Transformation

We are transforming UOW to achieve financial sustainability after experiencing a drop in revenue in 2024 and countless external pressures that continue to impact our budget this year and into 2026.

While we’ve made progress stabilising our 2024 budget and reducing costs through the recent Teaching and Learning Change Plan, we must continue to reduce our costs and consider the work done across the whole university.

Workplace change - UOW Operations

Preliminary consultation

The University of Wollongong (UOW) has commenced a preliminary phase of consultation with staff and unions ahead of potential workplace change, in line with the requirements of the University’s enterprise agreements. 

The next stage of transformation is focused on the University’s operations and is separate to the previous Teaching and Learning Change Plan which was released on 14 January 2025 and achieved a $21 million reduction in recurrent expenditure. 

UOW is committed to a genuine consultation process, which will be conducted in line with the requirements of the University’s enterprise agreements. 

All UOW staff were informed today (Monday 3 February) and have been invited to provide information and suggestions that they consider relevant for the development of any formal draft change proposal.  

The preliminary phase of feedback will be followed by two further rounds of consultation where staff will be given an opportunity to engage directly on any Draft Change Proposal before final outcomes are released in June.

FAQs: Workplace Change - UOW Operations

The recent move to Ministerial Direction 111 (which relates to how the government processes visa applications) does not reverse the significant financial impact that Ministerial Direction 107 has had on UOW over the last 12 months and does not change the fact that our pipeline of prospective international students is severely damaged because of government policy. Despite our recent adjustments to expenditure and staffing, our financial position remains impacted, and projections for 2025 and the medium-term outlook indicate further significant budget pressures.  

There is a clear ongoing need to reduce both salary and non-salary recurrent costs and to improve the effectiveness of our central services and operations more broadly. Our priority is to strengthen our foundations and deliver a sustainable future for the University while ensuring that UOW remains competitive and innovative. To do this, we must continue to make tough choices now to set the University up for a brighter future. We know we must address our escalating cost base and reduce our recurrent expenditure by approximately an additional $30 million, and this process will contribute to that objective. In the meantime, we will continue to identify ways to reduce non-salary expenditure in areas like procurement, travel, maintenance, equipment and IT, and other discretionary expenditure.

The Preliminary Phase of consultation is conducted ahead of potential workplace change and is a requirement under the University’s enterprise agreements. At this stage it is important to note that no final decisions have been made. This phase will outline the rationale for potential change, our goals and invite staff feedback to shape the development of any formal Draft Change Proposal. The process will be conducted in alignment with the requirements of the University’s professional and academic enterprise agreements.

The consultation periods for the workplace change are outlined below.

Proposed dates Consultation
3 February 2025 - 14 February 2025 Provide any suggestions you consider relevant for consideration in our Draft Change Proposal.
17 March 2025 - 22 April 2025 The Draft Change Proposal will be open to feedback from affected staff.
5 May 2025 – 19 May 2025 The Revised Change Proposal will be open to feedback from affected staff.
17 June 2025 We will notify all affected staff of the outcomes of this process.

The consultation period for academic staff is in accordance with clause 40 in the Academic Enterprise Agreement and clause 54 in the Professional Services Enterprise Agreement.

If you’re a UOW staff member, you can access further information about the extent and nature of the change on the Transformation Hub (staff login required).  

Media enquiries can be directed to (02) 4221 4227 or media@uow.edu.au

Workplace Change - Teaching and Learning

Following extensive consultation and feedback from staff, the University of Wollongong (UOW) has announced the final plan for changes to its teaching activities 

The transformation aims to address the areas of unviable teaching activity and was made necessary because of a challenging financial outlook for the university, in part due to changes to Australian Government migration policy which contributed to a $35 million drop in revenue in 2024 and which will continue to impact UOW’s future budgets.