Annual Report 2000

THE University was established by the University of Western Australia Act 1911. The Act provides the legislative machinery for administering the University; it establishes the Governing Body (the Senate) which is empowered to ‘have the entire control and management of the affairs of the University’. It gives the Senate powers to act in the interests of the University through the making of statutes, regulations and by-laws and through the management of income and expenditure. It provides powers of delegation for the Governing Body, so that day-to-day management of the University can be delegated to officers employed by the University. Membership of the Governing Body in 2000 is listed in Appendix A of this section (page 10).

Other State Acts which deal with aspects of the management of the University are the University Buildings Act 1952, the University Medical School Teaching Hospitals Act 1955 and the QEII Medical Centre Act 1966.

The University is responsible to the State Minister for Education for the proper conduct of its business under the legal framework established by State Legislation. However, the University receives the majority of its funding from the Commonwealth and it is therefore responsible to the Commonwealth Minister for Education for the delivery of its teaching and research programmes, and for the provision of adequate infrastructure to support those programmes.

The University’s primary mission is ‘to advance, transmit and sustain knowledge and understanding through the conduct of teaching, research and scholarship at the highest international standards for the benefit of international and national communities and the State of Western Australia’. Within this general statement, the University has distilled the key defining principles and characteristics of its strategic plan into the following vision for the next century:

In the twenty-first century, The University of Western Australia will be recognised internationally as an excellent, research-intensive university and a leading intellectual and creative resource to the communities it serves.

It will provide a broad and balanced coverage of disciplines in the arts, sciences, and the professions at internationally-recognised standards. It will be characterised by a strong research and postgraduate emphasis across the full range of its disciplines and it will be noted for concentrations of particular research excellence in selected areas of strength, opportunity and importance.

The University’s research and postgraduate strength will be linked to and sustained by a high-quality undergraduate programme in which teaching and learning take place in an atmosphere of research and scholarship. The University will foster an international focus for all its activities and standards as an integral part of its overriding commitment to excellence and high quality. It will be valued, above all, for its enduring commitment to improving society through learning and discovery.

Through an integrated planning process, the University translates its vision and strategic plan into short-time priorities biennially. The priorities for 1999-2000 were published as Achieving International Excellence—an Operational Priorities Plan for 1999-2000. The University also links these priorities explicitly to the University Budget which combines performance and formula-based funding with discretionary and strategic resourcing mechanisms.