{"id":42688,"date":"2026-10-29T16:21:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T08:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/about\/?page_id=42688"},"modified":"2026-10-30T15:08:50","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T07:08:50","slug":"merger-proposal","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/about\/merger-proposal\/","title":{"rendered":"The merger proposal: claims and facts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Curtin’s position<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On 10 October 2026, the Western Australian Government announced its intention to undertake a business case to consider merging Curtin University, The University of Western Australia and Murdoch University into a single institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curtin has outlined its position on the proposed university merger in an official statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Download the Merger proposal: claim vs fact.pdf [1.3mb]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curtin\u2019s concerns<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne has said she is concerned that the State Government has jumped to a three-way university merger before clearly defining the problem, with its case resting on a series of claims that do not withstand scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs academics, we start with the evidence. We define the problem, test the assumptions and then determine the solution. On that basis, several of the claims being used to justify a merger simply do not stack up.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claims and facts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jump to a section below \u2193<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. The WA university sector<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Rankings<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Cost of a merger<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    1. The WA university sector<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Does WA have too many universities?<\/strong>
    <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    There have been claims that Perth has more universities per capita than any other Australian capital city, and that concentrating them into fewer institutions will ensure we\u2019re not \u2018spread too thin\u2019. This claim doesn\u2019t hold up. Perth ranks seventh out of the eight Australian capital cities for universities per capita.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n
    \n City<\/strong> <\/th>\n \n Universities1<\/sup><\/strong> <\/th>\n \n Per million people<\/strong> <\/th>\n \n Rank<\/strong> <\/th>\n <\/tr>\n
    \n Canberra\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 5\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 10.6\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 2\u00a0 <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
    \n Darwin\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 2\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 13.1\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 1\u00a0 <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
    \n Adelaide\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 4\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 2.72\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 6\u00a0 <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
    \n Sydney\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 18\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 3.24\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 4\u00a0 <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
    \n Hobart\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 1\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 3.92\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 3\u00a0 <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
    \n Perth\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 5\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 2.10\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 7\u00a0 <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
    \n Brisbane\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 9\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 3.24\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 5\u00a0 <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
    \n Melbourne\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 11\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 2.06\u00a0 <\/td>\n \n 8\u00a0 <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n <\/table>\n<\/div>