Frank
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Australian vice-chancellors are among the world’s highest paid, pocketing an average of $1.048m across 37 universities last year, based on remuneration packages revealed in their annual reports.
But the breakdown of base salary and benefits, as well as performance targets for bonuses and the criteria for pay decisions, are set in secrecy by university senates.
Pegging pay to public service remuneration rates is likely to lead to savage salary cuts for vice-chancellors – although it is not clear whether changes will be retrospective or apply only to new appointments.
University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott earned between $1.17m and $1.18m last year. He earned half as much in a previous job heading the NSW Education Department, whose secretary Murat Dizdar was paid $623,000 last year.
Mr Dizdar controls a $24bn budget with 107,108 staff and nearly 800,000 students.
Professor Scott is responsible for 9051 staff and 68,421 students, with revenue of $3.4bn.
His university’s underpayment of staff left it with financial liabilities totalling $77m in December last year.
Professor Scott also earns nearly twice as much as CSIRO chief executive Doug Hilton, who earned a base salary of $588,810 as part of a $639,748 remuneration package.
Dr Hilton runs a budget of $1.73bn, with 6234 staff.
Queensland University of Technology vice-chancellor Margaret Sheil earned $1.23m last year – with a base salary of $1,055,000, plus a $151,000 bonus and $28,000 in superannuation.
Her university has a $1.18bn budget, with 4509 staff and 52,000 students.
In contrast, Queensland TAFE paid its chief executive John Tucker a $350,000 base salary – with a total package of $404,000 – to run an agency with 4417 staff, a $834m budget, and 144,000 students.
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