Academic staff will now have to teach up to 80 per cent of their time

“This revised workload is based upon an initial assessment of how your discipline can best achieve its key goals in the most effective and efficient way possible,” a message to staff states.

However individual loads for teaching, research and service will vary and the university intends to “safeguard,” “critical course development” and “strategically aligned research activity.”

Discipline heads will advise individual academics of their new workloads but, “everyone is expected to make a significant contribution.” In October, the university released proposed research income and publication objectives for staff at all academic levels, which may now be impossible to reach (CMM October 2 2019).

Staff are told in messages from college PVCs and discipline leaders that the new workloads are necessary due to “the significant financial pressure” the university faces.

Murdoch U watchers suggest the new allocation could add the equivalent of an extra day a week to some academics’ workloads, on top of the time taken by conversion to on-line teaching.

But, watchers warn, if the new model means more work for continuing staff it surely means less for casual academics.