Report finds New Zealand academic salaries still lagging

A report by Deloitte shows that New Zealand academic salaries are up to twenty percent lower than Australian academic salaries and lower than academic salaries in Canada and the United States. The report reinforces that, given the academic workforce operates within an increasingly competitive global labour market, there will continue to be considerable stress on New Zealand universities in maintaining their academic staff.  

The 2012 University Staff Academic Salaries and Remuneration report was commissioned by Universities New Zealand – Te Pōkai Tara (Universities NZ) and is the third carried out by Deloitte that reports on New Zealand academic salaries; the first was completed in 2005 and the second in 2008.

Deloitte compared the average salaries, adjusted to purchasing power parity (PPP) in US dollars, for lecturers, senior lecturers, associate professors and professors in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.  Between 2008 and 2012, academic salaries in New Zealand have increased faster than the movement in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and are now similar to academic salaries in the UK.  However, despite this growth, academic salaries in this country are still well behind those in Australia, Canada and the US. 

Deloitte also investigated non-salary benefits amongst the five countries and found that Australia, the UK and Canada have university superannuation schemes that offer higher employer contribution levels than are available in New Zealand.    

“Salaries are the largest single component of university costs, accounting for almost two-thirds of total expenditure. Targeted government funding has assisted the universities to increase academic salaries at a rate close to twice the increase in the CPI during the period covered by this report. However, what seems like healthy salary growth from a New Zealand perspective hasn’t been enough to close the gap with most of our key competitor nations,” says Universities NZ Chair Pat Walsh.

“Combined with the anticipated recruitment pressures driven by our ageing academic workforce, ensuring that universities can offer internationally competitive academic salaries needs to continue to be a priority,” adds Professor Walsh.

University funding is an investment in the future of New Zealand, delivering positive returns to both individuals and the country as a whole for years to come. The ability to reap those rewards, however, is dependent on levels of investment that will ensure New Zealand’s university system is underpinned by appropriately resourced institutions delivering internationally competitive education and research.

More information New Zealand’s ageing academic workforce can be found in the report entitled “Academic Workforce Planning - Towards 2020, [To Link]” available on the Universities NZ website.