Mushrooming compliance demands in Australian higher education are drowning out the other 鈥渃ore responsibilities鈥� of governance, according to La Trobe University chancellor and former Victorian premier John Brumby.

Mr Brumby told a Melbourne forum that universities鈥� governing bodies had more onerous workloads than boards in other sectors. 鈥淭he demands on university councils are鈥ore than your routine corporate or not-for-profit board,鈥� he told the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Teqsa) conference. 鈥淵ou could spend 60, 70, 80 hours a week just going into the detail of all of the governance requirements.鈥�

Mr Brumby said monitoring and compliance was just one of university councils鈥� 鈥渃ore responsibilities鈥�, which also included overseeing strategy and finance, appointing vice-chancellors and monitoring their performance. 鈥淲e have an obligation, above all others, to ensure a safe workplace,鈥� he added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 university councils which, in so many ways, set the tone for culture.鈥�

Governing bodies needed to stay abreast of 鈥渟ocial licence issues鈥�, he added. 鈥淭hings like accountability, performance, value for money, employability of our students, student support, wage payments, gender violence on campus 鈥� all of those issues are important.鈥�

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Mr Brumby denied a suggestion that chancellors were 鈥渇ailing in their role鈥� of building trust in universities. He said institutions of all types were experiencing a trust deficit, as social media fuelled an explosion of populism and polarisation.

鈥淭hat means the expectations are higher,鈥� he told the conference. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to be open to criticism. The truth is that we鈥檝e got to lift our performance.鈥�

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He said his council had been 鈥減rofoundly disappointed鈥� when La Trobe was found to have underpaid its casual staff by A$5.4 million (拢2.8 million). 鈥淭hat was a failure of our governance and our administration,鈥� he said, adding that the university had changed its culture as well as its systems to 鈥渢ackle鈥he disease rather than just focusing on the symptom鈥�.

Mark Rigotti, chief executive of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, said universities were seen as places to 鈥済et educated and have a better life. That鈥檚 a very hard proposition to sustain if people don鈥檛 trust you,鈥� he told the conference.

Mr Rigotti said the lack of trust in institutions could be shrugged off as 鈥渁 flash in the pan鈥� that had been 鈥渨eaponised鈥� to sell newspapers or win elections. Alternatively, university leaders could accept the criticism as 鈥渢rue, in which case it raises questions around who you are and what you stand for鈥�.

Another interpretation was that 鈥渢here鈥檚 elements of truth in it, but it鈥檚 been over-amplified. Either way鈥he sector needs to come up with a response.鈥�

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He said over-regulation was 鈥渃hilling鈥� productivity in universities and elsewhere by monopolising governing bodies鈥� time and fostering a 鈥渞isk-averse鈥� climate. Directors were eschewing aspirations of best practice and instead aiming for 鈥渕inimum compliance levels鈥�.

Mr Brumby said governing bodies needed to focus on the 鈥渂ig鈥� issues rather than allowing themselves to be distracted by compliance minutiae. 鈥淚t is important to separate out the wood from the trees,鈥� he told the conference.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com