List of recommendations

Recommendation 1

5.91The committee recommends that universities improve the transparency and accountability of their governing bodies, including by:

publishing all minutes of council meetings in their entirety, on university websites, while ensuring that personal or legally protected information is appropriately withheld;

publicly disclosing details of all spending on consultants, including the purpose of each consultancy and the extent to which the capacity exists to perform that function within the institution;

maintaining a publicly disclosed conflict-of-interest register for university council members and senior university executives. Where senior executives receive remuneration for external roles, mitigation actions to manage any perceived or real conflicts-of-interest (which could include the offsetting of salaries) should be both agreed and disclosed on the public register;

publishing annual remuneration reports in-line with requirements for public companies including role-specific salaries of senior university executives; and

publicly reporting on the composition of governing bodies, including the proportion of elected members and those with public and higher education sector experience, and that there be transparency over the appointment process for non-elected positions.

Recommendation 2

5.92The committee recommends that the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency's (TEQSA) regulatory mechanisms to enforce these transparency and accountability practices are considered alongside the current process to modernise and strengthen TEQSA's powers.

Recommendation 3

5.93The committee recommends that universities adopt best-practice and meaningful consultation for major change proposals, including involvement from staff and students prior to decisions being made.

Recommendation 4

5.102The committee recommends that the Australian Government work with the Remuneration Tribunal and states and territories to devise a mechanism or framework of classification structures and remuneration ranges to determine vice-chancellors' and senior executives' remuneration. University councils would retain responsibility for setting the vice-chancellors' and senior executives' remuneration, within the appropriate classification and remuneration range.

Recommendation 5

5.109The committee recommends that universities set and implement a minimum proportion of members with public administration and higher education expertise on university governing bodies.

Recommendation 6

5.110The committee recommends that universities set and implement a minimum proportion of elected representatives (staff, undergraduate and postgraduate students) on governing bodies.

Recommendation 7

5.111The committee recommends that universities ensure equal and respectful treatment of elected staff and students on governing bodies. While university governing bodies need to retain responsibility for engaging and consulting with members of their community, including students and staff, they should support elected representatives to consult with their communities as needed.

Recommendation 8

5.112The committee recommends that universities adopt a best-practice model for the induction and continuous professional development of nominated and elected council members, and facilitate governance training for these members where appropriate.

Recommendation 9

5.121The committee recommends that the Australian Government, following the current consultation process being undertaken by the Department of Education, introduce legislation to provide the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency with the necessary suite of powers to investigate potential breaches of the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 and enforce its compliance directions.

Recommendation 10

5.123The committee recommends that the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency take steps to improve governance reporting requirements to enable it to identify and mitigate risk across the university sector, including public reporting on the results of its compliance processes.

Recommendation 11

5.124The committee recommends that the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency work with other regulatory bodies, Commonwealth and State, to identify common data requests relating to university governance, and to work across jurisdictions to avoid duplicative reporting requirements, where possible.

Recommendation 12

5.129The committee recommends that universities examine and enhance their complaints processes to ensure they are effective and accessible to all members of the university community.