LA TROBE University staff will be overworked this year after another 96 workers took voluntary redundancies, the National Tertiary Education Union says.
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The university this week confirmed the redundancy figures for the September round, with 11 of those staff members from the Bendigo campus.
It followed the first round in early-2020 when 239 staff members took redundancies, including 25 people from Bendigo.
NTEU's La Trobe industrial officer Corey Rabaut said the latest numbers from the university were unsurprising but disappointing.
"Obviously there is a crisis in the sector with the Liberal government excluding universities from JobKeeper three times," Mr Rabaut said.
"So on one hand, the voluntary redundancies are understandable.
"But on the other hand, it has left significant workload problems for the people remaining. And it's not just about workload, but it's also about safety and the student experience."
La Trobe Vice-Chancellor John Dewar last year flagged there would be voluntary redundancies and up to 800 jobs cuts at his university, as the institution faced a multi-million dollar shortfall due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Rabaut said regional campuses like Bendigo could be hit hardest with the cuts to staff members.
"We think it's going to have a negative impact on regional students," Mr Rabaut said.
"It also removes the money that would have been spent in the local economy, so it has that detrimental flow-on effect.
"When they take resources out of the regional areas, it's harder for the remaining staff and the workload becomes more acute.
"There are also those community relationships that will be affected. In the regions, it's important to know the local providers and services. When you remove the staff, you unpick the fabric of the local community."
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Mr Rabaut said the union was concerned there would be more job cuts and voluntary redundancy rounds at the university this year.
"It is on the agenda more broadly," he said. "To what extent, we're not sure but we think it could be another 300 or 400 jobs."
Mr Rabaut said the NTEU would continue to work with staff as well as petition the federal government for change.
"Obviously we need more done in the sector," he said. "La Trobe is not the exception. We have been working with Lisa Chesters to get some improvements for the Bendigo community and to create jobs.
"We have also been working with staff, particularly those who are union members.
"We're running a workload campaign to support staff and to make sure they are given reasonable workloads."
Tara Cosoleto
Journalist covering courts and general news at the Bendigo Advertiser.
Journalist covering courts and general news at the Bendigo Advertiser.
