Centre of Non-Excellence: how to win grants and influence people … in Australia’s universities

Does protecting the reputation of one’s university take precedence over all other matters of propriety? Are background checks contacted on senior hires? If so, how thorough are they?

These and a number of other questions are gaining new currency following scandals in the university sector.

The most recent case to hit the headlines is Peter Rathjen, the former vice chancellor of the University of Adelaide. He resigned following findings by the state’s corruption watchdog earlier this year that he had groped female colleagues in 2019 and repeatedly lied about it.

It also emerged that in 2018 the University of Melbourne conducted an investigation into historical allegations of serious sexual misconduct when Rathjen was Dean of Science…