Bond University on track for JobKeeper

Bond University is on track to get access to JobKeeper after the government exempted it from eligibility rules the university sector says effectively block other universities from accessing the scheme.

A spokesperson for Bond – which employs about 1000 staff – said the university was "extremely grateful" to the government for the change. Labor said while it didn't begrudge the university being able to access the scheme, the situation was "completely unfair".

Under the initial JobKeeper scheme, universities with a turnover of less than $1 billion which had lost 30 per cent or more of their revenue – or those with turnover more than $1 billion which had lost 50 per cent or more of their revenue – based on a comparable month or quarter the previous year, were eligible to access the scheme.

Later, the government changed the turnover test period for universities to six months from January 1 and required them to include federal grants in their revenue calculations.

The university sector said the change effectively meant no university could claim JobKeeper because the full impact of the COVID-19 crisis was not experienced in the first few months of the year.

But four private universities – Notre Dame, Bond, Torrens and the University of Divinity – were given a reprieve on Friday when the government exempted them from the six-month turnover test.

Bond University – which has about 38 per cent international students as part of its full degree student cohort – said it believed the change meant it was now eligible for JobKeeper.

“On the basis of those amendments and meeting the requisite decline in turnover, Bond believes it qualifies for the scheme and has applied as such,” a spokesperson said.

“Bond University is extremely grateful to the government for the recent amendments to the JobKeeper scheme.”

The University of Divinity and Torrens University said they would not seek to access the scheme, while Notre Dame did not respond before publication.

Luke Sheehy, executive director of the Australian Technology Network of universities, said workers were “missing out not because of who they are or what they do, but because they happen to work for a university”.

“By continuing to ensure a barrier between public universities and access to JobKeeper, the government is undermining our capacity to continue to keep employing our people as well as providing a pathway to future employment to millions of Australians.”

Labor education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek said it was “extraordinary”.

“Labor doesn’t begrudge any university having access to JobKeeper,” Ms Plibersek said. “What is completely unfair is the government has now changed the rules three times to exclude public universities from JobKeeper and changed the rules one time to make sure private universities have access.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the affected institutions were "private without implicit backing of governments and typically have less access to support from Commonwealth sources in ongoing revenue”.

The explanatory statement for the change said the purpose was to “clarify elements of the JobKeeper scheme to ensure that it most appropriately supports businesses and employees affected by the significant economic impact caused by the coronavirus."

Students of universities not included in the rule change “can receive all forms of assistance”, it said, while universities exempted from the six-month turnover test were only “eligible for some grants for particular purposes”.