2018 ANNUAL REPORT REPORT ANNUAL THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY ANNUAL REPORT 2018 We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Elders past, present and emerging of all the lands on which The Australian National University operates. Naturam primum cognoscere rerum First, to learn the nature of things The Australian National University (ANU) was established by an Act of the Federal Parliament in 1946. Its founding mission was to be of enduring significance in the postwar life of the nation, to support the development of national unity and identity, to improve Australia’s understanding of itself and its neighbours, and to contribute to economic development and social cohesion. Today, ANU is a celebrated place of intensive research, education and policy engagement, focused on issues of national and international importance. ANU is a: > centre of outstanding academic talent and research excellence > home to a group of students drawn from across the nation and around the world > leading contributor to public policy formation and debate > partner to the Australian Government and parliament > global university that consistently ranks among the world’s finest education and research institutions. Annual Report 2018 1 Further information about ANU www.anu.edu.au Annual Report available online at http://www.anu.edu.au/about/strategic-planning Course and other academic information Student Recruitment The Australian National University Canberra ACT 2600 T +61 2 6125 3466 http://www.anu.edu.au/study General information Director, Strategic Communications and Public Affairs The Australian National University Canberra ACT 2600 T +61 2 6125 8399 Published by The Australian National University twitter.com/anumedia facebook.com/TheAustralianNationalUniversity youtube.com/user/ANUchannel ISSN 1327-7227 April 2019 CRICOS # 00120C MO_SCAPA181976 Contents Transmittal letter 5 Vice-Chancellor’s introduction 6 2018 Snapshot 8 ANU Executive 10 University organisational chart 16 Annual results & sources of income 18 Performance statements 2018 20 National Institutes Grant Report 2018 58 Management & accountability 76 > Corporate governance 77 > Our people 104 > A safe, healthy & sustainable work environment 116 > The environment 118 Financial information 123 Indexes 202 Abbreviations 210 Annual Report 2018 3 This page is left blank intentionally 4 The Australian National University Transmittal letter PROFESSOR THE HON GARETH EVANS AC QC FASSA FAIIA ANU House Chancellor Level 11, 52 Collins Street Melbourne VIC 3000 AUSTRALIA T: +61 3 9639 8198 PROFESSOR THE HON GARETH EVANS AC QC FASSA FAIIA F: +61ANU 3 House9639 8203 E: [email protected] Level 11, 52 Collins Street Chancellor E: [email protected] Melbourne VIC 3000 www.anu.edu.au AUSTRALIA www.gevans.org T: +61 3 9639 8198 F: +61 3 9639 8203 29 March 2019 E: [email protected] E: [email protected] www.anu.edu.au The Hon Dan Tehan MP www.gevans.org Minister for Education and Training 29 March 2019 Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600 The Hon Dan Tehan MP Minister for Education and Training Parliament House DearCANBERRA Minister ACT 2600 Report of the Council for the period 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018 OnDear beha Milf ofnis ttheer Council of The Australian National University (ANU), as the accountable authority of the University, we have the honour to transmit the report for the period 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018. Report of the Council for the period 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018 The report is furnished in compliance with section 46 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. On behalf of the Council of The Australian National University (ANU), as the accountable authority of the University, we have the honour to transmit the report for the period 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018. eting held on 29 March 2019. The report is furnished in compliance with section 46 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. Yours sincerely eting held on 29 March 2019. Yours sincerely Professor The Hon Gareth Evans AC QC Professor Brian P Schmidt AC Chancellor Vice-Chancellor and President Professor The Hon Gareth Evans AC QC Professor Brian P Schmidt AC Chancellor Vice-Chancellor and President Chancelry, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200 Australia. T: +61 2 6125 8485 F: +61 2 6257 3292 Annual Report 2018 5 Chancelry, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200 Australia. T: +61 2 6125 8485 F: +61 2 6257 3292 Vice-Chancellor’s introduction The Australian National University is a unique asset for our nation, and one of Australia’s foremost academic and cultural institutions. Throughout each year, extraordinarily talented people come together on our campus and in our community to “learn the nature of things” and, guided by our vision and values, to achieve great outcomes in the service of our nation. 2018 was no different, as our academics’ work reshaped the way we see the world – and the universe – around us. This year, ANU astronomers had found the fastest-growing black hole yet discovered, while elsewhere our researchers used their expertise to confirm the Earth’s inner core is solid, fundamentally shaping our view of our planet. We also released the first comprehensive public database tracking Chinese commercial investment in Australia, and we published a groundbreaking study that indicated a likely new route used by the ancestors of Aboriginal people to enter Australia for the first time tens of thousands of years ago. Our colleagues have been widely celebrated for their work this year. Professor Xuemai Bai was awarded the international Volvo Environment Prize for her work on urbanisation and urban system sustainability in Asia and globally, while Emeritus Professor Kurt Lambeck received the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science. To prove the depth of our academic excellence, the American Association for the Advancement of Science named an ANU PhD student, Ilya Bobrovskiy, as being responsible for one of the top-10 Scientific Breakthroughs of the Year. Ilya discovered a Dickinsonia fossil that contained molecules of fat 558 million years old, around 20 million years older than we had previously thought animals were walking the Earth. Through our ANU Strategic Plan, we have created new ways for our researchers to collaborate in addressing the world’s most significant problems, most notably through the competitive Grand Challenges scheme. Our 2018 winner is a project investigating how to deliver zero-carbon energy to the Asia-Pacific region through catalysing the development of a major renewable energy export industry, from the infrastructure to the trade relationships and the policy frameworks. We are determined that our work delivers impact. In 2018, we created with our partners Significant Capital Ventures, which will provide seed investment to companies translating academic research into applied technology, and launched two new Innovation Institutes: WearOptimo, focused on developing wearable medical devices, and the Space Institute, known as InSpace. We also announced seven Translational Fellowships to provide ANU researchers with support and incentives to take their ideas outside ANU for great societal impact. Our researchers are also our educators, and their cutting-edge work underpins excellent programs that critically engage our students. We seek to educate and inspire our students and future students, represented by this year’s successful world-record Stargazing attempt, broadcast live with the ABC and involving over 40,000 people across the nation, all learning about our galaxy. We want more Australians to be inspired to consider joining ANU, and this year, we announced significant changes to our admissions model to ensure talented students in every part of our nation can aspire to a degree from ANU. We backed this up with a commitment to offer a place at ANU to the top two percent of students at every Australian high school, or the top three students if it is a small school, providing they achieve the minimum ATAR entry of 80. We will also assess applicants on the basis of their academic and their extra- curricular activities, recognising that an ATAR is only part of a student’s broader record of leadership, engagement and service. One of the proudest moments of 2018 was the launch of the new ANU Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), a key milestone in our University meeting its responsibilities to Australia and our First Peoples. ANU has never been more committed to renewing our partnership with Indigenous Australia, and to recognising and celebrating the knowledges, cultures and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. At the First Nations Governance Forum, organised by ANU in June to reignite debate about Indigenous 6 The Australian National University governance reform, we brought Indigenous leaders from around the world to Canberra to discuss their experiences. Later in the year, Geoffrey Robertson delivered the Faith Bandler lecture, and the University launched the Indigenous Research Directory and Compendium near the end of the year to draw together the wide span of Indigenous research undertaken at ANU. Beyond our shores, ANU broadened its footprint with a new Liaison Office in Singapore, the third of our overseas Liaison Offices, after Washington DC and Beijing. We also launched the Australian Studies Institute to facilitate global academic conversations and integrate Australian perspectives, and further developed our partnerships with Harvard, Kings College London and the University of Indiana, part of our network of global partners. Our academics took their knowledge and scholarship to every part of the world, and we welcomed some extraordinary global visitors to the University to share their perspectives. On campus, we focused in 2018 on making everyone’s experience of ANU the best it can be, working to create the world-leading new facilities that will deliver a new hub – Kambri – at the heart of our community from 2019. At the same time, the new student accommodation buildings, Bruce and Wright Halls, will open their doors to residents, ensuring ANU offers some of the most contemporary and exciting facilities of any university in the world.