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It’s been nearly 175 years since the first university opened its doors in Sydney.It’s been a little over 150 years since the first legislation passed in Melbourne creating the conditions for compulsory education for children between the ages of six and 15. Which means by the time Australia federated in 1901, there were universities and an entire infrastructure of primary and secondary schools in every state. And that remains true today.

And even though we may tell ourselves a different story, we are a country that prizes ideas, and that can and will celebrate the work that goes into generating them. The role of discovery, of research and development, of creating knowledge and applying it is woven into the fabric of our society. We recognise the importance of invention and innovation, of big and small breakthroughs. And we recognise the role that educational institutions must play in making space and time for the big and the small breakthroughs and in supporting the people who make that all possible. 

And there’s a reason for that. Despite our occasional ambivalences, we have always valued learning and the organisations that support it; they are also woven into the fabric of our society. We recognise the proposition that access to education is good for the individual and good for the nation. We recognise that learning is a key that unlocks so much in life, for the citizen and their community. This lesson is so well understood that those who were initially disenfranchised from educational institutions fought their way in – women, First Nations people, non-traditional students, migrants, the economically disadvantaged, even those in regional and remote Australia. And our institutions have been better for their presences.

We are one such institution. Called into existence by federal legislation by a government placing its bets about the future it thought Australia would need. I like to think that our University is an act of hope, not just an act of parliament. Hope in the power of knowledge, through education and research, to make Australia strong – economically, culturally, politically, socially. But not strong so as to dominate, but strong so as to be able to withstand the geo-political headwinds on the horizon, strong to be able to help and support our neighbours in the region, and strong to be able to see new ways of doing things and embrace them.

Our mandate in legislation is clear – create and transmit knowledge, through education and research, of the highest quality. The ways we could and should do that, less so. At our University, we respect our history and the people who called us into existence. Equally we know that their vision isn’t sufficient for who we need to be and the work we need to do. 

Especially when things feel more destabilising than ever, and when there is a lot of news that is hard to parse. Exactly what the impact of tariffs might be on Australia and our sector is still unfolding, as are the impacts of the economic consequences. And over the weekend, the leader of the opposition, laid out a policy promise to make further cuts in international student numbers, and to raise the visa application fees to historic highs. The impact of such a policy setting would impact more than just our financial sustainability; it would reshape our community, and not for the better.

In these moments, it is also important to remember the things that remain certain and knowable. Some of that is simple – the semester calendar where our students attend classes, and our teachers teach, continues rolling on. Some of it attracts a different level of interest but it’s also knowable and this includes Council and Sub-Committee cycles, and the financial statements for 2024 being approved (which they were by Council on 28 March) and our Annual Report (which will be tabled with Parliament in accordance with our statutory obligations and this is going to take a little longer than usual with the election, but as soon as we can share it, we will as always, on our website). 

And some of it is about the deeply human stuff: the importance of the place where we meet, teach and learn; the importance of our commitment to research and teaching; and the importance of commitments to each other and to the ways we would like to be seen and treated. 

But being a university in the 21st century isn’t always straight forward. It means knowing our history and also knowing when to depart from it. Our University is on a journey; a difficult and complicated one.  We know we need to achieve financial sustainability, and that is not possible in our current shape and form. The changes we are making and the ones still to come will be hard. And I think about all of that every day, and about our community and how we will chart a course for ourselves and how we will still be remarkable when this journey is done.

Good thoughts to wherever this finds you, 
G