The administrative burden in Australian universities is most keenly felt by teaching and research staff, according to...[the] study from the University of Melbourne’s faculty of education'. 2/2
Link to underpinning research: academic.oup.com/spp/advance-...
The Times Higher Education (THE) covers our just published research article (open access - see pinned post) on how academic staff experience administrative burden in Australian universities.
The THE piece can be accessed here (requires a subscription): www.timeshighereducation.com/news/automat...
2) Academics experience their teaching and research as administratively highly laborious activities (thus adding to their admin workload arising from generic admin responsibilities). Also, university meetings are a killer in terms of the demands they impose on time.
We packed a lot into this article, but there are three core findings that are particularly interesting perhaps:
1) Academics largely associate the digital transformation and automation of uni administration with an increase, not a decrease, in their own administrative workload and burden.
3) Due to a lack of local staff support and administrative automation, academics generally feel they are not effectively supported if they are experiencing admin issues or problems. This is a key concern to them and is seen to result in frustration, delays, and additional admin workloads.
More news coverage (in 'ResearchProfessional News') for our paper examining what academic staff in Australia are experiencing as the key dimensions and drivers of administrative burden (to access the paper see the pinned post in my profile): www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-aust...
Gwilym Croucher and I wrote a short piece for 'Future Campus' that adds to discussions of supply of and demand for PhD graduates in Australia and makes some specific policy recommendations: futurecampus.com.au/2025/07/07/h...
Today's edition of Future Campus includes a piece discussing our recently published research article (available open access) on how academic staff experience administrative burden in Australian universities: futurecampus.com.au/2025/08/08/c...
Our article examining what academic staff are experiencing as the key dimensions and drivers of administrative burden in Australian universities is now published online. It draws on survey responses from 350 staff from 37 Australian unis. Available open access at: academic.oup.com/spp/advance-...
Margot Finn
Peter Woelert
Peter Woelert
Peter Woelert
Peter Woelert
Peter Woelert
Peter Woelert
Peter Woelert
Peter Woelert
I wrote a piece for 'Future Campus' in which are argue that for academic publication to have a future, a radical departure from current productivity-focused models and incentives is needed: futurecampus.com.au/2026/03/10/t...
Abstract. Despite widespread concern about levels of administrative burden within universities, understanding of the associated dimensions and drivers rema
High levels of publication output are not necessarily a reason to celebrate. In order for them to continue to be a valued part of academic work, a radical departure from current productivity-focused m...
