What is the ANU Annual Report?
The ANU Annual Report is prepared annually and contains information about the University’s performance over the last 12 months. Our annual report informs the Federal Parliament, our community and the public about our achievements, our financial performance and our non-financial performance.
The requirements for the ANU Annual report are covered in the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act) and the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 (PGPA Rule). Page 221 of our Annual Report provides a reference to the requirements of the PGPA Rule and the section of our Report that addresses those requirements.
Our Annual Report includes the following information:
- Year in Review – an overview of the year that was.
- Yearly Snapshot – ANU by the key numbers.
- Performance Statements – outlining our performance against the KPIs in our Corporate Plan, which is publicly available on the ANU website.
- National Institutes Grant Report – a report for the Minister on our achievements from our application of the National Institutes Grant. Previous copies are also published in the ANU Annual Reports.
- Management & Accountability – outlining how the University is governed.
- People & Work, Health & Safety – our workforce and approach to safety.
- Climate Risk Disclosure – our inaugural Commonwealth Climate Disclosure outlining our exposure to climate risk and the actions taken to manage that risk.
- Financial Results and audited financial statements.
Information about students, courses and regulatory oversight is documented and provided to the ANU Council and reported to the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA).
What is the process to table the ANU Annual Report?
The ANU Annual Report is prepared by the Planning, Service and Performance division, and approved by members of the Executive before being presented to the ANU Council.
Following Council’s approval, ANU submits the Annual Report to the Minister for Education. It was submitted, as per the schedule, on 15 April 2025.
Once the Minister for Education has provided their approval for the report to be tabled in both Houses of Parliament, they will request that ANU and the Department of Education make the necessary arrangements for this to occur, which includes printing physical copies of the Report.
Once tabled in the House of Representatives and the Senate, the University can publish the report on the ANU website, and it will also be made available within the Australian Government Transparency Portal.
What measure do we use to assess our financial performance?
Like other universities across the sector, at ANU we manage our financial performance through the calculation of an underlying operating result. In 2024, we expected an operating deficit of $60 million. Our actual operating result for 2024 was a deficit of $140 million. Key elements of the result include:
- $49.7 million above budget for grant income.
- $54 million below budget for tuition fees, due mainly to lower enrolments of domestic full fee students.
- $81.4 million above budget for operating expenses.
Our 2024 Annual Report, shows a reported net result of a surplus of $87.1 million. The difference between this result and our operating deficit of $140 million is mainly due to income from investments and insurance proceeds, both of which we are unable to use for operating expenses.
Our $215 million in investment income is tied to supporting superannuation liabilities for our staff (which grow over time) and to endowments related to specific purposes such as perpetual scholarships.
There is also $50 million of insurance payments that can only be used to repair the buildings damaged by the 2020 hailstorm.
The underlying operating result is a calculation that has been performed for numerous years and allows the University to understand if it is living within its means. Matching our operating income, across teaching and research and other sources, with the cost to deliver those services.
More information, including a reconciliation of the operating result to reported net result is available here, where the Chief Financial Officer provided an update on 2024 financial performance to the community.
What kinds of activities are included as ‘consultancies’?
ANU has historically categorised a wide range of activities as consultancies including:
- Education agent commissions (e.g. paid for the recruitment of international students)
- Professional services to support research contracts
- Professional services (e.g. audit, tax advisory)
- Software development and support
- Contractors engaged through third parties
The broad categorisation of consultancy can result in misinterpretation and potentially undesirable expenditure. In recent years, the University has been working to improve clarity and control in many areas of financial management, including this one.
To improve clarity, consultancy reporting in the Annual Report will now be distributed across the following categories:
- Contracted and professional services (this category is most reflective of actual consultancy spend, but also includes items such as insurance broking).
- Research (e.g. consumables, training materials)
- Commissions to agents
This improvement enables the financial data being presented externally to be more readily understood and, as a result, more accurate conclusions can be drawn. Further details were provided to the community in June through this update from the Chief Operating Officer.
Who audits the financial information in the ANU Annual Report?
The Australian National Audit Office audits the Financial statements that form part of the ANU Annual Report.
Can the University release any information in advance of the Annual Report being tabled in the federal Parliament?
Yes. As we have done since the pandemic, the University sought permission from the Department of Education to deliver a high-level summary of the financials in advance of the full Annual Report. This summary was presented to the community on 30 April 2025 and was also published on our website to help provide timely information on our financial position. Financial updates for 2020; 2021; 2022 and 2023 are also available online.
On 27 May 2025, the Chief Financial Officer provided another update on Renew ANU progress. This is also published on our website.
What date is the ANU Annual Report scheduled for submission to the Minister for Education?
In accordance with PGPA Act, the University is required to submit the Annual Report to the Minister for Education, by the 15th day of the fourth month after the end of the reporting period. In the University's case, that is the 15th of April.
We submitted the ANU 2024 Annual Report, as scheduled, on 15 April 2025.
How long does it take for the Minister of Education to table the ANU Annual Report?
The Minister is allowed to take a suitable amount of time in order for them to review the report before tabling. Over the last three years, the earliest time the report has been tabled was July, and the latest it has been tabled was September.
The Parliamentary sitting week was disrupted in 2025 due to the Federal election and the caretaker period.
The ANU Annual Reports contain tables about salaries. Who are included in these tables?
All Commonwealth entities, including the ANU, are required to disclose executive renumeration arrangements in their annual reports. We are also required to publish this information on the Australian Government Transparency Portal.
The ANU 2024 Annual Report details key management and staff salaries (pages 196-199).
The University is required to publish three key tables of information:
- Key Management Personnel (KMP) - persons who have authority and responsibility for directing and controlling the activities of the entity, in our case the Vice-Chancellor, Chief Operating Officer and Provost.
- Senior Executives – persons, who are not a KMP, who are responsible for making decisions or having substantial input into decisions that affect the operations of the University.
- Other Highly Paid Staff (OHPS) - other staff not included in the two other categories, whose total remuneration exceeds the threshold of $250,000. This also includes academic and professional staff not in management roles.
As the ANU is the only University established under federal legislation, we are the only University required to publish all three levels of transparency into our renumeration.
Who is included in the Senior Executive Renumeration Table?
More information on the University senior executive can be found here: University Executive.
The University senior executive includes all the members of the University’s Senior Leadership Group (SLG). This includes our College Deans, Deputy Vice Chancellors, Vice-Presidents and leaders such as the Chief Financial Officer, Chief People Officer, Chief Information Officer, Chief Campus Environment Officer.
There were twenty-one (21) positions reporting for 2024, noting that in some cases multiple office holders are reported (for example in 2024 we reported two holders of the CFO position in this table, one to the start of 2024 and then a second when the current CFO commenced from April 2025)
Are ANU Council members paid?
External members of ANU Council are offered an honorarium. As in previous years, some members opted not to receive an honorarium.
The Chancellor receives $75K annually, with other external members of Council receiving $35K annually. Chairs of Committees who are not external members of Council are offered $10K.
Per the Australian National University (Governance) Statute 2024 internal members of the Council are not eligible for renumeration.
How much was the ANU Vice-Chancellor paid in 2024?
In 2024, Distinguished Professor Genevieve Bell received a base salary of $969,564. This followed a voluntary 10 per cent pay reduction in October 2024 to support the financial position of the University. Professor Bell has maintained a 10 per cent salary reduction in 2025 and has not accepted the pay rise increases of 2.5 per cent since commencing in role (July 2024, December 2024, July 2025).
The Vice-Chancellor's salary was set by Council prior to appointment in 2023. This followed a benchmarking exercise undertaken by the Remuneration Committee and was informed by discussions with the President of the Remuneration Tribunal. The Remuneration Committee monitors the Vice-Chancellor’s salary on an ongoing basis as well as monitoring, reviewing and where appropriate making recommendations to the Vice-Chancellor on the remuneration and conditions of employment of the University’s Executive.
What was the median salary of academic staff at ANU in 2024?
The median base salary (ie excluding superannuation) for academic staff in 2024 was $142,252.
What was the median salary of professional staff at ANU in 2024?
The median base salary (ie excluding superannuation) for professional staff in 2024 was $104,829.
Who is included in the ‘Other Highly Paid Staff’ table (p199).
This table includes other staff not on the Executive or ANU Council, whose total remuneration exceeds the threshold of $250,000. This includes distinguished academic staff and expert professional staff. This is a requirement under the Public Governance Performance and Accountability Act.
What is the Climate Risk Disclosure and why is it in the Annual Report?
The Commonwealth Climate Disclosure is a new requirement which will soon become mandatory for all commonwealth entities and 2024 is the first year that it has been included in the Annual Report.
The University voluntarily participated in the Disclosure Pilot, reflecting our commitment to environmental sustainability and reducing our carbon footprint, but also to help us pro-actively prepare to meet further and more extensive reporting requirements in future years.
The Climate Risk Disclosure outlines the University’s approach to climate governance, our measures and targets and our reporting. It also highlights the progress we have made, including meeting our target of reducing the overall trajectory of GHG emissions from the 2019 baseline. More information can be found in the ANU Environmental Sustainability Report and the ANU Environmental Management Plan (2022-25).
What is the National Institutes Grant Report?
The National Institutes Grant is provided with the ANU Annual Report to provide details on the University’s investment and impact of the $238 million block grant we receive from the Federal Government to support our national mission (p 52-99).
The Grant supports our unique capacity to undertake research that continues to meet the needs of Australian society. Through the National Institutes Grant funding, ANU is one greatest reservoirs of information, thought and analysis for Australia. As Nugget Coombs said, “ANU continues to be a place which generates knowledge with which to build society and a place where research is directed at the problems arising immediately from the social, economic and cultural context that would bring us the knowledge with which to build wisely”.
How much of the University’s revenue is provided through the National Institutes Grant?
In 2024, the University received around $238 million, which represents about 17.8% of our operating income.
Who receives the National Institutes Grant at ANU?
The National Institutes Grant underpins the work of the ANU and the allocations are available on page 59.
The majority of the grant supports the work of the ANU schools, allowing them to build concentrations of nationally significant discipline expertise. An illustrative example being in critical minerals where the University has invested in capability building over a 50-year period.
The grant also supports the University to host nationally significant infrastructure, collections and archives for which it is custodian on behalf of the sector and nation.
The University also makes a range of investments in building new capability or supporting inter-disciplinary expertise critical to the nation.
What are the four themes for the National Institutes Grant report in 2024?
In 2024, we have focused on four themes to illustrate the impact of the grant, linked to the University’s legislative responsibilities:
- enhancing Australian prosperity
- social cohesion in the 21st century
- impactful public policy for Australia and the region
- upskilling Australia – building capacity and capability for the future.
Additionally, the 2024 snapshot includes: the economic return on investment for the National Institutes Grant; details of our national research infrastructure; and highlights some of our high performing people. The University retains a world-leading reputation in research and research-led training coupled with the extraordinary people who call our campus home. We deliver on our mission as Australia’s first and only national university through the work of our people, the research infrastructure that underpins our scholarship and the funding that allows us to pursue knowledge with immediate and long-term benefits to all Australians.
What are our complaints and grievance handling processes at ANU?
The University has a variety of internal grievance mechanisms that include the Staff Grievance Resolution Policy and Student Grievance and Complaint Resolution Policy.
Safety matters, including psychosocial, can be reported through the University’s workplace safety incident & hazard reporting tool, known as Figtree.
Suspected incidents of fraud can be reported under our Fraud and Corruption Control policy and as a Corporate Commonwealth Entity, the University also encourages disclosures of wrongdoing within the University under the Public Interest Disclosure Act.
All matters reported to the University will be appropriately handled as per the relevant legislation, policy or procedure. These schemes are referred to in our Annual Report (see Pages 127 and 139) and in many cases are disclosed to the relevant regulator for each matter (Comcare, the Commonwealth Ombudsman etc).
Additional information can be found at Statement on 2024 Annual Report.