The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has been forced to pause a plan to slash hundreds of jobs after a rare intervention by SafeWork NSW, which said workers would be subject to a “serious and imminent risk of psychological harm” if management pushed ahead.
Under the ruling, UTS cancelled all meetings scheduled on Wednesday and Thursday with around 800 impacted staff and paused the release of its change proposal, which was to be rolled out this week.
Academics at UTS had described feelings of stress and a “culture of fear” after the university temporarily paused student enrolments for 120 of its 615 courses until the end of the autumn 2026 semester, including masters degrees in primary and secondary teaching.
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In April, UTS told staff that 150 academics and 250 operational employees – or about a tenth of the workforce – could lose their jobs as the university pursued $100m in cost cuts. UTS is yet to specify which jobs will be made redundant.
The prohibition notice regarding the job cuts, seen by Guardian Australia, was issued on Tuesday after SafeWork NSW investigated psychosocial hazards stemming from the restructure.
The issuing inspector, Mostafa Issa, said he reasonably believed UTS workers would be exposed to a “serious and imminent risk of psychological harm” as a result of UTS’ Academic Change Proposal, in contravention of the Work Health and Safety Act and the Work Health and Safety Regulation.
The notice will be in effect until SafeWork NSW is satisfied that appropriate safety measures have been put in place as a result of consultation with workers. UTS has 14 days to submit for a review.
An email sent to staff by the vice chancellor of UTS, Prof Andrew Parfitt, on Tuesday confirmed that both meetings scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday and the release of the change proposal had been “paused” and “will not be taking place this week”.
“Following engagement with SafeWork NSW today, we have been requested to take more time to consider additional feedback from health and safety representatives on psychosocial measures and controls,” he said.
“We recognise and regret that this will be adding to the uncertainty felt by our staff.”
A UTS spokesperson said on Wednesday that the university had been discussing options with staff “since late last year” but that it needed to release the change proposal for consultation to go ahead, which it had been ready to do “since July”.
“The safety and wellbeing of our staff and the management of psychosocial risks are of paramount importance to us. We are frustrated by the ongoing delays in releasing the change proposal for consultation and are very concerned about the impact this is having on our community. We are aware of staff expressing concerns about the effect these protracted delays are having on their wellbeing,” the spokesperson said.
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) NSW division secretary, Vince Caughley, said SafeWork NSW’s intervention was a “rare and damning rebuke that underlines just how reckless these cuts have been”.
“It also raises profound questions for the public about how UTS – and other NSW universities – are being governed,” he said.
“The scale of job and course cuts across the sector, and the repeated failures of management to act responsibly, show that these institutions have drifted away from their public mission. The public is entitled to ask whether those entrusted with running our universities are fit for the task.”
Caughley said despite the NTEU presenting alternatives to the cuts based on expert analysis, UTS management had dismissed the majority of staff concerns and suggestions.
UTS allowed the union to view a document outlining alternatives to job cuts prepared by KPMG, which has a $4.8m contract with the university.
“The need to reduce expenditure is necessary as we have had deficits for five years and our revenue does not cover our ongoing operating costs … It’s important we address this to protect and invest in our teaching, research and our students,” the UTS spokesperson said on Wednesday.
“We reject the NTEU’s contention that we have not adequately conducted preliminary consultation on the need for the changes and the desired outcomes.”
NTEU’s UTS branch president, Dr Sarah Attfield, said staff had been under “immense stress” and had been met with “dismissal after dismissal” from management.
“I hope this decision makes it clear to management that staff have legitimate concerns and they can’t just ram through changes that prioritise profit over people,” Attfield said.
NTEU national president, Dr Alison Barnes, said the SafeWork NSW finding exposed a “governance crisis” facing higher education.
“University executives pursuing reckless job cuts that tear at the fabric of public universities, while dismissing the expertise and concerns of their own staff,” Barnes said.
“The fact that a workplace safety regulator had to step in to protect university workers speaks volumes about how disconnected university management has become.”
Two disputes lodged by the NTEU with UTS management are ongoing in the Fair Work Commission.