Federal Education Minister Jason Clare is looking for Australian National University (ANU) Chancellor Julie Bishop’s replacement, following a report that Bishop racked up $790,000 in expense bills in 2024.
Bishop’s term is due to expire at the end of 2026.
According to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), Clare’s spokesman said it was “not unusual” for a potential replacement to be scouted out so early. The Chancellor is appointed by the ANU council but considers recommendations from the government.
Potential replacements include Professor Glyn Davis, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Melbourne from 2005–2018 and former head of the Prime Minister’s department and the Australian Public Service.
In 2024, Bishop’s expenses included $151,424 for renting a luxury office on the Swan River in Perth, as well as $150,000 for travel and $109,000 for lease liability.
ANU had previously spent $800,000 renovating Bishop’s Perth office in 2020.
One of Bishop’s financial documents, sourced by the AFR via the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC), listed her Perth office as the address of her private consulting firm, Julie Bishop & Partners. A second document listed the Perth office as her residential address.
Bishop’s staff told ASIC that this was an error and that they had notified ASIC, providing “an alternate physical address” for Bishop’s place of residence.
Some expenses did not have self-evident links to Bishop’s duties as chancellor, such as a $454 charge for hiring plants and $1.38 for stainless steel tongs.
Over 800 ANU employees passed a vote of no confidence in Bishop and ANU Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell in February 2025.
In the 2023-2024 financial year, ANU reported a $400 million deficit, initially misreported as $460 million.
Their 2024-2025 deficit was initially projected to be $260 million and is now projected to be $200 million, leading to concerns that the administration is not being transparent with its financial reporting.
As a result, on 20th June, Clare referred ANU to the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) over “significant concerns”.
The concerns regard ANU’s ‘Renew ANU’ restructure program, which hopes to save $250 million by cutting approximately 650 jobs.
The AFR reported this week that ANU had cut 1000 jobs over the last year.
Honi reached out to the NTEU ANU & ACT branches and Jason Clare’s office for comment.
