A massive payout to the departing head of one of Adelaide’s merged universities has driven average Australian vice-chancellors’ salaries to unprecedented levels, reveal.

University of South Australia (UniSA) boss David Lloyd received a sector record A$3.112 million (£1.617 million) in 2025, the institution’s last year of operations before it became part of the new Adelaide University.

The package included a base salary of A$1.015 million, A$209,000 in superannuation, A$760,000 for long service leave and performance pay, and a “merger-related termination benefit” of A$1.128 million.

While South Australian vice-chancellors are usually among Australia’s most handsomely remunerated, claiming three of the sector’s four biggest pay packets last year, Lloyd’s 2025 package represents a 139 per cent increase on his 2024 earnings of A$1.303 million.

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����Vlog sought comment from Lloyd, who now runs a consultancy.

The scale of his payout is likely to rekindle controversy over the merger, which was bitterly opposed by many South Australians, partly because of the expense. Consulting and professional services for the new university’s establishment cost A$106 million, show.

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An Adelaide University spokeswoman said UniSA’s 2026 accounts, which are expected to be published soon, would reveal a further A$1.451 million payment to Lloyd.

“The remuneration arrangements for the former co-vice-chancellors were determined by their respective foundation university councils and disclosed in accordance with relevant reporting requirements,” she said. “Adelaide University is therefore unable to provide comment on these matters.”

She said the new university had “already articulated its commitment to transparency” about the pay of its current vice-chancellor, Nicola Phillips, whose package this year at A$963,200 plus up to A$172,000 in performance pay.

Vice-chancellors’ earnings across the 38 publicly funded universities last year averaged A$1.072 million, according to THE’s analysis, with 19 of the 38 attracting a million dollars or more.

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Twenty-three universities paid their chief executives more in 2025 than 2024, with packages reduced at 10 universities and unchanged at five. Overall, vice-chancellors’ average earnings increased by over A$50,000.

Outsized executive pay is among the chief grievances driving claims of a governance crisis at Australian universities.

The federal government this week supported a Senate committee’s recommendations that universities adopt the same degree of transparency as publicly listed companies in reporting executive pay, and that the sector develop a “framework for remuneration classification ranges” covering vice‑chancellors. The government had already agreed to these measures last year, after receiving a report from its Expert Council on university governance.

However, the Senate committee recommended against a private member’s bill which would have capped vice-chancellors’ pay at A$430,000.

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john.ross@timeshighereducation.com