By Editor Nick Wilson
Julie Bishop’s huge expense bill racked up while for one of Australia’s top universities exposed
ANU chancellor comes under fire for ‘extravagant expenses’
READ MORE: Julie Bishop dealt blow over top job at ANU
By NICK WILSON FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
Published: 08:42 BST, 4 July 2025 | Updated: 08:42 BST, 4 July 2025
Julie Bishop has come under fire for bleeding a cash-strapped university of almost $800,000 in expenses over a single year in her role as chancellor.
Last year, the former deputy Liberal leader charged the Australian National University (ANU) $150,000 in rent for her luxury chancellery office on Perth’s Swan River.
This is on top of the $800,000 ANU spent renovating the office in the 40-storey glass building after Bishop was appointed as chancellor in 2020.
Added to the 2024 bill was a further $150,000 in travel, $109,000 in lease liability, $41,500 in office outgoings, $22,000 in parking, and $4,350 in cleaning.
There was also a $3,793 bill for electricity, $454 for plant hire, $254 for bins and a $1.38 charge for a pair of stainless steel tongs.
The eye-watering sums were laid bare in documents lodged with ASIC last year, obtained by the Australian Financial Review.
It comes as the embattled university continues to roll-out its controversial cost-cutting plan, including staff layoffs and a broad-sweeping restructure.
The revelations have added to concerns that Bishop has failed to adequately separate university commitments from those of her private consulting firm, Julie Bishop & Partners.
Julie Bishop (pictured) nabbed the prestigious posting as chancellor at the Australian National University in 2020
ANU spent a total of $790,000 on Bishop’s expenses last year, as the cash-strapped university struggled under consecutive years of operating deficits
One document listed her chancellery office in Perth as the address for her consulting firm, which is registered to an address on Flinders Street in Adelaide’s CBD.
Meanwhile, a second ASIC document, dated February 2024, listed the ANU office as Bishop’s ‘residential address’.
The oversights have revived concerns over the complex structure governing the former politician’s approach to university and non-university affairs.
‘This stinks,’ National Tertiary Education Union ACT division secretary Dr Lachlan Clohesy told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Staff have long suspected that the ANU Perth office is being used for private consultancy work, and it has now become apparent that Julie Bishop listed the ANU Perth office address on documents related to Julie Bishop and Partners.’
Dr Clohesy said the ‘blurry line’ between her university and consulting work and ‘extravagant expenses’ spoke to a ‘culture of entitlement’.
‘Our position has been clear. The chancellor should be sacked,’ he said.
A member of Bishop’s staff told the Financial Review ASIC had been notified of the ‘error’, adding an ‘alternative physical address was provided’.
Bishop is pictured at the Melbourne Fashion Festival in March, 2025
‘Minister for Fashion’ Julie Bishop makes a glamorous appearance at National Designer Awards
‘All entities were notified of the error and rectification.’
An ANU spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia it was ‘satisfied’ with the governance and controls regarding Bishop’s use of the ANU Perth office.
‘The expenditure for the ANU Perth office and the travel budget has been in line with other ANU capital city offices and previous Chancellors,’ the spokesperson said.
Asked whether ANU intended to encourage Bishop to reduce her expenses, the spokesperson said it had ‘significantly reduced the allocated budget’.
More than 800 ANU employees passed a vote of no confidence against Bishop and ANU vice chancellor Genevieve Bell’s leadership in February.
The vote, arranged by the National Tertiary Education Union, passed with a 95 per cent vote against the two leaders.
Jonathan Churchill, ANU’s chief operating officer told staff in an email the vote was not representative of the university’s nearly 5,000 employee headcount, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
However, Dr Clohesy insisted ANU staff have no confidence in Julie Bishop as chancellor of the uni.
Hundreds of staff at the cash-strapped university passed a vote of no confidence in a union-led vote against Julie Bishop last year
The embattled university has announced several rounds of job cuts since unveiling its controversial cost-cutting and restructure plans in October last year.
A statement on ANU’s website justified the cuts on the basis the university had recorded repeated operating deficits worth a cumulative $600m since 2020.
Bishop has previously rejected suggestions of financial mismanagement despite repeated budget blowouts and last year appeared to blame staff for the woes.
Asked by the Canberra Times whether it was fair to ask staff to forego an planned pay increase, she answered: ‘It depends to whom you refer, because many members of staff have been part of the inefficiencies that the university is now seeking to address.’
Bishop forewent her $75,000 honorarium in 2020 to account for the financial impact of the COVID-19 crisis.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Bishop has been contacted for comment
Julie BishopPerth
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Julie Bishop’s huge expense bill racked up while for one of Australia’s top universities exposed
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