Universities spend substantial sums on consultants, advertising, and travel. Reducing these expenses could have prevented the cuts that some of these universities have made to their staff and courses in recent years. This paper reports that in 2023, Australia’s public universities spent at least $363 million on advertising and marketing. Ten universities together spent more than $390 million on travel in 2023 and 27 universities spent roughly $410 million on consultants.

Many of Australia’s public universities have commenced or completed significant cost reductions. University managers’ budgetary decisions raise fundamental questions about what our universities are for. If they spent less money on inessential things, they would have more to pay staff properly and avoid budget crises. This paper argues that universities need to be more transparent about their discretionary spending, so that staff and students can see exactly where the money spent in their name is going.