UA president Deborah Terry repeats warning 21 000 jobs to go

The peak body responded to Minister Tehan’s Sunday announcement with a mixed message. UA “welcomed” the commitment to maintain Commonwealth Grant Scheme revenues and HELP payments for the now projected number of local students for the rest of the year.

But president Deborah Terry warned,

“There will be a tough road ahead.  We estimate 16 per cent of jobs at Australian universities will go within the next six months – that’s more than 21,000 livelihoods. Without guaranteed CGS and HELP funding that figure would have been even higher.”

“Individual universities are already cutting costs across the board … however, this will be nowhere near enough to cover what we conservatively estimate as a revenue decline of between $3 billion and $4.6 billion.”

The National Tertiary Education Union was quick to comment on the government’s commitment Sunday, with national president Alison Barnes, saying “it is just not enough.”

“Higher education was hit hard and early by COVID-19 and there is a risk of long term damage to institutions and their crucial role in our future.”

And with universities excluded from the JobSeeker allowance, “tens of thousands of jobs in the sector are still threatened,” (via Twitter)

“The NTEU will continue its discussions with employers on ways to protect jobs and the higher education sector itself, in the absence of any meaningful government assistance,” Dr Barnes added.