Pocock's Senate fight to unveil secret ANU documents quashed by major parties

Independent ACT senator David Pocock on Monday moved four separate motions for the order of the production of documents addressed to ANU vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell, about the university's Renew ANU program to save $250 million.

If passed by the Senate, they would have ordered Professor Bell to table a list of documents within the next three days - but the Albanese government and the opposition voted against them in what Senator Pocock called teaming up to "protect one of their own and senior ANU leadership rather than representing people in the Canberra community."

"All I'm asking is for some more transparency from our national university," he said after the motions were defeated.

"This feels very much like protection of the university leadership rather than acting in the best interests of the staff and students who are crying out for support ... Hundreds of people have lost their jobs as a result of the Renew ANU process and enormous harm continues to be caused to staff and students."

ANU Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell welcomed the voting down of the motions and rejected that the documents were secretive, saying they included "granular financial materials" that were commercial-in-confidence, including those related to "confidential investigations".

The list included emails, meeting minutes, internal memoranda and other records relating to the new budgets allocated to the ANU colleges in mid-2024, the impact of budget cuts on services and the university's 2024-27 budget forecasts prepared in 2023, including changes in classifications of spending for accounting purposes.

Senator Pocock also sought to compel the release of any email correspondence sent by ANU chancellor Julie Bishop to ANU council members "relating to a purported breach of Council confidentiality, as referenced in an on-campus bulletin on July 8, 2025."

His motion also demanded the university release "the complete and unredacted results of the ANU staff survey conducted in March 2023, including all college, research school and portfolio-level breakdowns, demographic analysis and detailed response data" and "any comparative analysis between the two survey periods."

All four motions were defeated after the major parties opposed them.

ACT Labor senator and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher told the chamber: "The government will not be supporting these motions today."

"I've met with every person who's asked to meet with me about ANU," Senator Gallagher said. "I'm aware of the issues that need to be resolved, and I want ANU to get on and resolve them."

But, she said, the lengthy requests by Senator Pocock would not help matters.

"When I look at the nature of the OPDs and the work that would be required in responding to them, I would prefer ANU at this point in time was actually dealing with the issues that we have asked it to deal with in responding to Renew ANU," Senator Gallagher said.

"In addition, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency have been considering the minister's referral and will be appointing an independent expert to investigate those matters very soon."

The regulator is investigating potential risks to compliance with national standards at the ANU after a referral from Education Minister Jason Clare, following Senator Pocock writing to the minister outlining management and governance concerns.

Senator Gallagher said the minister to receive a briefing from the TEQSA about its ANU investigation "later this week".

Professor Bell said some of the documents requested in Senator Pocock's motions were already public and the university would reply to 27 questions on notice received from him in the last week.

"ANU is working with TEQSA on an active self-assurance compliance process, which we have already committed to releasing publicly."

The ANU announced last week that it would pause involuntary redundancies after hundreds of people lost their jobs through the Renew ANU's program, which included a voluntary round.

On August 20, the ANU said staffing costs had been reduced by $59.9 million after earlier saying it aimed to slash $100 million from its salary bill, as part of a wider drive to reduce its recurring operating costs by $250 million by January 1, 2026.

Deputy manager of opposition business in the Senate Paul Scarr said while the Coalition "notes the importance of transparency for government entities, including the ANU", Senator Pocock's OPD was not the appropriate way to achieve this.

"The opposition also notes that an active workplace dispute was, in our respectful view, inappropriately publicised in an August 12 Senate committee hearing," he told the chamber, referring to senior lecturer and former ANU council member Liz Allen's public comments alleging bullying and intimidation by the university's chancellor, former deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop.

"The opposition is concerned that the conduct of that dispute may be impacted by the passage of these motions. The opposition would not wish to deny natural justice to the complainant or anyone else."

He said the ANU "is also currently the subject of a self-assurance compliance process", referring to the university's obligations under a compliance assessment by the TEQSA.

Senator Scarr noted that the ANU was "scheduled to appear before Senate estimates in October" along with the Senate inquiry into university governance, where Dr Allen gave her evidence.

"These would each be, in our respectful view, more appropriate forums through which to seek more information."

But Senator Pocock said there was "nothing in the orders for production of documents that would have interfered with any investigation by the regulator or natural justice processes."

"The Chief People Officer likes to say that the ANU is 'data-driven' and I want to see them release that data including financial information and the results of the latest staff survey."

In May, a review by Monash University professor Christine Nixon identified widespread complaints of bullying, sexism and racism at the ANU, saying the university had "a remarkable tolerance for poor behaviour and bullying."