Our work
The UAU is entirely independent. It self-funds/produces all of the work reported on this page.
We have signalled our intention to join the current bargaining round at VUW.
In our report linked above, the UAU provides a systematic comparison of academic salaries between seven of New Zealand’s eight universities. Using salary schedules from current Collective Employment Agreements, workforce data, and city-level cost of living indices, the report quantifies inter-institutional salary disparities at each academic rank and assesses whether differences in workforce structure or cost of living offset the pay gaps. Our findings have implications for academic recruitment, retention, and the equity of New Zealand's higher education system.
For UAU members at VUW, this report highlights that they are paid significantly less than their peers at Auckland, Otago, Canterbury, and Waikato universities, and at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT). This does not seem to be offset by swift promotion; according to the publicly available data, the relative seniority of VUW academic staff is very close to the national average. The data also confirm that Wellington is an expensive place to live. Cost of living considerations narrow the gap with Auckland but significantly exacerbate the gap with the universities in other centres.