Former Australian National University (ANU) vice-chancellor Professor Genevieve Bell received a severance payout of more than $400,000 after she resigned from the role in September, new documents have revealed.<\/p>\n
The sum included more than $362,000 in taxable income plus nearly $62,000 in superannuation.<\/p>\n
Professor Bell resigned from the top job less than two years into her tenure<\/a>, following months of pressure from staff and students over a controversial plan to cut hundreds of jobs as part of a now-revised plan to save $250 million by January 2026.<\/p>\n ANU officials faced a Senate estimates hearing in October where they were questioned by ACT Senator David Pocock about the terms of Professor Bell’s resignation.<\/p>\n At the time, chancellor Julie Bishop told the committee the resignation package was “what she was entitled to under the contract of engagement as vice-chancellor”.<\/p>\n “I can tell you it was in accordance with the terms and conditions of her engagement as vice chancellor,” Ms Bishop said.<\/p>\n But a formal answer to that question, published on Tuesday, also revealed Professor Bell would earn $498,712 a year when she returns to the university as a distinguished professor at ANU’s School of Cybernetics for a five-year term, plus $84,781 in superannuation.<\/p>\n That includes 12 months of paid study leave, the documents show.<\/p>\n