Ahead of the annual report being tabled in state parliament VC Deborah Terry reports a $310m headline deficit

However Professor Terry tells staff the university prefers to use earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation which represents“ additional monies available to invest in strategic initiatives”.

Full marks for frankness. EBITDA last year was $34.3m, way down on an underlying $355.3m, in 2021.

Professor Terry reports this was due to, an unrealised investment loss of $209.3m, due to stockmarket falls and 2022 spending of $60m, which was income received by the university in 2021, as part of the Commonwealth’s pandemic emergency research support.

“Other contributing factors included the increased cost of electricity, staff salary increases and a small decline in tuition revenue.

“Anticipating the reduced EBITDA, the university made operational savings through a series of initiatives, including the rescheduling of capital projects, reducing operational budgets in non-essential areas, and embedding saving targets into 2023 budgets.”