The stand-in boss at the troubled Australian National University (ANU) will receive a A$180,000 (?88,000) pay rise to step up from her substantive position as provost, the institution has revealed.

Interim vice-chancellor Rebekah Brown will also be granted occupancy of a two-storey house on the edge of the university¡¯s leafy Canberra campus.

A on ANU¡¯s website reveals that Brown will receive a salary of A$950,000 during her stint as interim leader, and will have her term as provost and senior vice-president extended by the amount of time she spends in the top job. An additional A$30,000 in superannuation will raise her package to almost A$1 million.

The university said her salary as provost was A$800,000, including superannuation.

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Brown has also been granted an ¡°exercisable option¡± to live temporarily in the vice-chancellor¡¯s on-campus residence. The stately 1950s house has not been occupied since the turn of the century and has been used exclusively to host university events.

An ANU spokesman said Brown, like all previous vice-chancellors, had the option to live in the residence. ¡°If she chooses this option, she will pay rent privately at a rate that has been independently assessed.¡±

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The university met Brown¡¯s relocation costs from Melbourne, including the A$1,700 expense of transporting two horses, when she?moved from Monash University in 2024. ¡°This is consistent with the university¡¯s appointments procedure and relocation assistance for new staff guidelines,¡± the spokesman said.

ANU said it was revealing Brown¡¯s remuneration as part of its ¡°standard disclosure practices¡±. The Canberra institution has published its payments to its key management personnel in detail since 2019, unlike most Australian universities, which report only the total amounts paid to unidentified executives within bands of A$10,000 or A$15,000.

All Australian universities may soon be forced to follow ANU¡¯s lead in publishing breakdowns of their senor executives¡¯ pay packages, under recommendations from the Expert Council on University Governance.

ANU chancellor Julie Bishop was less forthcoming about the severance package granted to former vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell, when quizzed on the matter during a 10 October Senate estimates committee meeting.

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Bishop told Canberra senator David Pocock that the resignation package awarded to Bell had been ¡°what she was entitled to under the contract of engagement¡± and was ¡°personal and confidential information¡±.

ANU on 11 September that Bell was ¡°tendering her resignation¡±. The Australian Financial Review that the university council had voted to end Bell¡¯s tenure during a special meeting the previous evening. The university has not clarified whether she left voluntarily or was pushed, despite repeated questions from ̽»¨ÊÓƵ.?

Pocock asked why Bell had received a payout if she had resigned. Bishop indicated that the circumstances of departure had little bearing on university leaders¡¯ entitlements to termination packages.

¡°It¡¯s in the contract of employment,¡± the chancellor told the committee. ¡°If someone resigns¡­they can be paid in lieu of notice. You can give notice that you¡¯re going to leave in six months¡¯ time and get paid your salary, or you can resign effective immediately and take the salary.¡±

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john.ross@timeshighereducation.com