The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is grappling with significant challenges in its ambitious restructuring plan, primarily aimed at addressing a perceived financial crisis. A report from consulting firm EY has raised alarms regarding the implementation of a crucial software project designed to streamline UTS’s operations. The project, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system from Workday, has already incurred costs of $77 million and is now facing serious risk management issues.
According to the leaked document obtained by The Australian Financial Review, there are growing concerns about the relationship between the program director for Workday, James Bladwell, and the systems integrator, Deloitte. The report suggests that this breakdown in communication may jeopardize the entire project. Despite UTS’s IT unit comprising approximately 280 employees and an annual budget of around $134 million, the management of vendor relationships has been called into question.
The current situation with Workday mirrors UTS’s previous struggles with software implementations, notably the ServiceNow initiative undertaken between 2019 and 2021. The lack of technical expertise within the program leadership team during that period contributed to significant challenges in managing vendors effectively.
This latest challenge is particularly troubling as the Workday ERP system is one of three key components of Vice Chancellor Andrew Parfitt’s Operational Sustainability Initiative (OSI). This initiative aims to reduce expenses at UTS over the next two years in order to repay a $300 million bond that matures in 2027. The OSI was developed following recommendations from KPMG, who received $7 million for their consultancy services.
Parfitt’s ambitious program also entails significant staff cuts, including the reduction of hundreds of academic and professional positions, as well as the elimination of 167 courses offering 1,100 subjects. Critics argue that the scale and pace of these changes are unprecedented for a university of UTS’s size, akin to strategies rarely seen in publicly listed companies with revenues exceeding $1 billion.
The restructuring process has not gone without controversy. Parfitt’s approach has been criticized for lacking transparency, particularly during the consultation phase, which many staff members perceive as having disregarded the valuable insights from within the university. Internal surveys indicate a troubling lack of confidence in Parfitt’s leadership, with about 95 percent of the 1,500 UTS staff who participated in a recent poll expressing doubt about his direction. UTS has dismissed these poll results, citing concerns over the possibility of voter fraud.
In a statement addressing the financial situation, Parfitt initially projected a deficit of $90 million for 2025, attributed to a decline in international student numbers. However, in early December 2025, he revised this figure down to $35 million, raising questions about the accuracy of the assumptions underlying the OSI.
Despite these financial concerns, UTS is projecting significant revenue growth, aiming for a net income of $1.5 billion by 2030, up from $1.13 billion in 2024. This ambitious financial plan, released on December 19, anticipates a compound annual growth rate of 6 percent. However, the transparency of this document has been called into question, as a significant portion of the information was redacted following an application under the Government Information Public Access Act.
The university’s financial strategy has also faced scrutiny from within its ranks. A group of six professors from the UTS Business School published an alternative proposal to Parfitt’s OSI, arguing that UTS is not experiencing a genuine financial crisis. They suggest that the university could manage its financial obligations through more conservative measures, including limiting job cuts to 84 positions in central administration, rather than the much larger layoffs proposed by Parfitt.
Former UTS council member Richard Howes dismissed the professors’ findings during a recent parliamentary inquiry, arguing that UTS must maintain its capital investments, which he described as “non-discretionary,” including the ERP implementation costs. Internal documents reveal that UTS plans to spend $11 million on Workday in 2025, escalating to $39 million by 2027.
An IT expert with more than three decades of experience has expressed concerns regarding the Workday project, emphasizing that misalignment between program directors and systems integrators is common in institutions with weak internal IT capabilities. The expert highlighted that the findings from EY illustrate that the current project plan is not functioning effectively.
In an official statement, a UTS spokesperson maintained that the Workday project remains within budget and emphasized that the recommendations from EY are being integrated into ongoing improvements.
In response to the backlash, Parfitt has revised the OSI plan, reducing the anticipated job cuts from 400 to a more modest 324, including 92 academic positions. This adjustment follows a letter sent to the National Tertiary Education Union on December 12, outlining the changes to the restructuring plan.
Looking ahead, Parfitt is set to unveil his academic change plan in February, with the backing of the new Chancellor, Michael Rose, who has publicly supported Parfitt’s strategies. Many within the university community hope that these adjustments can ultimately steer UTS back towards its foundational mission of delivering high-quality education and research.
