"That's certainly where we think there is some scope for slightly lower rates of funding growth in the future to be able to be accommodated, because some of those cost structures can be modernised, can be made more efficient, can be dealt with," he said.

Vice-chancellors led by University of Queensland's Peter Hoj and the University of Melbourne's Glyn Davis used day two of the Summit to hit back at the government's proposed $2.8 billion funding cuts over four years. Professor Hoj said the proposals for postgraduate funding were a debacle and "the whole thing should be withdrawn".

Murdoch University's successful bid to terminate its enterprise agreement and scrap historic union controls over management decisions has opened a path for up to 30 universities to follow suit.

Australian Higher Education Industrial Association executive director Stuart Andrews said "virtually the entire university sector" was seeking to remove similar conditions and the decision would "strengthen their resolve" in negotiations.

"This was on the radar of a number of universities who have followed this matter closely," he said.

"If the National Tertiary Education Union continues to resist these sorts of improvements in EAs then they can obviously envisage the potential for other universities to pursue what Murdoch has done."

Management consultant to the sector, Andrew Dempster, expected only "a handful" would consider actually terminating their agreement based on their financial situation.

But he warned that number could increase sharply.


"If the government's proposed $1.2 billion cut to university funding gets through the Senate, we could see a swathe of east coast universities considering this as an option."

28 EBAs at risk of termination

The FWC found union control over proposed workplace changes, fixed-term contracts and staff discipline rules imposed "significant inefficiencies and costs" on Murdoch University and "quite a number of clauses are overly prescriptive and unwieldly".

It terminated the agreement after considering that there was "a financial imperative for Murdoch to make changes in its operations" and because it would encourage bargaining for a new agreement.

About 28 universities across the country have agreements that are expired and vulnerable to termination, including University of Queensland and Latrobe University.

Victoria University, Federation University, Southern Cross University, and Charles Darwin University are understood to be in similar financial situations as Murdoch.

Vice-chancellor of Southern Cross, Adam Shoemaker, told the Summit on Wednesday the decision would open doors to more negotiation with the NTEU.

"Every university though has its own particular issues. It's not just a matter of the enterprise agreement, although that's a big part," he said.


Acting vice-chancellor of Charles Darwin University, Sue Carthew, said "the entire higher education sector is facing the challenges that the FWC articulated in its Murdoch decision". But she declined to comment on negotiations.

Professor Hoj told the Summit he saw the Murdoch decision as a sign that "people realise an agile university sector is a stronger university sector and, in the long term, that means a stronger Australia".

"So I would like to get some of that agility myself," he said.

Union warns of reputation impact

NTEU national president Jeannie Rae said the decision was the first time the commission had terminated an agreement in the white collar and public sector, with previous terminations targeting the mining and other blue collar industries.

However, she doubted other universities would follow the same path as Murdoch.

"They will have to be very, very careful about doing so due to the cost involved, the internal stability risks and reputational impact."

She said, in contrast to Murdoch, the NTEU was close to finalising agreements with other financially struggling universities, including WA's Edith Cowan University.


Mr Dempster said after the Murdoch decision the NTEU would want to show the sector that negotiation was preferable to litigation.

"While the NTEU will almost certainly appeal the Murdoch decision, it's also likely that they will move quickly to conclude agreements at two other WA universities which are seeking simpler, more modern agreements."

Meanwhile, Murdoch academics and professional staff will hold a union meeting next week in response to the termination decision, with industrial action potentially on the cards.

Ms Rae said "the union is committed to negotiating a replacement agreement at Murdoch University that, with members support, can recover much of the damage that has just been done".

Senator Birmingham told the Higher Education Summit that the university sector was "kidding itself" if it thought it could avoid unwinding some of the budget deficit caused by the previous Labor government's move to an uncapped demand-driven system for university funding.

He focused on workplace rules in enterprise bargaining agreements which assume that most academics will spend time both teaching and doing research, regardless of the quality of their contribution or the needs of the university.

"I urge universities to think about what is in the best interests, for the long term, of their institutions, with the reality check that not every academic who may have a research component to their work is necessarily doing research," Senator Birmingham said.

"The type of structures which have been accepted wisdom for a long, long period of time don't always hold in terms of the best approach for the future."


Opposition employment spokesperson Brendan O'Connor said there had been a sharp increase in termination decisions in the last two years that "eliminated hard won conditions".

"Labor is concerned it has become too easy for employers to undercut wages and conditions through various loopholes in the Fair Work Act, particularly at a time when we are facing record low wages growth and have a government that has absolutely no plan to address this challenge."

Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus said the Murdoch case showed the bargaining system was broken.

"We need immediate action to stop companies completely bypassing the normal bargaining process and reaching for this nuclear option."