Professor Scott, a non-academic who was a newcomer to higher education when appointed to lead the University of Sydney in 2021, is well practised in dealing with government after previous stints as head of the NSW Education Department and managing director of the ABC.

The Go8 will have a source of continuity in chief executive Vicki Thomson, who has been in the role since 2015 and been reappointed for the next five years.

The final report of the government’s Universities Accord review of higher education, to be released late next month, is likely to put a tax on universities’ international student income – which Go8 institutions rely on to fund their research budgets – and also slow-walk calls to boost Australia’s research spending.

Professor Scott said an international student tax would be a “dangerous and short-term policy intervention”.

He said that national research performance – in which the Go8 universities dominate – was a standout area of Australian educational achievement compared to, for example, the poor participation rates for early childhood education or lacklustre school performance.

“So I think it would be very short-term for any government or policymaker to turn around and say, ‘We will target the one area where the country has been doing exceptionally well in global terms’,” Professor Scott said.

“Revenue from international students has provided the investment that has been necessary in research in this country that has come at the same time as government … and business investment in research has been in significant long-term decline.”

He said he understood why the government’s work on the Accord had focused on increasing the number of disadvantaged students who get a university education and ensuring graduates have the skills required for modern jobs.

“But to focus on those things does not take away at all from the importance of research … particularly for the long-term strategic growth of the country,” Professor Scott said.

“We shouldn’t be in a position where we’re sacrificing our strength in one area to make further investments in others.”

In a submission lodged this week to a Senate committee examining a bill making changes to the Australian Research Council, the Go8 urges that 65 per cent of ARC grant funding to universities should be allocated to basic research.

Professor Scott said a commitment to basic research was a necessary foundation for future success. “Unless there is a guaranteed investment in basic research now, there’s nothing to translate and commercialise in five, 10, 15 years from now,” he said.

Professor Scott’s two-year term as Go8 chair takes him up to 2026, when the group will admit the new Adelaide University, a merger of the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia. Because UniSA does not have a high concentration of research, the newly merged Adelaide University will not, at least for some years, fit the research-intensive profile of Group of Eight members.

The University of Adelaide, a Go8 member, will cease to exist and Professor Scott said the group had debated whether to admit the new Adelaide University.

“We decided we wanted to keep that important university in South Australia in the Go8. I think there’s an expectation that its research performance will improve over time, and that will be a focus,” he said.

He succeeds the former chair, University of Canberra vice-chancellor Paddy Nixon, who was meant to be chair until 2025, but who resigned earlier this month.

The group, which includes Flinders University, Griffith University, James Cook University, La Trobe University, Murdoch University, the University of Canberra, and Western Sydney University, is dedicated to building inclusive education and better research capabilities among the campuses.

Professor Biggs said he is committed to continuing the IRU's achievements after it celebrated its 20th anniversary last year.

"I’m honoured to be named as the Chair of the IRU, with its commitment to equity and innovation," he said.

"I’d like to thank Paddy for his leadership in 2023 and I’m looking forward to continuing the IRU’s values-based work in our communities, around Australia, and the wider Indo-Pacific."

Executive director Paul Harris said this was an important time to lead the university group.

"This is an important moment for Australian universities and for higher education policy, as we await the final report of the Universities Accord panel," he said.

"I look forward to working with Professor Biggs over the next two years as the IRU continues to engage constructively with government on evidence-based policy reform that will maximise the contribution of our universities to the Australian economy and society."

The Professor of Criminology will formally start the role on Monday, January 29, serving as VC and president designate until then.

Prior to her appointment she was deputy vice-chancellor of education and senior vice-president from July 2021, where she led the university's 2022-30 education plan, and was promoted to acting provost and senior vice-president in August 2023.

Previous to that, she was the dean of arts at the University, and taught humanities and social sciences to students using her expertise in criminal justice and refugee law, migration, human rights law and sex trafficking.

Professor Pickering was invited by Education Minister Jason Clare to serve on the Gender-Based Violence Reference Group for the Australian Universities Accord after she led discussions about sexual assault and harassment on campuses.

The professor founded Monash's Border Crossing Observatory, a hub for NGOs, criminologists and researchers to examine border crossings and migration in a human-centered way.

During her time as dean, Professor Pickering formed the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, along with other hubs funded to research climate change and family violence.

Professor Pickering said she will aim to lead the university as one holistic body.

"I see the collective and individual efforts of everyone in the Monash community," she said.

"When we all come together – the researchers, the educators, the students, alumni and staff – we can do great things, supported by our many external stakeholders.

"My commitment is to lead Monash with energy, and in service of the University, our local and global communities to create a joyful place to study, work and create meaningful lasting change."

Executive search firm Perrett Laver started an international search for the Monash's new leader after the former VC, Professor Margaret Gardner AC, resigned to become Victoria’s 30th governor in July.

Professor Gardner was in the role for nine years, and was temporarily replaced by Susan Elliot AM as interim chief.

Heywood was charged last week with common assault and behaving offensively in public after an incident at an International Women’s Day panel in Armidale on March 8. 

The former VC has been accused of wiping her saliva on the face of a 16-year-old attendee and remarking about the colour of her skin.

The teenager’s family told SMH the girl had gone to approach another panel member to speak about her own experiences of racism.

Heywood then allegedly rubbed her saliva on the girl's forehead and remarked ‘Oh you’re brown, yes you’re right, it’s not coming off’, according to the girl's father.

In a written statement, UNE chancellor James Harris confirmed Heywood’s resignation and said she “strenuously denied” the allegations and planned to defend them.

"Professor Heywood formed the view that it was in the best interest of the university that she resign from her position and the University Council has accepted her decision,” Harris stated.

“Both Professor Heywood and the university council acknowledges the deep hurt felt by many on hearing of the charges.

“Given the charges are before the court, the university council does not intend to make any comment about the charges or their subject matter.”

Harris went on to acknowledge Heywood’s “significant contributions” to the university since she began her role in June 2019.

Previously, Heywood was Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Tasmania, before that working in a senior role at New Zealand’s Massey University.

She currently sits as a board member of nuclear science and technology organisation ANSTO, to which she was appointed in 2016. 

A spokesperson from the government agency told Campus Review Heywood will continue in her role on the board "pending resolution of the matter before the court".

Following Heywood's resignation, UNE Deputy Vice-Chancellor Simon Evans was named as acting Vice-Chancellor on Friday.

UNE Professor Michael Whilmore has stepped in as Deputy VC.

Heywood is due to appear in Armidale local court on September 26. 

The 65-year-old has been issued with a court attendance notice and is facing charges related to common assault and offensive behaviour near a public place or school.

Police have said the alleged victim was not physically injured.

Heywood has been Vice-Chancellor at the university since 2019. It is unknown yet if she will step aside from her role.

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has called on the University of England to dismiss Heywood due to the allegations.

"Australians must have confidence that those entrusted with overseeing our public institutions are honest, have integrity and conduct themselves in a proper manner," said NTEU state secretary Dr Damien Cahill.

“Professor Heywood is entitled to the presumption of innocence. Nevertheless, the seriousness of the allegations requires an appropriate response.

"If Professor Heywood does not voluntarily step aside then the university must act to stand her down."

Heywood is due to appear in court in September.

Campus Review has reached out to the University of New England for comment.

After guiding The University of Otago through most of the challenges of the past two years, she crossed the ditch and took up the reins at Curtin University in April last year.

Rather than finishing up in New Zealand and heading into retirement as planned, Hayne says the trials of the pandemic actually energised her and “reignited her interest in leadership”.

In this interview with Campus Review Hayne talks about that reinvigoration and the exciting times ahead for Curtin, which she describes as Australia’s most global university.

CR: You arrived at Curtin in April this year. What’s the experience been like for you and for Curtin, and how well has it navigated the many challenges of the pandemic?

HH: My plan really was not to have another job like this. I was coming to the end of my role at the University of Otago, and I was quite happy to continue to shepherd the university through to the end of the pandemic. My long-term goal was really to go and sit on a beach somewhere and retire.

But to be honest, the COVID pandemic really reignited my interest in leadership. I mean, being a vice-chancellor is not an easy job, but after you’ve done it for a decade, it does become more predictable.

But of course, COVID-19 really threw all of that out the window. So, I really found that the rapid shift to online for both running a university and teaching, it just really reignited my interest in leadership. The opportunity at Curtin just came along at the right time.

I did learn through shepherding Otago through COVID that I probably did have one more big job in me, and when I started learning more about Curtin, I found that this is a very values-driven university. In fact, it’s the most values-driven organisation that I have ever studied in or worked for.

And I found that the Curtin values and the way of being was really consistent with my own views, and it was such a completely different university from my former university. It’s much bigger. It’s very industry embedded and industry engaged. It has campuses in five countries. So, this just seemed like a great opportunity for one last leadership challenge.

I’d never set foot on the campus before I started my job on April 19. It’s been a seven-month journey of discovery, both for the university and for me, and I’ve certainly loved everything that I have discovered. I often describe it to people as: ‘It’s like somebody handed me this huge present, and every day I open another layer of the wrapping and I find something new and exciting inside.’

In contrast to what some people might think about the challenges of leading universities through something like a pandemic – it does provide really good opportunities for leadership that we don’t often get. In many ways, I feel very privileged that I’ve had the opportunity to lead two universities in this unprecedented time, and certainly, Curtin is in a fantastic position for me.

Are the New Zealand and Australian higher education sectors operating in similar environments, or are there some notable differences in your experience?

There are some very interesting similarities and differences between New Zealand and Australia in terms of the higher education system, and I’m only now coming to grips, for example, with the funding system in Australia which is very challenging. I used to think that the New Zealand system was confronting, but in fact, the Australian system provides some very interesting challenges, and I guess the biggest challenge is the cap funding environment that we’re currently working on.

The bulk of our income at Curtin, as is the case with most universities in Australia, does come in the form of student-related funding, either the money that the Commonwealth pays us to teach students or the tuition that the students are paying through their HECS fees, and both of those are capped under the current funding environment. I’m starting to understand why Australian universities have come to rely so heavily on international students as an additional source of revenue, because that’s really one of the handful of mechanisms or levers that we have under our control.

In New Zealand, government funding for research includes the overhead costs. So, that includes the funding for the salaries of the academics, or a portion of the funding, for the academics who are conducting research. The money also goes to support all of the expensive infrastructure that is required to do world-class research, and that isn’t the case in Australia.

I’m still trying to get my head around how we at Curtin will be able to meet our goals for world-class research against a backdrop of a relatively constrained funding environment. It’s our problem to solve, but it’s nonetheless something that I think about often.

How well do you think the Australian higher education sector, and Curtin in particular, is positioned to negotiate the post-pandemic future?

I think it’s still too early to tell, but we’ve got a very clear path to recovery at Curtin. I can’t speak on behalf of the other Australian universities, but our path to recovery will capitalise on our existing strengths. One of the huge strengths is that it is very industry engaged and industry embedded. This is a young university. It’s agile. It’s not bogged down by an imagined past. It is a future-looking institution, and I think that’s what makes us such a great partner for business and industry because we are young and nimble. This isn’t a new thing for Curtin. This is part of the DNA here.

We’ll continue to build on the fact that our students are highly employable. We’ve got the highest employment rate of a public university in WA. We’ve got a higher employment rate than any other Go8 university. So, that’s something that we’re really proud of.

The new part of our strategy will be around maximising the student experience. I do think that is one thing where Australian universities have lagged behind their counterparts in other parts of the world, not only New Zealand, but in the US, the UK and Canada, where university life in those countries is really centred on students’ needs, and the university organises itself in such a way that it maximises not only the educational, but also the growth opportunities for the student body.

Tell us about the new innovation precinct, Exchange.

It’s like a small city sitting in the heart of our university campus. It includes residential accommodation for students, a boutique hotel and a large amount of industry space, including space in our new building of Design and Built Environment. There is a large amount of commercial space, and there’s also a large amount of retail space, including a number of food and beverage outlets as well.

We’re hoping it will be a really great destination place, not only for our staff and students, but also for members of the community who enjoy the campus primarily on the weekends while they’re using our amazing sporting fields. Curtin is really a seven-day-a week place. Five days a week, the university operates, and then the other two days, the community joins us to play every sport imaginable. It’s the only university that I’ve seen since I’ve been in this part of the world that reminds me of a US big 10.

The timing is interesting. We read and hear a lot about post-COVID blended learning and now some universities are selling off parts of their built assets. What are your thoughts on what the campus of the future might look like?

One of the things that COVID taught me both in New Zealand and Australia is that the last thing university students want, and particularly school leavers, is more online learning. Our students have made it very clear that they want to get back into the classroom. They clearly understand the value of learning with their peers, and they clearly understand the face to face opportunities that are provided by the excellent teaching staff that we have.

For us, the future will include blended learning because we also have a large cohort of individuals who are reskilling or upskilling adults and are juggling work.

We’ve got students obviously who are scattered around the Indian Ocean rim. For us, blended learning going forward will be a combination of very high, intensive face to face learning opportunities and then using the technology that we have available to augment and assist, but the technology will not be driving what we are doing. The human needs of our student population will be driving what we’re doing.

Students do like to have access to recorded lectures. They can go over what they’ve heard, fill in the blanks, things that they’ve missed. They can use it for revision. You can use it if you’re sick. You can use it if your children are sick and you can’t be there. But the message could not have been clearer from the moment I set foot on this campus that the students want face to face learning.

Do you think the pandemic has led to a shift in the perception of higher education in society?

Well, I’m hopeful. One of the things that we saw in the heart of the pandemic was the importance of research. Many of the respected and trusted sources of information that led New Zealand and Australia through the pandemic came from university expertise in public health, in vaccinations, in viruses. I think one of the upsides of the pandemic was that the community was bathed in knowledge over a long period of time that was brought to them by the individuals who were actually generating that new knowledge through research.

I’m really hopeful that the pandemic has strengthened the public’s confidence in the public university system and really underscored the value of some of the research that we do here, and that goes not only for Curtin, but for universities around Australia and other parts of the world.

I also think we’ve got a responsibility as universities to open our doors to the public, and one of the things we’re working really hard on is to make our campus very porous. Exchange is one way of bringing people on campus to say that this is a place for everyone: it’s not an elitist organisation.

We work really hard to recruit the best and the brightest, but we work equally hard to recruit first in family, kids from regional and remote areas, Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander students.

I was the first person in my family to go to university. I know what the value of university education is for the future.

Where do you see Curtin in, say, five years’ time?

I think one of Curtin’s big strengths, and it is a strength that I’m only beginning to understand, is its global footprint. I think Curtin is probably Australia’s most global university. I think we probably have the largest number of well-developed campuses outside of Australia. So, part of our strategic plan will be thinking about how we can create a truly global university.

We’ve got a massive footprint here in Australia, and then we have campuses in Dubai, Mauritius, Malaysia and Singapore. We need to do a better job of integrating those five campuses so whether students come to Curtin Malaysia, Singapore, Dubai or Bentley, they actually get a truly global education.

That will involve integrating the curriculum, pulling examples, for example, in a business course from not only Australian business, but regional business. For example, what is Islamic banking about and how can we use our Dubai campus in order to teach students about that? We really want to build our global offerings for students.

I think in five years’ time you will find that your average Curtin student will be a much better global citizen because they will have had the opportunity either to study in one of the five campuses that are outside of their home area, or they will have the opportunity to study alongside people from those countries, whether it’s virtually or sitting side by side in the classroom, and they will be exposed to content that is truly global.

I think that’s really what the world needs right now. We need to move away from any sense of parochialism and think about the world as a whole, and Curtin is really in a great position to do that. I think in five years’ time you will see that a Curtin graduate will not only be highly employable here in Australia, but potentially highly employable in many other parts of the world because of the experiences that they’ve had here.

Another thing you will see is that Curtin is actually a remarkably sustainable university. The new Design and Built Environment building, for example, is a six Green Star building. We’ve been able to reduce our carbon footprint substantially, but it’s just been a matter of business as usual as opposed to being out loud and proud about our commitment to the UN sustainable development goals.

Going forward, it will become really important for us to highlight that to them and to give them opportunities to participate in research and teaching activities and community service that is commensurate with the SDGs.

What is the short-term outlook for the return of international students to Curtin?

We have about 1,700 international students who are currently studying with us offshore who want to come to Australia, and they have been extremely patient and resilient over the last two years. So, we are really looking forward to welcoming those students back to campus.

And then we have probably about another 750 brand new students who are quite keen to join us at the beginning of the next semester. So, we’re all incredibly excited about that fact.

Curtin, financially, has relied less on international students than some other Australian universities. Part of our strategy is that actually we have more international students right now studying in one of our other four Indian Ocean rim university campuses than we do at Bentley. We are very much looking forward to having them back, and for us, as always, international students are a source of cultural enrichment for us. So, that’s what’s really been missing: that huge, vibrant cultural mix that makes up a great world-class university.

We’re looking forward to having them get back on campus for them to have a wonderful Australian experience, and for our Australian students to have a great opportunity to interact with their peers who come from all over the globe. Now that we have a really clear path forward, we’re all getting incredibly excited to roll out the red carpet for 2022.

Deeks comes to Murdoch from University College Dublin, where he has served as president since 2014. He was the first Australian to lead an Irish university.

The move will be a homecoming for Deeks who was educated at The University of Western Australia, where he received a first class honours degree in civil engineering, a masters and his PhD, as well as starting his academic career there from 2004 to 2009.

Murdoch has been searching for a new VC since March this year when previous VC Eeva Leinonen resigned after five years at the helm.

Murdoch University Chancellor Gary Smith said the Murdoch senate accepted the recommendation of a specially established selection committee.

"I am delighted Professor Deeks has accepted the position and will be leading Murdoch University at such a critical time for the higher education sector and what we expect will be an exciting time in Murdoch University’s history,” Smith said.

Deeks said that he is excited to come back to WA and help Murdoch thrive in this time of disruption.

“Murdoch University has a global reputation for its research, teaching and learning, particularly in the areas of the environment, health and food, and with its tradition of free thinking is ideally placed to contribute to the solution of global challenges and to further promote social inclusion and equity,” Deeks said.

“I am particularly excited to be part of Murdoch University’s Reconciliation Action Plan, as this is an agenda which has moved forward considerably during my time abroad.

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to bring the knowledge, skills and experience I have gained from more than 12 years in leadership positions in leading UK and Irish universities back to WA, and I look forward to contributing to the advancement of Murdoch University, WA and Australia."

Former Deakin VC and UWA interim VC Jane den Hollander will act as Interim vice chancellor until April 2022.