Daniel James

It's Sunday, April 19.

This episode first aired in June of 2025.

Rick, universities as a sector have been sounding the alarm for a long time that government policy, including funding cuts and student caps, has been having a big impact on their ability to function.

So can you give me some examples of how consultants fit into that?

How are universities using them?

Yeah, there are a number of consultancy groups involved in all of this, but you did mention Nowse Group, which is a global consulting firm, and they do a lot of work with the Australian National University.

So what did you find out about the role they are playing there?

Coming up after the break, David Pocock takes on Unibosses.

Rick, late last year, the ANU were brought in front of Senate estimates to ask about the restructures you mentioned earlier.

And David Pocock was trying to get to the bottom of how much the uni had paid Nowscroup for the restructure.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

So a lot of secrecy and uncertainty around all this, but what we do know is that universities are spending a lot on consultants, which begs the question, shouldn't university management people like the vice-chancellor and the people on the university council have a sense of how to make savings or where to spend money or how to structure their business?

I mean, isn't that their job?

So, Rick, what impact do you think all this will have on the university sector, the reliance on consultancy firms, the lack of funding from federal government to universities?

What does the future of the university sector look like at the moment?

Rick, thank you so much for your time.

7am, we'll be back tomorrow with an episode on the Iran war and how it's created not just a humanitarian and economic crisis, but an environmental catastrophe as well.

I'm Daniel James.

Thanks for listening.