Victoria vice-chancellors’ salaries come under scrutiny

More than half of Victoria’s vice-chancellors are earning annual salaries of more than AU$1 million (US$660,000), new data reveals, as the Australian federal government vows to crack down on excessive senior university pay packages, writes Caitlin Cassidy for The Guardian (Australia).

The 2023 annual reports of Victorian universities, lodged on Wednesday 1 May, revealed six of Victoria’s eight vice-chancellors had their salaries boosted last year, including separate rises of more than AU$50,000. It came despite five universities posting annual deficits, citing ongoing financial recovery from the COVID pandemic and associated losses in international student numbers.

The highest executive salary increase was for Monash University, sitting at AU$1,560,000 to AU$1,569,999 in 2023, compared with AU$1,370,000 to AU$1,379,999 in 2022. The university attributed the variation to the departure of the university’s vice-chancellor during the reporting period and the remuneration of the vice-chancellor in the disclosure for the full year – including a payout of AU$620,991.
Full report on The Guardian site