The Western Australian government has announced a business case examining a merger of Curtin University, Murdoch University and the University of Western Australia (UWA), potentially creating a single university of almost 120,000 students.
But Curtin vice-chancellor Harlene Hayne has come out swinging against the proposal.
“Cost, waste, and loss of choice, jobs and legacy will be the hallmarks of the planned merger of universities proposed by the Western Australian Government today,” said Hayne.
“Every graduate of UWA, Curtin and Murdoch holds a degree from an institution that may not exist in the future.”
“Curtin will vigorously oppose this in the best interests of our more than 67,000 students, 10,000 staff, 300,000 graduates and Western Australia’s economic future.”
The Western Australian government, led by premier Roger Cook, argues consolidation could help WA universities compete more effectively for domestic and international students and research funding.
Government figures show more than 15% of Western Australians study at interstate universities, while WA institutions attract fewer than 2% of Australian students from interstate.
“Strengthening WA’s university sector would help attract the best and brightest students from across Australia and internationally,” the Cook government said in a statement.
It has also pointed to undergraduate completion rates of 49% at Murdoch, 56% at Curtin and 75% at UWA, as well as WA’s comparatively weak share of national research funding.
The business case will examine the costs and benefits of a three-way merger, including whether it could be self-funded by the universities. It will also consider reducing duplication, improving student experience and boosting WA’s ability to secure research funding.
A 12-member steering committee will oversee the business case, which is due to begin in late 2026 and be completed in 2027, before the government makes a final decision.
Hayne, however, questioned whether bigger would mean better.
“A three-way merger of Curtin, UWA and Murdoch would create a mega-university of almost 120,000 students – a scale unmatched in Australia and rare internationally,” she said.
“Size at that level brings complexity, not competitiveness, and draws efforts away from our core purposes of teaching, learning and student support.”
Curtin also warned that combining institutions could undermine one of WA’s existing selling points to prospective students: choice.
Hayne said merging Curtin and UWA – which she described as WA’s top two universities – would “diminish student choice and opportunity, reduce academic diversity and encourage more talented students to look interstate”.
The university also seized on the price tag of South Australia’s recent university consolidation as a warning for WA.
Hayne said up to AUD$650 million would be spent by the South Australian government on that merger by 2032, alongside another AUD$462m from university reserves.
“As WA faces a cost-of-living crisis, housing pressures, critical shortages of healthcare workers and growing pressure on hospital beds, I can’t see how spending more than a billion dollars in this way will benefit Western Australians,” she said.
The WA government maintains no final decision has been taken.
It says the business case will examine detailed costs, financial sustainability, risks and implementation options, with university leaders, staff, students, unions, industry and research partners among those to be consulted.
If a merger does go ahead, the government has pledged there will be no job losses for two years after the new university opens, excluding a small number of senior executive positions.
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