curtin University, for instance, has re-entered the top 200 for the first time since 2006, coming in at 194th. Improved employer recognition over the last year has bolstered its ranking, as has its research impact (now ranked 84th in the world for Citations per Faculty). 

Similarly, Macquarie University has cemented a place in the top 200 for the first time in over a decade.

In total, 38 Australian universities appeared in the 2022 rankings table, making us the ninth-highest global performer. Of the universities featured, 16 have risen in their rankings since last year, 11 have dipped, and nine have stayed the same.

The University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) and the University of Notre Dame Australia also made their debuts in this year’s rankings. 

Key points: Australian universities

• ANU’s rise this year can be attributed to improvements in its employment recognition score, as well as its research performance. The university also attained a perfect International Faculty score. 
• Overall, the solid performance of Australia’s higher education sector in this year’s rankings is based on high research impact scores (Citations per Faculty).
• “Eleven of the world’s top 100 scores for QS’s measure of research impact, Citations per Faculty, are achieved by Australian universities. Also achieving a top 50 score for Citations per Faculty are The University of Western Australia (40^th) and The University of New South Wales (44^th).” 
• The University of Melbourne scored a top 20 ranking in Academic Reputation (17), as well lifting its results since last year in research impact and teaching capacity scores.
• The University of Sydney registered a 15-place jump in research impact. The university also achieved an impressive Employer Reputation score, landing in the world’s top 30 at 29. Meanwhile, UNSW now ranks 32nd for Employer Reputation and 44th for Citations per Faculty.

Director of Research at QS, Ben Sowter, said: “Australian successes in the QS World University Rankings are based on two key factors: outstanding research impact and high levels of internationalization. Eight Australian universities achieve perfect scores for our International Faculty Ratio indicator, and twelve achieve a score of 80/100 or above for International Student Ratio. 

“In other words: the continued strength of Australian higher education is predicated on its enduring appeal to the global academic community.

“While the country has drawn well-deserved commendation from spectators across the world for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, falls in international enrolments – particularly from its two biggest markets, China and India, will not only present a financial threat to its institutions - with international students contributing A$9.8 billion in revenue to Australia’s universities in 2019 alone - but will also jeopardise the intellectual diversity and exchange that are causing Australia’s institutions to thrive.” 

Global trends

Globally, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US remains the dominant institution in higher education, achieving a record ten consecutive years at the top of the pack. The University of Oxford clinched the 2nd place for the first time since 2006, relegating both Stanford University and the University of Cambridge to equal third.

Universities in the Asian region continue to climb up the ranks, with the continent’s leading university — the National University of Singapore — ranked 11th in this year’s results. Mainland China, too, is proving itself to be an academic force to be reckoned with, with two of its universities featuring in the top 20 for the first time. 

Switzerland’s ETH Zurich (8^th) is the highest-ranked university outside of the United Kingdom and the US. 

“This year, QS will list the world’s top 1300 universities - 145 more than in last year’s edition - which can be found in 97 locations,” Quacquarelli Symonds said. 

“6415 institutions were eligible for the survey analysis, and 1705 were assessed for the final table. The results will account for the distribution and performance of 14.7 million academic papers published between 2015 and 2019, and the 96 million citations received by those papers; they also account for the expert opinions of over 130,000 academic faculty and over 75,000 employers.” 

For full results, click here.

The ANU survey, which involved 3000 people, found that 84.5 per cent of Asian-Australians reported at least one instance of discrimination between January and October this year. This contrast with 82 per cent of survey respondents reporting an incident of discrimination in August 2019.

However, it’s not all bad news.

Professor Nicholas Biddle, study co-author from the ANU Centre for Social Research Methods, also found that discrimination towards Asian-Australians dipped and peaked during different periods of the year, with a 12.3 per cent drop between January and April 2020.

“This was when lockdowns were in full force and there was less exposure to potential sources of discrimination,” Biddle said. 

“But we then found an almost equal increase in instances of discrimination between April and October 2020, when lockdowns were easing.

“Our findings also show Australians are no more likely to think that people from a different ethnic background to the majority of the Australian population should be restricted from moving to Australia than they did prior to the pandemic.

“There has also been a slight decline in support for migration in general, but this does not appear to have been targeted towards particular ethnic groups.”

While the overall incidents of discrimination towards Asian-Australians during the pandemic has been concerning, Biddle also noted that social cohesion has actually improved during the pandemic.

“What is perhaps more interesting though is that Australians are more likely to think that Asian-Australians can be trusted, are fair, and are helpful than they are to think the same thing of Anglo-Australians,” Biddle said.

“Around 65 per cent of the Australian population has high trust in Asian-Australians, compared to 55 per cent who have high trust in Anglo-Australians.”

The study was a collaboration between the ANU Centre for Social Research Methods and the ANU Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership (CAAL).

“We know that sadly many Asian-Australians still face and experience discrimination every day,” CAAL Director Mr Jieh-Yung Lo said.

“This survey shines an important light on the experiences of Asian-Australians, particularly in a very distinct moment in our history, as well as the work we must still all do to make sure our nation is free from discrimination.

“In our survey last year, around 15 per cent of Australians identified as being Asian-Australian. The research shows that Asian-Australians play a pivotal role in the success of our society and nation. They have been a pillar of our society for generations. We must do better; we can do better.”

In addition to discrimination against Asian-Australians and perceptions of Asian-Australians held by Anglo-Australians, the study also focused on the experiences of Asian Australians, including employment.

“Asian-Australians are more likely to be anxious and worried due to COVID-19 than the rest of the Australian population,” Biddle said.

“The biggest difference though has been in terms of economics. The drop in hours worked for Asian-Australians between February and April 2020 (5.0 hours) was more than twice the drop for the rest of the Australian population (2.4 hours).

“Some of this gap has been regained since, but even in October 2020 Asian-Australians were working fewer hours than they had in February 2020, whereas the rest of the Australian population were back closer to their pre-COVID levels.”

Lo added that Asian-Australians “fared worse” during the COVID-19 period than the wider Australian population, emphasising the “source of this disparity” must be understood, and appropriate policy responses implemented.

“In addition to anti-racism strategies, one of the most effective ways to combat discrimination is by increasing Asian-Australian representation in senior leadership positions across our public and private institutions. Having more Asian-Australians in leadership roles changes perceptions, breaks down stereotypes and instils greater trust and confidence across our society,” he said.

Asked whether the study is more negative than positive or vice-versa, Biddle said "that is quite difficult to answer".

"On the one hand, there has been a significant amount of concern that levels of discrimination would increase during the pandemic. We don’t find any evidence for that, which is positive news," he told Campus Review.

"On the other hand though, discrimination levels are still very high, and much of the decline in discrimination early in the pandemic appears to be due to reductions in exposure.

"Furthermore, the most worrying finding is the large drop in hours worked for Asian-Australians. We do not know whether this is due to discrimination or not.

"However, it is large and statistically significant, so we know that economically the COVID-recession has hit Asian-Australians the hardest. On balance, the findings are not as bad as we might have feared, but still show a worsening in outcomes for Asian-Australians relative to the rest of the population."

The study's co-author is also unsure as to whether the discrimination experienced by Asian-Australians (including Chinese-Australians) would have an impact on international student numbers.

"It is hard to predict what the circumstances will be like for students who return to study in Australia next year. Discrimination levels are high, but at least haven’t increased substantially," Biddle said.

"So, the experience of students returning may not be that different to previous cohorts of students. However, we do not know what will happen to the economy as government support in the labour market is withdrawn.

"It is likely that students who rely on part-time and casual work may find it more difficult in 2021 than students did prior to the pandemic."

The study is part of the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods COVID-19 monitoring program.

"The window for taking such action [on climate change] is closing fast," according to Clem Davis.

The summer of 2019–2020 has been a time most Australians would prefer to forget. As megafires wreaked havoc across most states and territories, people lost their lives, homes and businesses were reduced to ashes and an estimated one billion animals perished.

The scale of the devastation has been unprecedented. Today, in part one of our series on the contribution higher education can make in addressing the issues contributing to the bushfires, I’m talking to Clem Davis, a former meteorologist and honorary lecturer at The Australian National University

During our discussion Davis argues the world is barrelling towards its limit of no more than a 2 degree Celsius temperature rise and drastic action will need to be undertaken to contain it. He also says the urban sprawl, seen in most large Australian cities, needs addressing, as fuel loads around these areas tend to be abundant. He also said that when large fires join together, they produce their own – often deadly – weather systems.

"We're already seeing some temperatures above one degree, which is scary," Davis said.

"Even if we stopped all emissions tomorrow, we are probably still set to reach the 2 degrees Celsius temperature rise in the next 10 to 15 years."

Upcoming episodes on the megafires of 2020 will explore new technologies to reduce carbon emissions, Indigenous perspectives on land and fire management, and hazard reduction strategies when megafires break out.

It works through the key drivers of sexual assault and harassment and what needs to be done on campus to stamp them out.

Last week, vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt apologised for the amount of time it took ANU to put together the strategy – with its release coming more than two years after the 2017 Human Rights Commission report on sexual violence on Australian campuses.

"I acknowledge that we have taken more than two years to get to this point today," Schmidt said.

"That has not been because we didn't think it was important. It is because it is hard; we haven't gotten everything right, and for those who have been let down by the university in the process, I apologise."

Developed with input from staff, advocates, experts, violence prevention practitioners and support services, the strategy will guide the ANU community at the individual, campus and whole-of-university level, Schmidt said.

"Together we will target the structures, norms and practices that drive and reinforce sexual violence," he said. "Together we will tear these structures down.”

ANU’s Respectful Relationships Unit, which was established at the beginning of this year to coordinate the university's efforts to prevent and respond to sexual assault and harassment, will lead the strategy.

Unit head Sue Webeck said elements had already been implemented, with the rest to be rolled out in three major phases between 2019 and 2026.

"The first phase of the strategy will identify what actions ANU has already taken to stop sexual violence, while building on that and scaling successful initiatives across the campus," Webeck said.

"This includes the development and testing of an online disclosure tool, a sexual misconduct policy which sits alongside this strategy, and a coordinated training approach to sexual violence prevention, intervention and response.

"This will ensure we are working to stop sexual misconduct before it occurs while also responding effectively and with care when it does occur.”

Phase two will see ANU strengthen its efforts and build on what works best, and phase three will be about maintaining the new norm and “seeing real prevention results across the entire campus community”, Webeck said.

In his foreword in the report, Schmidt said as a national university ANU has a responsibility to be driving conversations that will change the nation.

"Our mission is to create a community of thought leaders, experts in their chosen fields, to build a better world for everyone. But we must also champion the creation of global citizens who uphold values that make our society a better place for all."

Click here to read the strategy.

ANU vice-chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt said the “state of the art hack” was carried out by "an actor at the very top of their game”.

"This wasn't a smash and grab,” Schmidt said. “It was a diamond heist."

The investigation did not uncover which records were taken or the actor’s intentions but the ANU team insisted that the stolen data has not been further misused.

The report confirmed that the actor sent a spearphishing email on 9 November 2018 to the mailbox of a senior member of staff. While this email was only previewed, the malicious code it contained did not require the recipient to click on a link or open an attachment.

“It is highly likely that the credentials taken from this account were used to gain access to other systems,” the report read. “The actor also gained access to the senior staff member’s calendar – information which was used to conduct additional spearphishing attacks later in the actor’s campaign.”

The resulting attacks targeted the university’s enterprise systems domain, which houses its human resources, financial management, student administration and enterprise e-forms systems.

That information, among other details, included names, addresses, dates of birth, tax file numbers and bank account details.

But the university confirmed that information like medical records, counselling records, academic misconduct and financial hardship were not harvested.

Schmidt said: "It was an extremely sophisticated operation, most likely carried out by a team of between five to 15 people working around the clock.

"It's likely they spent months planning this. They were organised and everyone knew their role.

"They evolved. They used custom-built malware and zero-day hacks to exploit unknown vulnerabilities in our system.

"They dismantled their operations as they went to cover their tracks.

"They brought their A team.”

Schmidt said the university was investing in information security technology, processes, culture and leadership.

He also had a word of warning for other organisation harbouring private information.

"We are certainly not alone, and many organisations will already have been hacked, perhaps without their knowledge."

By making the report public, Schmidt said he hoped to encourage more disclosure of these attacks.

The former foreign minister will take over from Gareth Evans – also an ex-parliamentarian – who has been chancellor since 2010.

Bishop has taken on a number of positions, advisory and otherwise, since leaving parliament following her unsuccessful bid for the Liberal leadership earlier this year.

In a letter to staff and students, pro chancellor Naomi Flutter said Bishop has maintained a deep interest in education for most of her professional life.

“The New Colombo Plan is one of her signature initiatives, aimed at lifting knowledge of the Indo Pacific in Australia by supporting Australian undergraduates to study and undertake internships in the region.”

In Bishop, Flutter said, ANU has a compelling and effective advocate, including with the Australian Government.

Bishop took to Twitter to say she was “delighted” to take on the role and looks forward to working closely with the university community.

Flutter said forums about the chancellorship held with the ANU community highlighted the need for an “eminent, distinguished individual, befitting our university's stature".

“It was clear you wanted someone who understands our distinctive role as the national university – contributing to matters of great national and international significance – and someone who appreciates the transformative power of universities, through their teaching and research.

“In Julie, we have such a person.”

Bishop's three-year term will begin on 1 January next year.

According to a statement issued by Australia National University’s Vice Chancellor Brian Schmidt, the hacker accessed ANU’s systems in 2018, with the university only discovering the breach two weeks ago.

Information accessed – some of which is nearly 20 years old – includes highly sensitive data including passport details, student academic records, bank details and tax file numbers.

“For the past two weeks, our staff have been working tirelessly to further strengthen our systems against secondary or opportunistic attacks. I'm now able to provide you with the details of what occurred,” Dr Schmidt said.

“We believe there was unauthorised access to significant amounts of personal staff, student and visitor data extending back 19 years.

“Depending on the information you have provided to the university, this may include names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, personal email addresses and emergency contact details, tax file numbers, payroll information, bank account details, and passport details. Student academic records were also accessed.

“The systems that store credit card details, travel information, medical records, police checks, workers' compensation, vehicle registration numbers, and some performance records have not been affected.

“We have no evidence that research work has been affected.”

Dr Schmidt said ANU was working with Australian government security agencies to investigate the breach further and urged the ANU community to follow the advice of the Chief Safety Information Officer to safeguard against further attacks. These included changing their passwords, screening incoming calls and using only updated systems.

The university also provided increased counselling resources for those affected by the data breach.

The Australian Signals Directorate is yet to identify who is behind the attack and cannot say whether a state actor was involved.

Although experts have not concluded that China was behind the latest attack, they believe it fits into a “pattern of behaviour”.

"The theory is they're creating databases they can mine for interesting intelligence or counter intelligence purposes," senior analyst Tom Uren told the Canberra Times.

Experts believe ANU is a significant target for international hackers because of its close links to government and Australia's intelligence community.

In Risk Based Security’s Mid-Year Data Breach Quick-View Report of 2018, Australia ranked fifth in data breaches. The US topped the list, with more than 1000 publicly disclosed data breaches in the first half of 2018, followed by the UK, Canada, India and Australia.

More alarmingly, the same report found that Australia also ranked fifth in the number of records exposed, with an astronomical 20,035,981.

If experts are to be believed and the ANU hack is indicative, 2019 is shaping up to be a fruitful year for cyber criminals. In a recent Forbes article, CEO of ObservIT Mike McKee said:

“We expect nation-state threats to increase significantly in 2019, particularly targeting critical infrastructure. Critical infrastructure systems are extremely vulnerable to both cybersecurity and physical security risks.

"State-sponsored threats and high-level hackers are constantly looking to gain access to the critical infrastructure of nations worldwide, with the intent of hitting some of our most valuable systems.”

After the attack on ANU, digital identity management company ForgeRock’s Adam Biviano offered this sage advice: "Personal identity information remains the holy grail of cybercriminals as there are many avenues to profit from it. Education providers may store and manage millions of consumer data records and thus are finding themselves under a constant barrage of cyberattacks.

"Organisations from all industries can protect identity information by implementing a strong customer identity strategy which includes understanding how it is used and stored across different lines of businesses and ensure that sensitive personal information is only kept on robust infrastructure.

"Not only does a breach impact a business with the potential to inflict brand damage and reduce revenues, it can also see impacted customers pay a hefty personal price given they may now be directly in the sights of the perpetrator as they look to cash in.

"Protecting customer data must be a top priority for enterprises of all types and industry sectors, as the evidence is clear that cybercriminals show no sign of slowing down," Biviano said.