Some of Western Australia’s biggest universities have been accused by the state’s tertiary education minister of employing “scaremongering” tactics in the face of a possible merger, amid claims the status quo exploits international students while failing regional students.
A cost-benefit analysis is weighing up combining UWA, Curtin University and Murdoch University; merging UWA and Murdoch; and merging Curtin and UWA.
Tertiary Education Minister Tony Buti has remained mostly tight-lipped on the outcome of that report – and on the feedback received in an initial report that was ordered when he was also education minister back in 2023.
But in a meeting with the National Tertiary Education Union WA branch at the end of March, Buti suggested there had been “a little bit of scaremongering at some universities” in response to the idea of a merger.
“There are both benefits and drawbacks to consider in relation to a merger, and each position has valid points,” he said in response to the union’s questions.
Buti confirmed he could not update the union on a timeframe for when the review would be released, “because the focus of every minister in the government right now is the current situation in the Middle East”.
But the minister did suggest he believed universities should take a look at how their research profile “is of benefit to the community”, and that they could also “do something about their entry standards” – even if no merger took place.
“It’s a worry when people get into teaching faculties to become teachers and their raw ATAR score would equate to less than 50 per cent,” he said.
“Under the old system, there would be no way you go to university if you scored less than 50 per cent. It is a problem unless there is a drastic improvement in their performance while they’re at universities.”
University governance is also facing scrutiny.
“One thing is to ensure that the governance is set up in a way that we won’t continue to have exploitation of students and staff,” Buti told the NTEU.
“There is an argument to be made that [the state government] should become more involved, whether that’s to improve governance, or whether that includes investments in research, equity scholarships and so forth.
“The minister has limited power over Senate or Council appointments, which should be addressed, though it’s unclear how at this stage.
“The universities mostly have free rein in selecting members, making these bodies feel like exclusive clubs despite their ability to make incredibly important decisions.
“This is a significant issue.”
The union also questioned Buti on the “excessive fees” paid by international students to which he responded: “I won’t say anything here about certain universities in our structure that I believe are exploiting international students. But I think we do need to look at how we treat [them].”
He also confirmed he believed public universities had “failed regional students”.
The meeting with the union comes amid murmurs WA’s sandstone university is gearing up for its involvement in a possible merger, rallying its own team to help facilitate the change.
UWA has always been broadly supportive of the idea of a merger, while Murdoch and Curtin have previously expressed concerns.
University students are also largely critical of any merger idea, according to Curtin University Student Guild president Dylan Storer.
The guild, alongside the Murdoch University guild, is gearing up to increase public awareness of the merger over the coming weeks, and what it might mean for students, parents and industry.
“Students want their education to improve not get worse,” Storer said.
“Those who are attuned to what is occurring in Adelaide can see the writing on the wall – a merger will be messy, and it will cause a lot of pain. It’s a grave mistake for WA.”
The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia officially merged to create a new institution, Adelaide University, which opened in January.
There have already been reports of students having difficulties with their enrolments and study plans, and limited communication and support from the university, according to the ABC.
“A mega university will just become a huge bureaucracy where staff and management find themselves further away from students than they are now,” Storer said.
“The belief that there might be ‘short-term pain for long-term gain’ is shortsighted and inaccurate.”
He said the state government was claiming students had been consulted on the merger, but “a one-hour meeting last year doesn’t count as proper consultation”.
Storer said he had heard claims UWA had formed its own team to facilitate the merger.
“There is a level of arrogance that comes with that – to establish a team to essentially take over Murdoch and Curtin,” he said.
“If it is true, UWA are getting ahead of themselves.”
UWA told this masthead that it would not respond to questions related to the merger or plans to form its own team.
A state government spokesperson also did not confirm, pointing back to UWA for comment, but said universities were central to the state’s future.
“Two independent reviews have been commissioned to investigate the structure of the university sector in WA and its ongoing sustainability,” the spokesperson said.
“The government wants WA’s university sector to deliver the best possible outcomes for students, staff and the wider community and is considering the findings of those reviews.”
In his response to the union, Buti said a successful merger would “include students coming out who have invested in their education and coming out with the skills that they need for challenges moving forward”.
“Are they satisfied with what they learned? Are they receiving the proper assistance at university? What are the research outcomes? What benefit does it provide to society? Are the staff happy?,” he said.
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Holly Thompson is a journalist with WAtoday, specialising in education and the environment.Connect via X or email.