The Innovative Research Universities (IRU) network is calling on the Australian Government to reduce the financial burden on universities through costly bureaucratic red tape following Saturday’s announcement that $2.3 billion will be cut from the university system over the next four years.

The Chair of the IRU, Professor Barney Glover, said the magnitude of the changes to university funding announced by the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research, Dr Craig Emerson, was “regrettable”.

“While the indexation has not been affected, the productivity dividend announced by the Minister is essentially a temporary cut in indexation,” Professor Glover said.