Staff at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) are experiencing high levels of psychological distress as they brace for 400 redundancies as part of a broader cull of Australian university workers, according to a leaked survey.
The survey of 380 workers by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), obtained by ABC News, found 35 per cent were experiencing very high levels of psychological distress.
“There’s a lot of helplessness and uncertainty and the thing that I want to draw out of here is people have this notion that’s natural with change management,” said Dr Hossai Gul, a UTS expert in change in complex systems.
Hossai Gul says there has been a lot of “helplessness and uncertainty” at UTS. (Supplied: Hossai Gul)
“There are kind and compassionate ways to do this… people shouldn’t become unwell.”
Dr Gul is risking her employment to speak out due to rules governing public comment by university staff.
She said the redundancies would result in the downgrading of important areas of scholarship and teaching at the university.
“That’s at the core of helplessness and uncertainty. What do you say to something like that? When people are imposing that onto you?” she said.
The UTS is not the only university facing staff cuts. (ABC News: Chris Taylor)
“The area you’ve worked with for your whole life, to teach, is for no reason at all, no longer going to be taught and therefore you might be redundant and have your job cut.”
‘Need to reduce spending’: UTS
It comes as university management undertakes a $100 million restructure dubbed the Operational Sustainability Initiative (OSI).
“The need to reduce expenditure is necessary because our revenue does not cover our ongoing operating costs. In 2024, revenue was $1.3 billion against expenditure of $1.4 billion,” a UTS spokesperson said.
“We cannot continue to absorb these losses — we need to reduce spending and maintain it to protect our core teaching and research.”
UTS management is undertaking a $100 million restructure. (ABC News: Amanda Hoh)
Documents released under freedom of information laws showed UTS would spend about $5 million seeking advice from consultants KPMG on OSI which the university said was “standard practice”.
“KPMG has been engaged to provide advice and expertise to support the sustainability initiative under the direction of the university leadership who are responsible for all decisions,” the spokesperson said.
The university estimated in a town hall meeting that OSI could result in 400 job losses and courses being cut for students.
“We are devastated that we are in the position of needing to cease or reorganise work which will ultimately result in job losses. These are not easy decisions and are not taken lightly,” the UTS spokesperson said.
“This is a difficult time — not just for individual staff members, but also for the colleagues and teams they work closely with each day.”
SafeWork NSW is investigating the risk of psychological harm and the ABC understands the NTEU will provide the workplace watchdog with the survey.
“What I’ve noticed around the office is that people are afraid. There is a real sense of fear of being able to openly speak about what’s going on and to ask questions,” said a UTS staff member, speaking anonymously to protect their employment.
“When I talk about this with people it’s you know, ‘Come in and close the door’. Staff have set up WhatsApp groups just because they don’t feel safe talking about it in other forums.”
The university said it was aware of risks to staff during the consultation period and was “fully cooperating” with SafeWork NSW.
“UTS representatives have met with SafeWork NSW following receipt by SafeWork NSW of some complaints, particularly related to matters of workload and consultation,” the spokesperson said.
Union claims staff not properly consulted
When the ABC took the leaked survey to the NTEU to verify its authenticity, the NTEU confirmed they undertook the staff survey.
National President Dr Alison Barnes said many of the staff were at risk of losing their livelihoods.
The UTS estimated in a town hall meeting that there would be about 400 job losses and course cuts. (ABC News: Chris Taylor)
“These short-sighted job cuts are having a devastating impact on the wellbeing of staff at UTS, which can be directly linked to management’s cruel failure to do proper consultation about this terrible plan,” she said.
“There’s also been a shocking lack of consultation on the risk assessment for the change – and that’s something the health and safety inspector is looking into at the moment.”
The survey also found 60 per cent of academic staff reported being unable to complete their workloads during paid hours.
“I’m a mental health professional and very aware of the early signs of deteriorating mental health and for myself I’ve had to take stress leave a couple of times through this process,” the anonymous staff member said.
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The row at UTS comes after universities nationally were forced to repay hundreds of millions of dollars to staff after years of wage theft and a scathing senate inquiry into university governance.
It’s not yet known if senate hearings will resume later this year but an interim report alleged “systemic… non-compliance with workplace laws”.
Chair of the Senate Committee, Labor Senator Tony Sheldon, was highly critical of UTS in a statement to ABC News.
“Universities are public institutions, not corporate machines. The way this process is unfolding [at UTS] raises serious concerns about governance,”
Mr Sheldon said.
“Decisions seem to be made behind closed doors, with staff shut out of key decisions while outside accountants are brought in to crunch numbers and make calls about people’s jobs.”
Mr Sheldon said the government would move to “fix broken governance” as part of wider university reforms.
“It’s also telling that SafeWork NSW is now involved. When staff have to rely on the workplace safety regulator to be heard, that speaks volumes about the failure of leadership,” he said.
Wave of job cuts across the sector
UTS is far from the only institution laying off workers with many universities announcing job losses.
The NTEU said the cuts were causing anxiety among staff across the university sector.
“This is not an isolated case. The lack of transparency and accountability in Australia’s broken university governance system allows overpaid vice-chancellors and executives to make decisions that tear at the fabric of our public universities,” Ms Barnes said.
“Right across the country, vice-chancellors are instinctively pursuing job cuts that will cause long-term damage to public universities.”
University management have said the cuts are necessary because of their financial position.
The sector is currently lobbying government for extra research and teaching funding.
Estimated proposed cuts over last 12 months
- University of Technology Sydney – 400 jobs estimated to go
- Australian National University – 37 job cuts in first round, unions fear total could rise to 600, 175 voluntary redundancies already accepted
- Western Sydney University (WSU) – planning to cut 300 to 400 jobs later this year
- University of Canberra – 200 jobs lost
- University of Wollongong – planning to cut 275 jobs
- James Cook University – Union says job losses could be as high as 75
- Griffith University – expecting fewer than 50 job losses
- University of Southern Queensland – 163 voluntary redundancies
- Federation University – 163 positions to go
- University of Tasmania – 13 jobs
- Macquarie University – 50 to 60 jobs
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