Sabra Lane: Here's an awkward question for Western Sydney University. Why is it spending nearly $3,000 a day on individual consultants while it's axing up to 400 jobs? The Senate Inquiry into University Governance is exploring that and it's heard the sector is spending nearly three quarters of a billion dollars a year on consultants. National Education Reporter Conor Duffy has the story.
Conor Duffy: At Western Sydney University, the invoices speak for themselves. At least seven consultants being paid on daily rates starting at more than $1,000 a day. One consultant getting $85,000 for five weeks work, plus rebates for tolls and parking. David Burchell is the organiser of the National Tertiary Education Union on campus and says it's a symptom of a larger problem with the use of consultants on campus.
David Burchell: It's a problem because first of all these folks, as far as I'm aware, aren't officers of the university. The issue is that people who should be outside giving advice are not giving advice. They're on the inside executing their own advice.
Conor Duffy: One invoice seen by the ABC shows one consultant is being paid $10,000 a week as the university enacts a change management process that will mean up to 400 voluntary redundancies to stem a looming financial deficit.
David Burchell: It's the most chaotic change process I've ever seen and that makes people scared. It also makes some people very, very angry.
Conor Duffy: Faculty student rep Bailey Anderson says students are concerned about how their fees are being spent.
Bailey Anderson: What we're seeing is a massive focus on profit and not keeping the place sustainable but keeping the place profitable, which is very different.
Conor Duffy: It comes amid rising concerns about the use of consultants on university campuses, with some members of the big four firms even sitting on university boards. A Senate inquiry into university governance has heard estimates the university sector spends at least $734 million a year on consultants. Universities Australia chief executive Luke Sheehy defends the use of consultants, saying they're used for things like IT security and adhering to regulations.
Luke Sheehy: University management draw on consultancies in a very small way commensurate or proportionate to their overall budgets. We're working with the government as we have representation on the expert council on governance to ensure that there are principles to have modern governance practice in our universities. But that doesn't address the main issue of funding and ensuring the financial sustainability of our university system.
Conor Duffy: In a statement Western Sydney University says the consultant charging $10,000 a week is backfilling pending recruitment and it has significantly reduced its use of outside firms.
Sabra Lane: Conor Duffy reporting.