00:00Ukrainian Australian physicist Ivan Maximov makes discoveries everywhere. An experiment
00:09involving earthworms, alcohol and a speaker in his backyard led to mapping sound waves
00:14in the brain and global recognition. It's just one of many awards, but it hasn't spared
00:20the Charles Sturt University researcher from the axe.
00:23It's the second redundancy in less than three years and it derails my career.
00:33He now faces a job search in the toughest university environment in years and he's worried about
00:38the toll it will take on his family.
00:40I'm the only breadwinner so it's the only source of income and we have two kids to feed.
00:49Dr Alison Barnes from the National Tertiary Education Union estimates almost 3,600 university
00:54workers across five states and territories have lost their jobs over the past year.
01:00It's like a dark cloud hanging over our workplaces and people are not coping with the uncertainty
01:05and the stress and that's impacting on their wellbeing, it impacts on our students.
01:09A long running Senate inquiry into university governance has heard allegations management
01:14decisions about staff cuts are leaving staff mentally distressed. Unions say there is plenty
01:20of other fat for universities to cut.
01:22It's the executive remuneration with over 306 people employed at universities earning more
01:29than their state premiers.
01:32University leaders say they don't like the job cuts either, but are facing a perfect storm
01:36of funding challenges. Weak domestic and international student growth as well as a funding system
01:42that doesn't pay for the full cost of teaching.
01:44I think this is the most seriously economically challenged time for universities in living memory.
01:51Griffith University Vice Chancellor and Chair of Universities Australia Professor Carolyn Evans
01:56says unions should lobby for more funding instead of attacking managers.
02:00I think it's really quite extraordinary that the NTU is not recognising the genuinely difficult
02:07circumstances that universities find themselves in.
02:10With hundreds more job cuts expected next week, Harmony on campus is unlikely any time soon.
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