Universities Australia Chief Executive Officer Luke Sheehy
‘Redefining sector leadership’
***Check against delivery***
Good morning, everyone.
It’s wonderful to be with you and I want to start by thanking Tim Winkler, Stephen Matchett and everyone involved in Future Campus.
The work you do creates something our sector doesn’t always give itself enough time for.
Space to think.
Space to challenge assumptions.
And space to have honest conversations about where higher education is heading next.
Those conversations matter – especially now.
Can I also say how great it is to be in Melbourne.
My hometown.
And a city that is home to some of Australia’s leading universities.
Institutions that have helped shape this state’s economy, culture and global reputation for generations.
But it’s also fitting we’re having this conversation here.
Because Victorian universities have spent much of the past year at the centre of a national conversation about accountability, governance and public trust.
From parliamentary inquiries to media scrutiny, universities have found themselves under the microscope.
And while much of that debate has focused on governance, regulation and oversight, I think it points to something bigger.
Leadership.
Now let me be clear.
Governance matters.
Policy matters.
Funding matters.
Regulation matters.
In fact, all those issues are becoming increasingly important.
Good governance is essential.
But governance alone won’t determine whether universities succeed in the decade ahead.
Leadership will.
Because ultimately, how institutions navigate these challenges comes down to leadership.
Leadership determines whether organisations are shaped by change, or whether they help shape it.
Whether they retreat from scrutiny or engage with it.
Whether they accept the status quo or challenge it.
And right now, the leadership task facing Australian universities is changing – and fast.
The environment our universities operate in today looks very different to the one many of us entered.
There is more scrutiny.
More regulation.
More political contestability.
More public debate.
More expectations.
And in many cases, fewer resources.
Universities are increasingly being asked to do more with less.
Educate a larger and more diverse student population.
Drive productivity.
Power innovation.
Support sovereign capability.
Help deliver the clean energy transition.
Build the workforce Australia needs.
Strengthen communities.
And all while navigating financial pressures, workforce challenges and growing public scrutiny.
The mission hasn’t changed.
But the environment has.
And when the environment changes, leadership must evolve with it.
Let me be clear, university leadership has never been a job for the faint-hearted.
Leaders have always been required to make difficult decisions.
To manage competing priorities.
To navigate change.
And to guide institutions through uncertainty.
But the pace of change is accelerating.
Expectations are rising.
The operating environment is becoming more contested.
And the demands on leaders are broader than ever before.
Today’s leaders need a broader toolkit.
They need to be communicators.
Advocates.
Coalition builders.
Change makers.
They need to navigate government and public policy.
They need to engage industry and communities.
They need to build trust in an era where trust in institutions is under pressure.
And increasingly, they need to lead through disruption rather than simply respond to it.
Because disruption is no longer the exception.
It’s the operating environment.
Artificial intelligence.
Research security.
International education.
Workforce reform.
Changing student expectations.
The establishment of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission.
These aren’t isolated developments.
Together, they represent a fundamental shift in how universities operate and how they are expected to contribute to the nation.
That requires a different kind of leadership.
One that is outward-looking.
One that is adaptive.
And one that is prepared to engage beyond the walls of the institution.
Universities can no longer afford to lead from behind their gates.
Not when public confidence matters.
Not when policy decisions increasingly shape our operating environment.
And not when the value of higher education is being contested in parts of the public debate.
We cannot assume people understand what universities do.
Or why they matter.
We have to explain it.
Demonstrate it.
And tell that story every single day.
Because if universities don’t tell their story, someone else will tell it for them.
And history suggests we may not always like the version they tell.
That brings me to another leadership quality I think is becoming increasingly important.
Courage.
Not courage in the dramatic sense.
But courage in the everyday decisions leaders make.
The courage to challenge assumptions.
The courage to embrace change.
The courage to make difficult decisions.
And yes, sometimes the courage to call out bad policy.
Universities should be constructive partners to government.
They should engage in good faith.
They should bring solutions to the table.
At Universities Australia, that’s exactly how we approach our advocacy.
But partnership does not mean silence.
The strongest relationships are not built on agreement.
They are built on honesty.
When governments get it right, we should say so.
When governments make decisions that strengthen Australia’s universities, students and research system, we should support them.
But when policies risk undermining students, research capability or Australia’s future prosperity, leaders have a responsibility to say so.
Respectfully.
Constructively.
But clearly.
Universities have an obligation not only to their institutions, but to the students they serve and the nation they help build.
That means sometimes speaking uncomfortable truths.
Sometimes challenging the prevailing narrative.
Sometimes standing up and saying: this won’t work.
Not because it is politically convenient.
But because it is the right thing to do.
Leadership demands nothing less.
And right now, there are no shortage of examples.
Take the Job-ready Graduates Package.
Universities Australia has been clear.
The policy is not working as intended.
It has shifted costs onto students.
It has removed billions of dollars from the sector.
And it has failed to meaningfully change student behaviour.
Five years on, the problem remains.
And despite near universal acknowledgement that it isn’t working, we’re yet to replace it.
We can’t keep kicking the can down the road.
If we genuinely believe Australia needs more graduates.
If we genuinely believe we need to reach the Accord’s ambition of 80 per cent tertiary attainment by 2050.
If we genuinely believe higher education is central to productivity, workforce participation and national prosperity.
Then we need funding settings that support those goals, not undermine them.
That’s why Universities Australia continues to call for Job-ready Graduates to be replaced.
And frankly, this is a fight the entire sector should get behind.
Not because it is about universities.
But because it is about students.
It is about quality.
It is about access.
And it is about ensuring more Australians can benefit from higher education, not fewer.
This is exactly where leadership matters.
Because leadership is not simply about managing within the policy environment we inherit.
Sometimes it is about changing it.
Sometimes it is about building the case for something better.
And sometimes it is about standing together and saying clearly: this isn’t working.
The same principle applies to international education.
Australia has spent decades building one of the world’s great international education sectors.
Yet over the past two years we have seen policy instability, shifting signals and growing uncertainty.
Leadership means having the confidence to say that stability and certainty matter.
That policy settings should be guided by evidence, not headlines.
And that one of Australia’s greatest national assets deserves a long-term strategy, not short-term fixes.
Universities should never be afraid to make the case for a sector that contributes $55 billion to the economy, supports hundreds of thousands of jobs and remains one of Australia’s most important strategic assets.
Nor should we be afraid to argue for greater investment in research and development when Australia’s productivity challenge is becoming more acute.
Universities have a perspective that matters.
A responsibility to contribute.
And leaders should never be afraid to make that case.
But leadership isn’t only about speaking up when policies are wrong.
It’s also about resisting the temptation to accept that every problem requires another layer of process.
At the same time, universities face another challenge.
The steady growth of regulation and compliance.
Now let me be clear.
Good governance matters.
Accountability matters.
And public confidence matters.
Universities should be transparent, responsible and well governed.
But every new reporting requirement.
Every new compliance obligation.
Every new regulatory framework.
Takes something away.
Time.
Resources.
Leadership attention.
Energy that could otherwise be directed towards students, researchers and the communities we serve.
And over time, there is a risk.
The risk is not simply that regulation grows.
The risk is that institutions begin to internalise it.
That caution becomes culture.
That compliance becomes the organising principle.
That ambition gives way to risk management.
That we stop asking whether the process actually improves outcomes.
And simply accept that more regulation is the price of legitimacy.
Universities should never lose sight of what they exist to do.
They exist to educate.
To discover.
To innovate.
To solve problems.
To challenge ideas.
To advance knowledge.
They are not compliance organisations.
And leaders must ensure they never become one.
Because Australia needs universities that are ambitious, confident and prepared to lead.
Accountability should strengthen universities, not suffocate them.
The good news is our sector has no shortage of talented leaders.
But leadership cannot sit solely with vice-chancellors and executive teams.
The institutions that thrive over the next decade will be those that build leadership capability at every level.
Among academic leaders.
Professional staff.
Emerging leaders.
Future vice-chancellors.
Because the challenges facing universities are simply too large and too complex to be carried by a handful of people at the top.
Leadership must be distributed.
Developed.
And nurtured.
Across the institution.
As we look ahead, I believe universities are entering one of the most consequential decades in our country’s history.
The next decade will test us in ways we can’t yet fully anticipate.
Artificial intelligence will reshape how we teach, learn and work.
Geopolitical uncertainty will continue to challenge old assumptions.
New industries will emerge.
Others will disappear.
The pace of change will only accelerate.
But one thing is certain.
Australia’s productivity challenge cannot be solved without universities.
Australia’s skills challenge cannot be solved without universities.
Australia’s innovation challenge cannot be solved without universities.
Australia’s research challenge cannot be solved without universities.
And many of Australia’s greatest national opportunities will depend on the capability, knowledge and talent universities help create.
That should give us confidence.
Because despite all the challenges we face, universities remain one of Australia’s greatest national assets.
They educate the future workforce.
They drive research and innovation.
And they anchor communities across the country.
The challenge for leaders is not whether universities matter.
They do.
The challenge is ensuring our leadership evolves to meet the moment.
To navigate complexity.
To embrace change.
To build trust.
To tell our story.
To advocate when necessary.
And to lead with both conviction and courage.
Because the future of Australian higher education won’t be shaped by legislation alone.
Or funding formulas.
Or regulatory frameworks.
It will be shaped by leaders.
Leaders prepared to adapt.
Leaders prepared to engage.
Leaders prepared to speak up when it matters.
And leaders prepared to shape the future, rather than simply respond to it.
Because the stakes are too high for anything less.
The future of our institutions.
The future of our students.
And, in many respects, the future of our nation.
Thank you.
