Australian National University (ANU) tutors received written instructions to claim 90 minutes¡¯ payment for two-hour labs and to record the remaining half-hour as ¡°consultation¡± that had already been remunerated as ¡°preparation time¡±, a Senate inquiry has heard.

Lachlan Clohesy, divisional secretary of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), said the instruction to casual teachers in the ANU¡¯s College of Systems and Society was an ¡°unambiguous¡± direction ¡°to claim less than you¡¯re working¡±.

¡°Either¡­the university is underpaying its staff, students [are] not getting what they¡¯re signed up for, or both of those things [are happening] at once,¡± Clohesy told the Senate¡¯s education and employment committee, adding that the practice could compromise overseas students¡¯ visa status. ¡°You¡¯re telling an international student, ¡®you only need to attend 75 per cent of a class¡¯, and their attendance requirement is 80 per cent.¡±

The university said the NTEU had not formally notified it about ¡°any systemic issues of underpayments¡± at the college.

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The claim is among a litany of accusations that have framed ANU as ¡°the jewel in the crown of poor governance¡±, according to the union¡¯s president, Alison Barnes. ¡°Unfortunately, ANU is just one example of a much broader, deeper crisis.¡±

The committee, now chaired by South Australian Labor senator Marielle Smith, has renewed its inquiry into university governance. Its focus areas include the composition and activities of governing councils, the standard and accuracy of financial reporting, the effectiveness of financial safeguards, executive pay, hiring of consultants and compliance with workplace laws.

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Fair work ombudsman Anna Booth said her office was currently investigating 28 institutions for underpayments and had so far recovered over A$218 million (?105 million) for more than 110,000 staff.

Universities Australia said ¡°best practice¡± in governance ¡°should be embraced at every opportunity¡±. But chief executive Luke Sheehy conceded frustration about the inquiry and parallel work by the government¡¯s expert council on university governance.

¡°All too often we see issues tangentially linked to governance, framed as such and utilised for political purposes,¡± Sheehy told the committee. ¡°All this does is distract from some of the major policy and funding discussions that we should be prioritising.¡±

ANU attracted particular criticism at the committee¡¯s 12 August hearing, partly because no other individual institution had provided witnesses. The programme included four current and former staff members, ANU Students¡¯ Association president Will Burfoot and Clohesy, along with three ANU executives.

Clohesy said ANU staff had been instructed to delay the provision of ¡°contentious documents¡± during authorised visits from union organisers, in contravention of the Fair Work Act. Burfoot, who is on the university¡¯s council, said staff cuts and ¡°governance failures at the highest level¡± were trashing the ANU student experience.

¡°Tutorials¡­have doubled if not tripled in size. [Students] are forced to sit on the ground. Others have said they can barely see the whiteboard. Students feel betrayed. They signed up to a university that [is] not what they expected. It¡¯s heartbreaking.¡±

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ANU¡¯s chief operating officer, Jonathan Churchill, said some of the claims appeared incorrect. ¡°We will examine all of the statements made and respond with particularity in writing,¡± he told the committee. He said he was not aware of students being forced to sit on the floor, although classes sometimes needed to be moved when enrolments exceeded predictions.

¡°I have no report of systemic problems with students and space,¡± Churchill said, adding that ANU had the best student-to-staff ratio of the Group of Eight universities. ¡°Even in these very difficult times, [that] is part of our key educational offering.¡± A spokesman later added that?remediation work?to deal with extreme weather had ¡°changed access to some teaching rooms¡±, and that students¡¯ satisfaction with teaching quality had been improving.

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The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Teqsa) said its concerns about ANU since last October had developed into a ¡°formal compliance assessment¡± in June, after parties including federal education minister Jason Clare referred ¡°additional¡± issues.

Letters tabled to the committee reveal that the agency¡¯s concerns include the culture of ANU¡¯s council and executive leadership, the oversight of its financial position, staff cuts, ¡°inflexible work practices, unfair workloads, bullying, discrimination and lack of effective systems and accountability to address these issues¡±.

Teqsa is also investigating whether council members knew that vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell was paid for her concurrent role with technology giant Intel. Former council member Liz Allen told the hearing that the remuneration from Intel ¡°was never disclosed to council¡±.

¡°Teqsa is concerned ANU¡¯s council may not have fulfilled its obligations to exercise competent governance oversight of and be accountable for all ANU¡¯s operations,¡±?chief executive Mary Russell says in a letter to Bell.

A ¡°self-assurance report¡± from ANU is due with the agency by 19 August. Teqsa intends to enlist an independent expert to ¡°undertake a comprehensive assessment¡± of ¡°key aspects¡± of ANU¡¯s governance, including the self-assurance report.

Meanwhile, independent senator David Pocock has lodged a Senate order requiring Bell to table a ream of internal documents relating to ANU¡¯s restructure, budget forecasts, funding reallocations, reclassifications of expenditure and ¡°a purported breach of council confidentiality¡±. The documents are required by 28 August.

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john.ross@timeshighereducation.com