Adelaide University to offer staff early retirements as financial woes grow

Adelaide University says it may consider a round of voluntary redundancies and will offer staff early retirement packages, as it grapples with a worsening revenue shortfall from a downturn in international students.

The new merger university told staff on Thursday that it was opening expressions of interest for a "Voluntary Early Retirement Scheme (VERS)", available to employees over the age of 55 with five or more years of continuous service.

The university emphasised that the scheme was not a voluntary redundancy process, but one "may be considered in future" if it aligned with "broader workforce planning and institutional financial considerations".

The university said some roles vacated through the retirement scheme may be filled again, but "not every position will be replaced".

"It is important to note that participation in the VERS is entirely voluntary," Adelaide University's head of people and culture, Joanne Fox, said in an all-staff email on Thursday afternoon.

"No one is expected or required to express interest, apply or retire."

Ms Fox said the university had to "respond carefully to a changing operating environment", which included "sector-wide financial pressures arising from the international student recruitment outlook".

The university has previously said that its international student enrolments are 40 per cent below target, creating a projected revenue shortfall of around $90 million.

It has laid the blame squarely at the feet of the federal government's policy changes to bring down international student numbers, although its competitor, Flinders University, has had a 15 per cent increase in international onshore enrolments this year.

In a pre-recorded video message to staff last week, Adelaide University Vice-Chancellor Professor Nicola Phillips said changes to migration policy had "created a challenging financial situation that we need to negotiate over the next few years".

"We're starting in an advantageous position," Professor Phillips said.

"But please don't underestimate how carefully we're going to need to manage costs for the foreseeable future, so that we can continue investing in our people and what matters most for our university.

"I repeat my reassurance that we are not considering any radical restructuring of our workforce or our university as a part of our path forward.

"That doesn't mean no change though, and I want to be clear about that."

No forced redundancies promise remains, uni says

The retirement scheme is the latest indicator of financial troubles at the merger university, which opened in January backed by a $464.5 million package from the Malinauskas government.

The two predecessor institutions, the University of Adelaide and University of South Australia, had promised staff there would be "no compulsory redundancies or retrenchments as a consequence of creating the new institution" until mid-2027.

In response to questions from the ABC, the university did not indicate how many staff it hoped to shed via the early retirement scheme, but said it remained committed to its pre-merger promise.

"University staff have been reassured that we are not considering compulsory redundancies as part of our path forward following the expiry of the employment guarantee in mid-2027," Ms Fox said in a statement.

The voluntary retirement scheme appeared to have the backing of the National Tertiary Education Union.

The union's Adelaide University branch co-president, Associate Professor Virginie Masson, said management was "trying really hard to manage a delicate situation in a way that is not breaking any promise".

"This is a good way to address the issue without forcing people out of a job," she said.

"I think that some people may decide to get their retirement a bit forward because of the stress of the merger — it is very difficult at the moment with the workload."

Associate Professor Masson said a problem with the merger was it was "expected that we would have doubling up of the workforce in some areas".

"It was obvious that they will have to take action to try to manage the sheer number of people coming together to work at the university," she said.

The two universities previously said their combined number of academic and professional staff was around 11,000 people.

Government positive about merger

State Development Minister Chris Picton said the university was taking a "sensible approach".

"This is about planning for their workforce and about encouraging and asking people if they are interested in talking about early retirements," he said.

He added there was "no doubt" that the international student decline had been an issue for the institution's financial situation but the government continued to support the merger, which it believed would "pay off in spades" in the long-term.

"We continue to encourage the federal government to support international students because we think that they play an important role for the economy overall," Mr Picton said.

Expressions of interest for the early retirement scheme will close on October 27, the university said in its email to staff. The scheme still needs final approval from the ATO and vice-chancellor.

According to documents seen by the ABC, successful applicants are expected to leave the university by March 31 next year unless an exemption is granted.

No participant will remain beyond June 30, 2027, the documents state, due to the ATO's requirements for the scheme.