By Jessica Wang

Copyright news

Under-fire ANU Chancellor Julie Bishop confirmed Professor Bell, who is currently on personal leave”, had tendered her resignation and would return to the School of Cybernetics “in due course”.

The university is under pressure to stop staff redundancies, with Ms Bishop, a former Liberal minister, facing concerns over her own leadership.

Professor Bell said resigning was “not an easy decision,” and spoke of the difficulties of delivering a “solid financial, cultural and operational foundation”.

“Achieving such a foundation has been difficult and this has been a very hard time for our community,” she said.

“I am grateful for all the ways that people have shown up and for all the work that has been done and the progress we have made.

“Like the rest of our community, I know there is still more work to do so. I very much want to see the ANU thrive into the future and for it to continue to be a remarkable place and I don’t want to stand in the way of that.”

ANU Provost and senior vice-president Rebekah Brown has been dubbed acting vice-chancellor until the university finds a permanent replacement.

Professor Bell’s resignation comes after calls from the independent ACT senator David Pocock, who told the university to “get on with it” and change its leadership.

“Based on what I hear, the current leadership simply doesn’t have the trust or any faith that they can be turned around,” he told the ABC on Tuesday.

Ms Bishop is set to hold an all-staff town hall at 1.30pm, and will speak to media at 3pm.

Professor Bell began her tenure as vice-chancellor in January 2024 and was reportedly paid a salary of $1.1m despite enforcing widespread job cuts under the program Renew ANU in order to save $250m by 2026.

While Senator Pocock welcomed Professor Bell’s exit, he said there had been “serious failures of leadership and governance in the implementation of Renew ANU,” and called for a stop to future redundancies.

“Most importantly, there must be a stop to any further forced redundancies including for the change management plans that have yet to be finalised until there is more transparency over the ANU’s financial position and genuine consultation over a way forward,” he said.

He also questioned Ms Bishop’s future at the uni.

“The Chancellor faces serious bullying and workplace harassment allegations and has presided over a period that saw a significant decline in the university’s financial position and governance arrangements,” he added.

His comments were in reference to a senate inquiry that heard from prominent demographer and academic Liz Allen, who accused Ms Bishop of being “hostile and arrogant to staff” and caused her to contemplate suicide.

Senior Labor senator and ACT minister Katy Gallagher said she believed the university council and leadership needed to “reset,” and that she had received “sustained representations” from concerned ANU students and staff.

“The Renew ANU program has been poorly executed and has damaged the university’s reputation, and responsibility for that cannot be placed on one individual,” she said.

“I have previously called on the ANU Council to work openly and proactively to establish an independent fact base and rebuild trust with the community.”

Greens higher education spokeswoman Mehreen Faruqi said Ms Bishop also “must be held accountable for the crisis at ANU”.

“The fact that almost every respondent to ANU’s staff-led governance project said the system is not fit for purpose speaks volumes,” she said.

“This is not just about one Vice-Chancellor. The entire model of top-down, corporate-style governance is failing.”

“Across the sector, mass redundancies, threats to schools and courses, and widespread reports of psychosocial harm show a workplace and community in crisis. Staff should never have to choose between their wellbeing and their profession.”

National Tertiary Education Union ACT secretary Lachlan Clohesy said Prof Bell’s exit must also come with immediate pause on staff redundancies.

“Nobody takes delight in the situation of the Australian National University at the moment. We welcome this development. But we also need to recognise the incredible toll the last two years have taken on the ANU community, and that will take time to heal,” he said.

“In the last two years, ANU leadership has taken an approach of moving fast and breaking things. Unfortunately, too many of those things were people.”

Education Minister Jason Clare was reserved in his comments and said Professor Bell’s resignation and the appointment for the VC was a matter for the ANU council.

“I wish Professor Bell well for the future,” he said.

“Significant governance concerns at ANU have been raised with me. That’s why I’ve referred ANU’s governance to TEQSA for assessment.”