Ex-Melbourne v-c Glyn Davis named top Australian civil servant

The former vice-chancellor of Australia’s top-ranked university has been named the country’s most senior civil servant, just as the higher education sector experiences a heightened need for understanding in Canberra.

Glyn Davis, who ran the University of Melbourne for almost 14 years, has been appointed secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

It marks a return to government for Professor Davis, who spent four years heading Queensland’s Department of Premier and Cabinet before leading Griffith and Melbourne universities. His most recent appointment was as chief executive of the Paul Ramsay Foundation, Australia’s largest philanthropic trust.

Universities Australia hailed his elevation as “a pivotal appointment at a pivotal moment for Australia”. Chief executive Catriona Jackson highlighted Professor Davis’ “deep understanding of the importance of a strong university sector to Australia’s future”.

“As we emerge from challenging times, we look forward to working with Professor Davis to deliver the productivity gains that highly skilled people and technological and social advances provide to the economy,” she said.

Arguably the sector’s biggest challenge is explaining the record profits that universities have posted a year after shedding thousands of jobs, in what is increasingly being seen as an overreaction to Covid-19.

In the latest release of nine New South Wales (NSW) institutional accounts, every university registered a surplus – in one case, a 10-figure surplus – after boosting its income and slashing expenditure on staff.

Six NSW universities raked in at least A$100 million (£57 million) more than they spent, just a year after half of them had notched up significant deficits – largely because of redundancy payments.

All nine universities attracted additional funding from the federal government last year, while most saw their investment earnings rise at least fourfold. Meanwhile, every institution reduced its employee-related expenses, typically by about 8 per cent.

The figures exclude the University of New England, which is yet to release its annual report. In all but two cases, the staff savings more than compensated for reduced income from international tuition fees – and in two cases, institutional income from this source increased despite border closures.

The University of Sydney increased its earnings from international students by almost A$250 million, apparently capturing a new market of Chinese students who could afford Sydney’s fees but not its living expenses.

Sydney also pocketed A$166 million in additional federal government funding and an investment windfall of almost A$400 million, catapulting its total earnings to more than A$3.5 billion – almost A$900 million more than in 2020 – and multiplying its surplus almost 10-fold to A$1.05 billion.

More than A$200 million of this money was a paper gain on the “fair value” of financial assets, including over A$80 million from a restructure of the university’s shareholding in IDP Education. Even so, surplus earnings of over A$1 billion – more than most universities’ entire budgets – will not help the sector prosecute its case for more sustainable research funding.

Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott said the university’s financial results had been elevated by booming investments, A$100 million in land sales and the unexpected resilience of its international education business. “It’s a one-off result,” he told a Group of Eight podcast.

“We’re not going to see anything like it again for a considerable period. We need to be prudent with what we do with that result, given the very uncertain operating environment that we’re in.”

But Professor Scott acknowledged that it was a difficult time to broach the sector’s needs with politicians. “You’re going to find yourself in a very long queue of people with their log of claims and expectations around a new government.”

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com