Wednesday, 23 September 2026

 John MULLAHY (Glen Waverley) (10:55): We have had a power of work come back from some of our committees, and I want to thank the member for Monbulk for the Inquiry into the Review of the Members Code of Conduct from the Parliamentary Ethics Committee. The Economy and Infrastructure Committee has also returned two reports – the Inquiry into Student Pathways to In-demand Industries but also the report that I would like to speak on today, which is the Inquiry into Enhancing Victorian University Governance. I was proud to serve on this committee, and I want to acknowledge my fellow committee members, including the member for Bellarine as the chair, and everyone who contributed to the inquiry – the university staff, student unions, student organisations, university leaders and, importantly, our committee secretariat for their considerable work.

Victorian universities are some of our most important public institutions. They educate the next generation. They undertake world-class research, create jobs and make an enormous contribution to Victoria’s economy and community, but with that important role comes responsibility. Universities must be accountable to the public and to the people who make these institutions work every day – their students, the academics and the professional staff. Throughout this inquiry we heard evidence about transparency in decision-making, staff underpayments, the use of consultants, complaints processes and, importantly, whether staff and students have a meaningful voice in the decisions that affect them.

One witness I want to particularly acknowledge is Felix Hughes, the president of the National Union of Students. I declared at the hearing that Felix had previously worked in my electorate office before taking up what I jokingly described as a better job representing students nationally. But on a serious note, Felix was an exceptionally impressive witness before our committee, who came before us representing the interests of about 1.6 million undergraduate and postgraduate students nationally. What impressed me was that he did not treat university governance as an abstract discussion about board structures or constitutions. He brought it back to what governance actually means for students.

One of the important points arising from the evidence was that giving students an opportunity to speak is not necessarily the same as genuinely listening to them. Felix spoke about his experience at Monash University, where student representatives could engage with senior university leadership but did not have representation on the University Council or its sub-councils. He described the danger of consultation becoming effectively a tick-box exercise, where students are asked what they think only after a decision has essentially been made. He gave the committee the example of changes to law faculty tutorials. His evidence was that students had not been consulted before those changes were announced, with more students in fewer classes and fewer opportunities for active participation. Perhaps even more concerning was his evidence that when student representatives subsequently raised the matter, his understanding was that senior university leadership had themselves not been aware of the decision.

That example goes to the heart of why governance matters. Governance is not simply about who sits around the council table. It is about whether information moves properly through an institution. It is about whether decision-makers understand what is happening on the ground, and it is about whether people affected by decisions have the opportunity to influence them before rather than after they are made.

Felix also made another important point. Staff working conditions are student learning conditions. When academics are overloaded, when class sizes increase and when staff are stretched too thinly, students feel the consequences. There is less time to ask questions, less opportunity for individual feedback and less capacity for the interaction between teacher and student that is fundamental to quality education.

Felix also reminded us about the practical contribution made by student organisations. He spoke about the free breakfasts, the free dinners, the affordable meals, the clubs and societies, safe spaces and support for international students, mature-aged students and students living in residential accommodation. For a student struggling with cost-of-living pressures, those things matter. Sometimes they can make the difference between a student being able to continue their education and having to walk away. We also considered complaints processes and the need for clearer and more independent pathways for staff and students.

Ultimately transparency builds trust. Universities cannot simply ask their communities to trust their decision-making. They need structures that demonstrate how decisions are made, who has been consulted and who is accountable. That is why this inquiry matters and why witnesses like Felix made such an important contribution. His evidence reinforced a simple proposition: students should not merely be consulted after decisions have been made. They deserve a genuine voice in making them. If we want to make stronger universities, we need strong governance, and that means giving the people who study, teach, research and work within our universities a meaningful place at the table.