Western Australia Pushes Through Public University Merger; Curtin University Vice-Chancellor Slams Plan as "Fixing Something That Isn't Broken"

According to ABC News, the Western Australian government is forcefully pushing ahead with a feasibility study to merge three public universities — Curtin University, Murdoch University, and the University of Western Australia — and this top-down institutional restructuring plan is facing overwhelming opposition from university management and staff.

According to a survey by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) Western Australian branch, more than two-thirds of staff at Western Australia's public universities opposed the merger. Opposition at Curtin University exceeded three-quarters, while opposition rates at the University of Western Australia and Murdoch University stood at 66% and 68%, respectively. NTEU WA Branch Secretary and Curtin University Professor Scott Fitzgerald said the purpose of public universities is to serve students, staff, and the broader community, and "any decision about their future should start from this point, rather than the simplistic approach of placing profit above people." He noted that staff wanted "genuine governance reform to end the corporatisation of universities," and that the merger would "intensify a practice that has already harmed them."

Curtin University Vice-Chancellor Harlene Hayne attacked the merger plan as a "solution in search of a problem," accusing it of attempting to "fix something that isn't broken." Speaking on ABC Radio Perth 102.5, she said the plan "solves problems we don't have and creates problems we don't need." According to ABC News, the University of Western Australia has chosen not to publicly comment, making Curtin and Murdoch the two main voices opposing the merger.

Western Australian Higher Education Minister Tony Buti defended the merger plan, arguing that the state's higher education institutions are caught in a "race to the bottom," and said many students had told him that the education they received was "below standard." He said there is "extremely fierce competition" between Western Australia's universities and that the government's goal is to ensure these universities "reach world-class standards."

Hayne pushed back against this claim with employment data. She pointed out that 90% of Western Australian university graduates are employed within six months of graduation, and that employers rate graduates among the best in Australia. "I don't think that defines a below-standard degree," she said. She also questioned the benchmarks used by the government for undergraduate degree completion rates — Murdoch at 49% and UWA at 75% — saying they are based on "outdated" standards, and countered that Western Australia already has fewer public universities per capita than other states and many countries, not "too many."

On the issue of research funding, Hayne pointed some of the responsibility back at the state government itself. She noted that some eastern universities have received seed funding from state governments, creating a "virtuous cycle" of research funding, while Western Australia has not provided equivalent support. According to data obtained by ABC News, five eastern universities each received more research funding than the total received by Western Australia's four public universities combined.

The merged institution is expected to accommodate approximately 120,000 students. Steering Committee Chair Mark Barnaba acknowledged that the most optimistic cost-benefit estimates suggest merger benefits will be 15 times the transition costs, but the final costs and benefits will only be determined after the completion of the feasibility study — expected to be submitted to the state government by mid-2027. Barnaba said the state's higher education institutions are "far from punching their weight," and that the merger is for the benefit of all Western Australian taxpayers.

On whether the merger would result in job losses, both sides stuck to their positions. Hayne argued that it is a "costly process" and that job losses would be unavoidable during the transition. Barnaba denied this, saying the merger aims to "build a stronger university," and asked: "When this initiative is fundamentally about building a stronger university system and fundamental higher education and economic reform, why wouldn't there be growth and further opportunities?"