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Hi everyone,

There is a lot of misinformation still circulating campus about our finances and our financial sustainability. The reality is, we continue to spend more money than we earn and have been doing this year-on-year since the pandemic. I encourage our community to use the Renew ANU website as the place for reliable, relevant and timely information. If you still have questions, please reach out.

As you will have seen, the University has now released the , coupled with a timeline for possible future change. I know this is unsettling, and I know this period is tough. Our community has been asking for certainty, and the leadership and I discussed whether providing these dates would help provide more clarity or unease. On the balance, I wanted to provide this timeline, so you have the same working information as I do. The journey we are on is complex and hard, and although we have a final state – to be financially sustainable – there remain many choices as to how we get there. I am committed to continuing to work with our community to make these decisions together.

This week also sees the release of the Nixon Report. It is tough and sobering reading. It shares the experiences of some parts of our community; experiences that have gone on for too long and which have created places where staff or students are not safe - physically, emotionally and academically. This is simply not good enough so the University leadership is working to address each of the recommendations, and I thank Professor Christine Nixon for both undertaking this review, but also agreeing to return to ANU to ensure we are making progress with our response in each of the key areas. I also want to acknowledge the staff and students, both current and former, who shared their experiences and trust with us to make change that will make the University a better place. The Nixon Report Working Group will be opening for Expressions of Interest in the coming weeks, details via On Campus.

Tomorrow marks the start of National Reconciliation Week (NRW). A time where we have the opportunity and frankly, the responsibility, to think about the ways in which we show up in conversations with our First Nations friends, colleagues and communities. There are many possibilities about how we think about a different, more just, more hopeful, more fair, future.

And these conversations and actions extend beyond this week, and should be embedded in our everyday lives. I will be spending time with several First Nations groups who are on campus, and I encourage each of you to take time to engage in the NRW programs, or read some stories from our own community, including that of , the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Distinguished Professor at ANU.

ANU, as the national university, has a unique mission, and therefore responsibility, and I think this is especially true for how we shape national conversations around reconciliation and supporting our First Nations friends and colleagues. In the coming weeks, I will be meeting with the leadership of the NTEU to discuss our shared commitment to advance the University’s employment commitments under our Enterprise Agreement for First Nations staff. Where we have more work we can and should do. In times of change and complexity, it is important to hold conversations that will make for a better future, and we do this by working together.

Finally, I want to congratulate Professor Mark Howden and Professor Rob Mahony for their recent election as Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science; along with Emeritus Professor Chennupati Jagadish for his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is wonderful recognition and on behalf of the University, congratulations to you all! 

Good thoughts to wherever this may find you,
Genevieve