Julie Bishop resigns as Australian National University chancellor | Australia news
Former foreign minister Julie Bishop has tendered her resignation as chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU).
Finance minister Katy Gallagher said on Friday morning that the embattled institution must continue to “rebuild trust and confidence”.
“The challenges facing the ANU did not arise overnight and rebuilding trust and confidence within the university community will take time and careful work,” Gallagher said.
“I have consistently said that the University leadership and the Council must work openly and constructively with staff, students and the wider community to rebuild trust and agree a way forward.
“This remains the task before the university.”
Independent ACT senator David Pocock, who has repeatedly questioned Bishop’s leadership, praised ANU staff and students for standing together “in the face of poor leadership and management”.
In a statement on Friday, Pocock said the ANU was founded 80 years ago “as a beacon of hope in working together and striving to achieve better as a country”.
“After an incredibly difficult few years, now is the time to recommit to this mission, this optimism and vision of what ANU can be,” he said.
Pocock said it was “frightening and difficult” for staff and students to do, pointing to evidence presented before the Senate inquiry last year at “huge personal cost”.
“Over the years we have seen dozens of Professors, Emeriti and Alumni put their names to letters and, as recently as this week, demanding better governance of our national university… The courage of all these people, backed by the support of our wider community, has forced ANU leaders to take responsibility for these failures of governance and leadership,” he said.
“By stepping aside, the Chancellor is acting in the best interests of the ANU.”
Pocock said “a number of processes” were ongoing, including a review by higher education regulator Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA).
“The voluntary initiative to conduct an independent process to appoint the next Chancellor is welcome and we hope it will help rebuild trust, confidence and better governance in our national university,” he said.
Bishop and the ANU have been approached for comment.
Bishop’s resignation was followed by ANU vice-chancellor Prof. It comes less than a year after Genevieve Bell’s departure and continues a tumultuous three years for the institution, marred by redundancies, proposed course closures and allegations of a toxic work culture.
When Bell tendered his resignation in September last year, Bishop vowed to remain chancellor despite pressure from the union, student groups, parts of the academic community and independent senator David Pocock, who questioned his future.
Labor senator Tony Sheldon was among those criticizing the former foreign secretary, pointing out “widespread restructurings… growing dissatisfaction among students and staff” during his tenure and a failure to “provide transparency on serious governance concerns”.
Compulsory redundancies and restructuring have since been withdrawn under the leadership of interim vice-chancellor Rebekah Brown. At least 399 people have been laid off since the restructuring began in 2024.
At the time of Bell’s resignation, Bishop said there was “no justification” for him to resign and that he had the full support of the council to continue his term until 2026.
“The financial situation of the university … started a long time ago,” he said at a press conference in September. “We are not the only university that finds itself facing such challenges.”
The ANU remains under scrutiny, with TEQSA reviewing its governance, financial sustainability and corporate culture.
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and the National Union of Students (NUS) welcomed this development, while ACT’s NTEU division secretary, Dr. Lachlan Clohesy described it as “a chance for calm and stability”.
“Now that the fire has been extinguished, we will wait and see whether the next TEQSA report will tell us how the fire started,” he said.
“The former Chancellor made two important decisions that I support. The first was to accept the resignation of former Vice Chancellor Genevieve Bell. The second was today.”
NUS ACT branch president Leila Clarke said there had been “significant damage” to the university during Bishop’s tenure, pointing to a restructuring process that had caused “major instability… the loss of first-class academics, cuts to courses… and a decline in the quality of the ANU as a whole”.
