Page 977 - Week 03 - Thursday, 3 April 2008
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referred to the Ombudsman and the Auditor-General. The view of the Greens was that they were dealt with very slowly.
One of the key issues became the lack of whistleblower protection at the university and the application or otherwise of the Public Interest Disclosure Act. One of the outcomes of the efforts for the university whistleblowers, the Ombudsman and the Auditor-General was that the University of Canberra agreed—kicking and screaming, it would be fair to say—to accept the provisions of the ACT Public Interest Disclosure Act. In seeking to apply the act, it became clear that when push came to shove the act was fairly unwieldy and weak. So another outcome appears to have been a review of the Public Interest Disclosure Act itself. The outcome of that review at this stage appears to be a step backwards. However, a national whistleblower project called “Whistling while they work”, which includes the involvement of the ACT Ombudsman’s office, will, hopefully, come up with something better.
The point is that there were a number of concerns raised about overall financial management of the university, in addition to the specific concerns and confirmed breaches of proper procedure that were made about the university union. It is not appropriate to detail the concerns that were put at the time, but I believe that it is reasonable to say that the response of the university was, unfortunately, a defensive one. The whistleblowers and the complainants have been ground down to the point of exhaustion—with the collapse of a marriage, the loss of employment and so on, as so often happens with whistleblowers.
The key issue here is one of transparency. Clearly there is an important and broad principle of academic freedom and independence, which the Greens take very seriously. However, financial management is a different matter. As a public institution, universities such as this one need to be both transparent and exemplary in how they run their operations and account for the funding they receive. That includes an open and transparent treatment of any concerns regarding the way those finances are managed.
The issues that were raised with the Greens here in the Assembly date from around 2001 to 2004. Since 2001, there have been two vice-chancellors and a range of council members appointed. The legislation itself was amended in accordance with national agreements, so it does seem that the level of accountability has been improved. The University of Canberra annual report for 2007 will be available in a few weeks; that might be a better time to look closely at how the university is tracking.
I want to say more generally that I am a very strong supporter of the maintenance and function of the University of Canberra. We have three universities in this town, including the Catholic University. I hope I am not missing one out.
Mr Barr: UNSW.
DR FOSKEY: UNSW; that is correct. Thank you very much for that. So we are very privileged for our population. But the role of the University of Canberra is unique. It has been—I hope it always remains—a university that has a particular interest in maintaining areas of knowledge and doing research of particular interest to Canberra. The Australian National University is here as well, but it regards itself as a national
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