We aspire to be a global, engaged university with the resilience and agility to drive positive impact in a changing world.
The university is responding to a challenging and changing environment through the Operational Sustainability Initiative - a university-wide effort to ensure we are financially stable, future focused and better positioned to deliver our teaching and research.
On this page you’ll find information about the planned organisational review, answers to frequently asked questions from our staff and student community and links to support services. We’ll continue to provide updates as the initiative progress.
Alongside this work, the new UTS 2030 strategy resets our priorities with a focus on transforming the university, setting the foundations for long-term success and ensuring a sustainable future.
About the Operational Sustainability Initiative
UTS has achieved remarkable success over the past two decades, building a reputation as a leading university known for research excellence, quality teaching and meaningful impact. This success has been driven by sound strategic decisions, prudent investments and the hard work of our many talented staff.
However, like many universities, we continue to feel the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. A significant decline in international student enrolments during border closures led to long-term financial impacts and recovery has been slower than expected. These pressures have been compounded by rising costs and constrained revenue growth.
In 2024, our expenditure exceeded revenue by approximately $100 million. This scale of deficit does not allow us to support our teaching and research operations into the future and presents a serious problem for the sustainable operation of our university.
In response, we developed the Operational Sustainability Initiative – a university-wide program to address our financial challenges and secure a stronger future for UTS. The initiative includes a review of our operating model, our approach to teaching and learning, and how we invest in and deliver research.
Unfortunately, the scale of change required means we will need to reduce both professional and academic staffing. We acknowledge that changes and job losses are a difficult time for any organisation and are committed to supporting our community through the process with care and compassion.
Media enquiries
Contact the UTS media team on +61 419 293 261 or email newsroom@uts.edu.au.