1,000 signatures reached
To: ANU Council
Petition to ANU Council
To Members of the ANU Council,
We, the undersigned Australian National University staff, students, and broader community, in accordance with Standing Order 14 of the Standing Orders of Council and Council Committees, petition ANU Council to take such action as is necessary to:
We, the undersigned Australian National University staff, students, and broader community, in accordance with Standing Order 14 of the Standing Orders of Council and Council Committees, petition ANU Council to take such action as is necessary to:
- Cease forced redundancies proposed as part of Renew ANU;
- Cease changes related to Renew ANU, such as the amalgamation or disestablishment of areas and disciplines of regional, national and often international significance including the Australian National Dictionary Centre, the Centre for European Studies, the Humanities Research Centre, and the ANU School of Music;
- Terminate the appointment of the Chancellor in accordance with s 43 of the Australian National University (Governance) Statute 2024 (Cth).
- Terminate the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor in accordance with s 60 of the Australian National University (Governance) Statute 2024 (Cth).
We also request that those of us eligible are permitted to attend ANU Council to observe deliberations on the matters raised in this petition. We note that clause 11.4 of the Charter of the ANU Council states that “Where practical to do so, meetings of the Council are open to staff, students, alumni and members of the media as observers”. We suggest that a reasonable and practical measure to give effect to ANU Council's obligations under clause 11.4 of its Charter would be to facilitate attendance online.
Why is this important?
In support of our petition, we observe that:
- ANU Council has the entire control and management of the University and is required to act in all matters concerning the ANU in the way it thinks will best promote the interests of the ANU;
- Staff, students and members of the community have reasonable and genuinely held concerns about the direction of our national university. Many of these concerns relate to the delivery of Renew ANU, which has been destructive and harmful to staff, students and the capacity of the University to perform its functions; and
- A range of issues relating to transparency, accountability, governance and leadership at the ANU have been widely reported, and have not been adequately addressed. These are a source of ongoing damage to the reputation and standing of our national university, which is now subject to an unprecedented investigation by TEQSA.
For these reasons we conclude it is reasonable, necessary and in the best interests of the ANU for ANU Council to fulfil its duties by immediately adopting the course of action proposed by this petition.