Senate invited the heads of the student representative groups to discuss their current priorities and share their views on the University’s work to deliver a transformational student experience. The heads of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC), the Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA), the University of Sydney Union (USU) and Sydney Uni Sport & Fitness (SUSF) highlighted a number of areas, including cost of living challenges (and what that means for the University’s provision of food and accommodation), as well as ideas around how to encourage students to spend more time on campus to increase their sense of belonging.

Senate discussed a whole-of-University response to mitigate risks and challenges associated with larger-than-expected enrolments for Semester 1, which focused on support for students and staff, ensuring safe and sustainable teaching conditions, and maintaining a transformational, high-quality learning environment. Despite a higher intake compared to Semester 1 2025, we have had a smoother start to semester this year, with lower instances of complex student and technical issues. Growth is largely owed to the domestic undergraduate cohort; pleasingly, we will have our largest-ever intakes of MySydney and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander scholars. Senate Fellows discussed future trajectories for enrolments, and the potential priorities of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission as it scales up to be fully operational.

Senate discussed progress to develop a strategy to diversify our international student cohort, which recognises that the University’s international student cohort is vital to our academic quality, financial sustainability and global reputation. While Semester 1 has seen the University enrol its most diverse cohort ever, long‑term reliance on a small number of source countries continues to expose the organisation to geopolitical, financial and policy risks – a challenge faced by the higher education sector more broadly.

The Vice-Chancellor briefed Senate on developments under the University’s Civic Campus program, including ongoing work to accelerate consolidation and improvement of our complaints management processes. The Vice-Chancellor also briefed Senate on continued action relating to antisemitism, racism and social cohesion, including the University’s response to the recent final report of the Racism@Uni study.

Senate received a briefing on work to define a clear institutional approach to AI that aligns to the University’s Sydney in 2032 strategy and its future ambitions. Following early leadership in AI innovations (such as the Cogniti AI assistant for educators and updating our approach to assessment), the University is evolving its AI strategic priorities to accelerate scale and impact amid the fast pace of change. Senate Fellows discussed implications for increased use of AI across the University’s education, research and operations – underscoring the importance of effective and ethical use of technologies across those domains, as well as equipping our graduates to successfully work with technological developments in their future careers. Fellows also offered feedback to clarify and strengthen a series of guiding principles that balance ambition with integrity, privacy, fairness and accountability.  Some representatives from student associations also attended this item and provided helpful insights into student perspectives on the ethical and practical decisions made by students in their personal choices regarding the extent to which they use AI. 

Senate also received an update on efforts to improve the University’s digital capability under the Digital Sydney program, one of the major institutional strategic priorities for 2026–28, which aims to simplify everyday tasks, enhance our teaching, learning and research, and create a more connected experience for our students, staff, alumni and partners. Senate Fellows sought assurance on student engagement, as the program moves from planning into delivery. They also underscored the importance of capturing and communicating how the rollout of Digital Sydney initiatives was making it easier to learn, teach, research and work at Sydney. This includes continuing to focus on the effectiveness of new initiatives once launched.

Senate also approved a roadmap to continue to strengthen the University’s cyber resilience against two complementary frameworks: the Australian Cyber Security Centre's (ACSC) Essential Eight mitigation strategies and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cyber Security Framework (CSF) version 2.0. The roadmap will dovetail with work under Digital Sydney where appropriate.

Senate received an update on the Service Excellence program, another institutional 2026–28 strategic priority that aims to deliver excellent professional services that make it easy to study, teach, research and work at the University. The program builds from foundations established through the Professional Services Review, which has concluded its consultation phase and will report back to the University community in April 2026, synthesising feedback and key insights from the discussion paper process. There are five key priority areas for 2026 that will be referenced in future internal communications. Senate endorsed the program’s proposed priorities for 2026, governance arrangements and roadmap. 

Senate approved the University’s 2025 Annual Report, which includes the University’s 2025 annual financial statements and, for the first time, a mandatory climate-related financial disclosure. The report will be submitted to the NSW Government by the end of April and then published on the University website once tabled in the NSW Parliament.

The annual report includes a report of the University’s 2025 performance against the institutional key performance indicators (KPI) that inform progress towards realising our aspirations in the Sydney in 2032 strategy. Performance against three of our institutional KPIs improved in 2025 when compared to 2024: quality of the overall educational experience, staff engagement and the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students as a share of our domestic undergraduate cohort. 

Senate received a presentation from Sydney Law School leadership about the school’s strategic priorities for 2026–28. The Head of School and Dean, Professor Fleur Johns, underscored the school’s readiness and capability to contribute to multidisciplinary research at the University, given that law and policy issues and regulatory design questions lie at the heart of most major societal challenges today. Senate Fellows noted the importance and impact of this work, as well as the value and adaptability of a legal education not only to legal practitioners but also to graduates who choose other career pathways. 

Fellows noted the signals of positive cultural change underway in the Law School, reflected in increased staff engagement and a growing sense of student belonging. They discussed elements of the school’s strategic priorities for 2026–28 ahead of their imminent publication, and welcomed the alignment of the Law School’s key performance indicators (KPI) to the University’s KPI framework as a means to focus efforts to improve teaching and research.  

This part of the Senate meeting was part of an ongoing series of presentations that will enable Senate to discuss the strategic vision and key features of each faculty and University school and their contributions to the realisation of the Sydney in 2032 strategy, including through the Collective Excellence strategy.

The Chief Governance Officer provided Senate with an overview of steps taken to respond to the recommendations in the final report of the government-appointed Expert Council on University Governance, with a workplan for future work to be provided to Senate’s Nominations and Governance Committee in April. They also updated Senate on progress in response to external review of Senate committee operations in 2025, with all recommendations from this review either delivered or on track. 

The Chair of the Academic Board briefed Senate on work underway to improve delegations, risk reporting, papers submitted to Academic Board, and the terms of reference of its supporting committees. A new Academic Governance Enhancement Working Group is driving this work, which implements the recommendations of a further external review of corporate and academic governance the University commissioned in 2025. Recognising the importance of a strong relationship between the Academic Board and Senate, it was agreed the new working group would liaise closely with Senate’s Nominations and Governance Committee.

Senate discussed the regular consolidated view it receives of the University’s operational performance across cyber security, health, safety and wellbeing, central operations, risk, finance and human resources, which supports transparent governance oversight of operational performance and emerging risks across the University.

The March 2026 operational reports highlighted areas of stable performance alongside key operational pressures and risks requiring ongoing oversight, including cyber security vigilance, health and safety impacts associated with infrastructure remediation, seasonal demand pressures in shared services, and several enterprise level risks that remain outside tolerance.

Senate approved an updated Risk Appetite Statement, which sets clear guardrails for decision-making by defining the level of risk the University is willing to accept in delivering the strategy and day-to-day operations.

Senate approved the University’s 2025 modern slavery statement, an annual mandatory requirement under federal legislation to outline the actions taken to identify and address modern slavery risks in its operations and supply chains. The statement will be published on the University’s website in due course.

In addition to the above, Senate received and discussed a number of reports from Senate committees, and the Chancellor briefed Senate on his recent engagements, or engagements by other Fellows of Senate deputising on his behalf.

Present: David Thodey AO FTSE FAICD (Chancellor), Emeritus Professor Alan Pettigrew (Deputy Chancellor), Professor Mark Scott AO (Vice-Chancellor and President), Shirley Chowdhary, Edwina Grose, Professor Jane Hanrahan, Weihong Liang, Lisa McIntyre, Karen Moses OAM, Professor Joel Negin, Professor Ben Saul, Jason Yat-sen Li

Apologies: Tom Calma AO (leave of absence), Susan Lloyd Hurwitz

Absent: Ethan Floyd