Inside the rotten work culture at Australia’s universities
According to those who knew him best, there was no better worker than Brian Stronach.
Smart, reliable and always willing to knuckle down and put in the extra hours.
A week before his death, Brian was dealing with heightened stress at work, on top of the daily pressure he was already facing. 60 Minutes
Everyone has their limits though, and as strange as it sounds, Brian’s unquestionable competence ended up being his failing.
His dedication to his workplace was so taken advantage of by his employer that it ultimately led to his death. Put simply, at the age of 61, the job killed him.
What his family still can’t fathom about the tragedy of losing Brian is that he worked at one of Australia’s most prestigious universities – a place that should protect its staff, but didn’t.
The University of New England in Armidale, northern New South Wales, presents itself not only as an enriched and esteemed place of learning, but also an institution devoted to the highest standards of care for its students and staff.
Sue Stronach though says otherwise.
In 2022, Sue’s husband Brian, who was on staff at the university, took his own life; a victim of never-ending work demands combined with a toxic culture.
Now, after four years of fighting to make the university admit its responsibility for his death, Sue and her family can finally speak.
His family were unaware of how badly work affected the university staff member. 60 Minutes
“They found that Brian was working in a very toxic work environment,” she said.
“It was all due to the pressures he was under at work.”
In 2013 Brian applied for and got the job as Human Resources advisor at the University of New England in Armidale.
It was a demanding position, but he was happy until a new Vice Chancellor, Brigid Heywood started at the university, and things took a turn for the worse for Brian.
Early in her tenure, she instigated a massive $20 million restructure involving 200 redundancies.
It meant an already busy Brian was left drowning in work.
“Sometimes he could work till about midnight, sometimes about one o’clock in the morning,” Sue said.
One week before his death Brian told Sue he was worried about an impending HR meeting dealing with an ongoing staff complaint made against another employee.
As part of it, Brian was asked to provide the recording of a Zoom meeting that took place six months before.
It was his job to make the video call recording, but the problem was, at the time, he’d forgotten to do it.
He thought his mistake was not only a sackable offence, but also one that might leave him open to being sued.
Ultimately, Brian decided he had to resign but inexplicably when he did, the university didn’t accept it.
Sue believes this sent Brian spiralling even further.
Psychosocial hazards are an invisible safety issue that’s becoming a problem at work, and they’re plaguing staff, particularly at universities. 60 Minutes
While desperately worried about her husband, Sue says there was no sign of what he was about to do.
“I thought he was sitting up working at four o’clock in the morning.
“I got up, it was a quarter to eight and, and I realised he wasn’t in the house and ah yeah, and I found him,” she said.
But Brian Stronach’s death is not a one-off tragedy.
His case has highlighted a poisonous culture across many of our tertiary institutions.
The staggering fall from grace of once revered Australian universities.
A landmark report reveals the physical and psychological dangers of working in these places.
Professor Maureen Dollard from Adelaide University says her research proves they’re among the worst places to work.
“These are damning findings,” she said.
“These are like three times worse findings than the average Australian workplace.”
In Maureen’s landmark study, her team spoke to 11,000 staff at 42 universities around Australia.
Incredibly they found four out of five staff suffered substantial emotional exhaustion.
Equally worrying, seven out of 10 workers said university managements were more concerned with productivity than the psychological health of their employees.
Statement from the University of New England
UNE expresses its deepest condolences to the Stronach family.
The University is committed to fostering a safe and productive environment for staff, students and the broader University community.
SafeWork NSW, which undertook an investigation following Mr Stronach’s death outside the workplace, has acknowledged and recognised the significant program of reform taken by UNE since 2022 to foster a safe and productive workplace.
UNE staff have been fully briefed on actions undertaken by UNE as part of the reform program, which are also in the public domain.
These actions include, but are not limited to:
- Commissioning an independent review into Safety, Culture and Wellbeing and adopting all recommendations.
- Establishing a Safe and Respectful Behaviours policy after extensive consultation with staff.
- Implementing a staff-led process to develop institutional values which are adopted by senior executives in all their decision making.
- Implementing the Safe Communities initiative to embed respectful work behaviours and promote staff and student wellbeing.
In relation to the Stronach family’s insurance claim, this is a private and confidential matter, and it is not appropriate for UNE to comment about this.
Statement from the Australian National University
Please find attached links to public statements/ANU response on both made by Interim Chancellor Andrew Metcalfe.
- ANU Council Statement on Thom Report on 8 May 2026
- Address to the ANU Community on 13 May 2026 – see section on The Special Governance Commission and Dr Thom’s Report
The University’s response was also covered in questions during Senate Estimates last week.
Watch the full episode of 60 Minutes on 9Now.
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