A senior academic administrator at the University of Tasmania has warned that active researchers may make up only 30 percent of staff at the institution.
Provost David Rich told The Australian on 20 February that requirements at the university are not as strict as in other institutions.
The existing agreement requires academics to produce one research publication a year, a requirement he described as “lower than that required by our peers”.
Rich also said he supported “teaching-only” positions for high-quality scholars. But this suggestion was rejected by union representatives.
Kelvin Michael, National Tertiary Education Union branch president, told the newspaper that the idea worried him.
“If barriers exist people will not be able to cross over. It will create an underclass of academics”, he said.