November 15th, 2026FedUni must rule out future Arts cuts after embarrassing bungle

The National Tertiary Education Union has urged Federation University to rule out future cuts to Arts after management walked back its plan to cut up to 87 per cent of its offerings.

Staff were recently called to a snap meeting with 10 minutes notice and were told the cuts would be effective immediately.

After the NTEU vowed to fight the cuts, FedUni announced the cuts were a “miscommunication”, and the meeting was intended to be a business-as-usual review.

While the reversal is a major win for regional communities, it is the second time in four years FedUni has announced cuts in the same area only for the proposal to be scrapped on both occasions.

NTEU FedUni Branch President Dr Mathew Abbott said:

“We need an iron-clad guarantee these ugly cuts won’t rear their head ever again. It’s clear there is a longstanding desire to come after Arts – a core offering of any university.

“The emotional whiplash of what the university claims was a mistake is hard to describe for a workforce that is already at breaking point after endless rounds of major changes.

“This is exactly why we’re fighting for more consultation on major changes to be enshrined in the enterprise agreement, which we are currently negotiating, with industrial action coming up soon.”

NTEU Victoria Division Secretary Dr Jack Kirne said:

“This is a gold standard governance failure that highlights the shocking problems we see across the state’s universities.

“This wasn’t just idle musing – there was clearly a plan cooked up to cut arts courses and subjects, yet staff were given 10 minutes’ notice before being told about it – only for university management to backtrack within days.

“Such a dramatic failure raises serious questions about whether FedUni’s management is up to the job and if its governance system that must be a check on major decisions even works.”

NTEU National President Dr Alison Barnes said:

“Regional communities need Arts courses more than ever given the increasing importance of critical thinking skills during the rise of AI.

“These sort of damaging announcements are why NTEU members have fought and won major governance reform across the country.

“Clearly the culture of no accountability from university leadership can’t be changed overnight, which is why we’ll keep pushing for changes that ensure staff, students and communities get the courses and subjects they deserve.”