Curtin ‘vigorously opposed’ to Perth ‘mega-university’

The head of Western Australia’s biggest university has vowed to “vigorously oppose” the state government’s plan to merge three Perth institutions into what would easily be Australia’s biggest university.

The government has appointed a panel to “drive a business case” for the amalgamation of three of the state’s four public universities – Curtin, Murdoch and The University of Western Australia – with the panel’s work expected to be completed by mid-next year, according to the Sunday Times.

The proposal follows a 2023 review of the state university sector by former James Cook University vice-chancellor Sandra Harding, and a 2025 cost-benefit study led by former state and federal politician Alannah MacTiernan. While neither inquiry’s outcomes have been released publicly, publication of the cost-benefit analysis was expected on 11 October.

The report supports a three-way merger, warning that “persisting with the existing legacy structures would not be in the interests of students, the community or the economy”, according to the Sunday Times.

“Such a merger would be transformational, creating the potential for a nationally and globally significant institution,” it reportedly explains. “A large, well-funded university could have the resources to provide true equity of access, delivering the investment and support needed to increase domestic students’ levels of university attainment.

“A merger would provide the WA [Western Australian] government with an opportunity to undertake statewide research planning and structural reform to address workforce needs.”

WA premier Roger Cook told the newspaper that he anticipated opposition to the merger, but said the debate should focus on economic rather than institutional interests. “Having a globally competitive university sector is key to making sure we set the economy up for the future,” he reportedly said.

“Universities of scale are internationally competitive. They can compete in the global market for brains, students, resources. Universities [in WA] have not performed well [in] attracting international [or] regional students. We need…our university sector to be more competitive when it comes to international students, attracting students from outside the state and attracting research funding.”

Curtin vice-chancellor Harlene Hayne said a merger would “diminish student choice and opportunity, reduce academic diversity and encourage more talented students to look interstate” by creating a “mega-university” of almost 120,000 students – a scale “unmatched in Australia and rare internationally”, she said.

“Size at that level brings complexity, not competitiveness, and draws efforts away from our core purposes of teaching, learning and student support. Cost, waste and loss of choice, jobs and legacy will be the hallmarks of the planned merger.”

Hayne said the recent creation of Adelaide University, by combining two of Adelaide’s three public universities, would set South Australia’s government and the constituent institutions back by around A$1.1 billion (£580 million) over seven years. “While the benefits of a potential merger have never been clearly articulated by [our] state government, we are well aware of the significant costs, risks and disruptions a merger would create,” she said.

“I can’t see how spending more than a billion dollars in this way will benefit Western Australians.”

Murdoch University has also expressed firm opposition to a merger. The University of Western Australia says there is “merit in some structural change across the public university sector”, but a merger is not necessarily the best approach.

Universities Australia (UA) said the proposal was causing “anxiety” in academic circles, and the state government should “get on with making the decision”.

“The universities here in Perth [are] already suffering from bad policies in Canberra that are affecting international student enrolments, their bottom lines, the way they can educate their students,” UA CEO Luke Sheehy told ABC Radio Perth. “We need the state government to get on and make a decision about what they want to do with potential mergers.”

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com