Speech at installation as University of Melbourne's 23rd Chancellor
Monday, 25 November 2024
Your Excellency, Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner, Governor of Victoria; Deputy Chancellors, members of Council and their partners; Vice-Chancellor; members and friends of the University of Melbourne:
Thank you, Governor Professor Gardner, for investing me with the robes of office and for your wise and generous words. In your various past roles, you have been an outstanding leader in higher education and your ongoing devotion to public service, now as Governor, continues to inspire us all.
In fact - we are all here today, in Government House as a result of your personal commitment to upholding the values and rituals of office associated with important public institutions in the State of Victoria.
I would like to take this opportunity to recognise that our Vice Chancellor, Professor Duncan Maskell, will depart soon after more than six years of dedicated service, much of it during very difficult times. We thank him for his resolute commitment and leadership throughout his tenure and wish Duncan and Sarah the very best for the future.
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To preside as the 23rd Chancellor of the University of Melbourne is an exceptional honour.
I have had a real taste of the demands already; taking office at the tail end of Covid, a year of union negotiations over a new enterprise agreement, an outbreak of war in the Middle East and a raft of challenges in our operating environment brought on by new government policies.
The confluence of these events has tested many of us in this room and certainly left me somewhat more seasoned than when I started nearly two years ago. It is a reminder that there is far more to this role than the honorific one usually associated with this position.
Despite, or perhaps in part due to these challenges, serving as Chancellor represents the pinnacle of my time in public life. I will continue to lead with thought and care and do my utmost to fulfill the obligations of this office with an unwavering commitment to the betterment of the university and broader society.
I thank the members of Council for their show of confidence in electing me to this position and for working together constructively to provide the necessary oversight and governance of the University as required under the Act.
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The 22 Chancellors who came before me have each brought their own unique perspective to the role, and I am honoured to follow in their footsteps. Later this week we will remember our first female Chancellor, Fay Marles, and her significant contribution over a period of 60 years including her work in the areas of indigenous education, social justice and broadening the footprint of the University.
I come to this role as a person deeply committed to academia; to the pursuit of knowledge and discovery; and to the sound governance and oversight of this university so that it may continue to excel as an outstanding educational institution for future generations.
After a career in finance, I have turned my attention to the leadership and governance of arts and charitable organisations, along with running our private businesses and philanthropic foundation. I have shifted my focus to public service, willingly contributing my skills to mission driven organisations.
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In 2019, a defining experience for me was my delight in completing an Arts degree at this University. Here I experienced first-hand the dedication of our teaching and research staff, laying the foundations for my utmost respect for the Academy.
Also, now working in my current role I continue to see the expertise and commitment of our professional staff in supporting the University’s core mission.
A university education has the ability to create academic pathways to better futures for all students regardless of backgrounds and means.
I see this reaffirmed each year, as our family share in the journey of around 20 new Hansen Scholarship students coming to Melbourne, many from difficult backgrounds. Over three years of careful tutelage by our passionate staff, we see them blossom into capable and confident young people ready to leave their mark on the world.
Experiencing this University as a student to witnessing how an education can change the trajectory of a young person’s life continues to nourish my belief in everything we do.
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I am taking office at a time when universities are once again having their public function questioned, challenging the legitimacy of their role.
One common criticism is the claim that universities have become purely transactional or neo-liberal enterprises, driven by expansionist goals funded by maximising domestic enrolments and the unfettered solicitation of international students.
The idyllic idea of a university expressed in Newman’s phrase in 1852 as a haven for a ‘pure and clear atmosphere of thought,’ or in Humboldt’s celebration of the freedom to undertake research, seems to have receded from view in this negative utilitarian narrative.
This questioning of the public role of a civic university is not a new phenomenon. The pattern of justifying the public funding of our universities based on national significance is well established.
As early as 1904, a Royal Commission into the University of Melbourne, established in part to consider national priorities, directed teaching to improve the State’s agricultural productivity.
In response to the Great Depression and then World War II, the public role and responsibilities of universities was again re-examined with funding directed to post-war time recovery.
By 1952, the university sector had begun appealing directly to the public, drawing attention to widespread apathy about their work and lack of ‘appreciation of the wide nature of their responsibilities to the community’.
Today we would refer to such an appeal for legitimacy and respect as a call for support of a university’s ‘social licence’. This contemporary term was first introduced in the business world in the 1990s as a way of highlighting community awareness and interest in the environmental, social and governance responsibilities of large corporates in the mining and energy sectors.
Publicly owned and self-governed universities are continuously asked to justify their social licence to operate, and in particular their right to draw on public funds.
This question is one which we, as university leaders, must be conscious of as custodians of these essential public institutions.
While there can be no singular answer to this question, there are several areas in which the University of Melbourne is clearly addressing that social licence imperative.
I want to mention three particular initiatives underway. The first is our work in strengthening social cohesion; the second concerns equity and access; and the third relates to our commitment to indigenous recognition and reconciliation.
Each initiative suggests the constructive and unifying contribution that higher education can make to society, in addition to our core teaching and research activities.
This is part of our larger remit around advocacy, and the need to redirect mainstream discourse into one of positivity and potential, restoring community trust and respect for our universities - and reaffirming our social licence.
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I would first like to discuss our work in strengthening social cohesion, which is critical to our efforts to honour our social licence in terms of trust, reputation and responsiveness to community concerns.
One important and immediate area we are addressing is the rise in racism, particularly the overt and insidious rise in antisemitism, on our campuses and in wider society.
We must consistently demonstrate zero tolerance for any form of racism, hate speech, intimidation, bullying or harassment, and threats to personal safety of students and staff.
Addressing social cohesion on campus includes our Anti-Racism Action Plan which is designed to build capacity and processes to recognise, understand, respond to and prevent racism at our University.
It includes clarifying pathways, complaint procedures and support for those concerned about racism, training around documenting and assessing racist incidents to facilitate informed responses and process improvements and specific training around antisemitism.
There are a numerous other important policies developed by the University that relate to this work including on Diversity and Inclusion, Sexual Misconduct, Appropriate Workplace Behaviour Policy, and our Indigenous Strategy, Murmuk Djerring.
Many of these policies include expectations around appropriate staff and student conduct as we take our responsibility to provide safe work, campus and learning conditions very seriously.
At the same time, we are bound by a maze of State and Federal laws. We are also answerable to a State Ombudsman, soon to also include a National Student Ombudsman.
We also need to acknowledge our deeply embedded culture of academic freedom. Academic and research integrity is founded in an ethical framework of discipline, rigour and peer review, all designed to ensure its intellectual value.
A more difficult balance exists between this and the wider concept of free speech and the right to protest. There will be times, as we have seen this year, where the boundaries between academic freedom, free speech and racism are tested.
When expressions of profound difference of opinion result in real concerns around the safety of persons and property, and psychological or emotional harm, the resolution of these competing imperatives requires our attention.
The constant here is that our universities are full of passionate young people, many of whom are still developing the ability to articulate opinions in a way that respects difference and acknowledges nuance.
Our goal must be to ensure a safe, welcoming and inclusive University community where evidence-based respectful dialogue and the contest of ideas is welcomed.
Our work in social cohesion also applies to our international students, recognising the positive contribution that a diverse international student cohort can bring to the University and to society, not just financially but socially, culturally and intellectually.
We must continue to respect and celebrate this tapestry of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives, and remember these differences in world views inform our broader conception of academic life.
This forms part of our important ongoing work to create a positive student experience for all, grounded in identity and belonging, campus life and co-curricular opportunities.
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A second key initiative that contributes to upholding our social licence concerns equity and access.
Creating a more inclusive and diverse university community is not only a priority for this institution, but a national one as outlined in the federal government’s Universities Accord review into higher education published earlier this year.
The Accord Report includes recommendations to lift participation targets for students from under-represented backgrounds to achieve parity of participation by 2050.
We support these ambitions. Our recently launched comprehensive Narrm Scholarship program provides university-funded financial and academic enrichment support to groups who are traditionally under-represented at Melbourne.
We recognise these are long term aspirations along with expanding the diversity of our academic and professional staff.
But they demonstrate the way in which our values as a responsible educational institution align with those of the broader community and national interest.
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This alignment is also clear in our commitment to meaningful indigenous recognition and reconciliation.
At the University, as throughout society, there is an increasing awareness of the need to address the injustice in our colonial past and our post-colonial present; to end the exclusion and marginalisation of indigenous people.
Our dedication to working toward indigenous self-determination has been a long-term priority for the University, with milestones such as the establishment of the Koori Education Centre under Chancellor Marles in 2001, now Murrup Barak, located in the heart of the Parkville campus.
Then the University’s ‘Apology to the Indigenous people of Australia’ under the previous VC, Glyn Davis, in February 2008, moved the University to work much more closely with Indigenous communities.
We are now implementing our new five-year indigenous strategy, Murmuk Djerring, a series of signature projects intended to build better relationships with Indigenous communities, support Indigenous leadership and create a flourishing community of indigenous learners, researchers and professional staff.
Publishing the first volume of Dhoombak Goobgoowana, addressing the University’s historical interactions with indigenous communities in May this year has been an important and confronting part of the truth telling commitment in this strategy. The second volume focusing on the contributions of indigenous students and staff is due in early 2025.
Our dedicated engagement in this area further addresses our social licence in relation to a vital collective concern in Australia today - made even more urgent given the setback in the recent referendum.
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Another means of addressing our social licence is in advocacy; continuing to underscore why universities in general matter - and for the particular role that this University plays in the well-being of the nation.
We must continue to advocate for the centrality of university research in meeting the nation’s current and emerging social, economic and environmental challenges.
Universities contribute to the public good in critical areas such as climate, health, infectious diseases, pandemic preparedness, the development and impact of AI, citizenship and statelessness, and many others.
As Australia’s top-ranked research institution, we have the ambition and responsibility to sustain a vigorous research culture across the University; to enrich the fabric of our community through the diversity of contributions made by all our faculties, schools and institutes.
We must also continue to engage constructively with government, to inform and contribute to national policy by providing intelligent, independent analysis, grounded in evidence-based research of the highest quality.
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The last point that I would like to make relates to our focus on the financial health of the University. In my view, we have a fundamental obligation to our stakeholders, as part of honouring our social licence, to develop a sustainable business model while adapting to changing fortunes and external funding constraints.
In this context, our work in considering the optimum size and shape of the University is important from the perspective of risk, financial sustainability and operational flexibility.
Diversifying revenue streams from education and broadening the geographic profile of our international student cohort are clear areas of focus.
Pursuing alternative sources of capital to fund research, such as industry and government partnerships, sector collaborations and philanthropy are essential as are focusing on commercialisation pathways and unlocking value in our fixed asset base.
Taken together, these initiatives provide confidence in the strategic capability and prudent management of the University, spearheaded by our senior leaders and stewarded by the governing Council of this University.
Accountability and transparent governance are key aspects of maintaining public trust and reaffirming our social licence.
A University – and our University – is always a work in progress. The constant yet changing idea of the role of a university has been inspiring and challenging the leaders of the University of Melbourne since its founding in 1853.
Today, I have outlined a few of our strategic priorities that work not only to positively affect our University community, but also respond to the interests and concerns of broader society. These initiatives are designed to:
· strengthen social cohesion
· make higher education more accessible
· and progress Indigenous reconciliation and self-determination
Advocacy is also an essential responsibility of the leadership of this institution. Improving public discourse about education, highlighting its potential and building trust and bi-partisan support are all vital to reinforcing our value in society.
In conclusion, as we consider the issues facing the University we see both constancy and change. Constancy, in honouring the central values that underpin our mission and change, in the way the University speaks to the world and meets its social licence mandate.
At the heart of our work remains a steadfast commitment to our core academic purpose, the University’s contemporary mission - to graduate consummate scholars who are equipped to undertake rigorous and robust inquiry, while bringing a global and critical perspective to their thinking.
We must offer our students’ academic programs of the highest quality, informed by the latest research and framed by the ethics of research – building on the curiosity and love of knowledge that is so strongly in evidence throughout this University.
With the breadth of ambition, depth of talent and commitment to excellence that I have seen in my nine years on Council, I am confident that we will continue to meet the demands of our social licence and grow in the esteem of future generations: Postera crescam laude.
As the 23rd Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, I am honoured to play my part in the continuing story of this great institution.
Thank you.