Margaret Gardner

Margaret Elaine Gardner,  (born 19 January 1954) is an Australian academic, economist and university executive serving as the 30th and current governor of Victoria since August 2023. She was previously the vice-chancellor of Monash University from 2014 to 2023 and the president and vice-chancellor of RMIT University from 2005 to 2014.

Education
Gardner earned a Bachelor of Economics with first class honours from the University of Sydney and later a PhD with a thesis on Australian industrial relations. 

After her PhD, Gardner received a Fulbright scholarship and studied at the UC Berkeley, MIT and Cornell.

Career

Academic contributions 
Gardner has authored, co-authored and edited a number of texts in the fields of industrial relations and human resource management, which have been widely used as course texts in Australian universities. She is also a regular contributor to a wide range of international journals and speaker at various academic and government conferences.

Between 1998 and 2002, as chair of two major Queensland Government taskforces, Gardner also authored three government reviews: Queensland Industrial Relations Legislation, Pathways Articulation Through the Post-Compulsory Years of School to Further Education Training and Labour Market Participation.

A selection of Gardner's research is available from the RMIT Research Repository.

University executive career 
Gardner served in executive positions with Deakin University, Griffith University and Queensland University of Technology.

Prior to her appointment as the Vice-Chancellor of RMIT, she was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Queensland. Gardner was appointed Vice-Chancellor of RMIT on 4 April 2005, taking over from care-taker vice-chancellor Chris Whitaker.

RMIT 
Prior to Gardner's appointment in 2005, RMIT was experiencing a regular budget shortfall of A$24 million. After her first year as vice-chancellor, the university reported a $23.2 million surplus. This surplus increased to A$50.1 million by 2007. The change in financial situations was arranged through selling the university's real estate holdings, increasing student fees by 9% annually, and firing 180 university staff.

Monash University 
Gardner was Vice-Chancellor of Monash University from September 2014 until August 2023 when she was appointed as Governor of Victoria. Her salary in 2021 was $1.23m.

Other roles

Executive:
Chair of Universities Australia
President of RMIT International University Holdings Pty. Ltd.
President of the Museum Board of Victoria
Chair of the Australian Technology Network
Chair of the Education Advisory Group of the Council for Australia-Latin America Relations
Director of the Australian Teaching and Learning Council

Governor of Victoria

On 5 June 2023 it was announced that Gardner would become the next governor of the state of Victoria, commencing on 9 August. Gardner replaced Linda Dessau, whose tenure ended at the end of June. In the interim, the Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria, James Angus, served as acting governor until Gardner's term commenced.

Controversy

In 2011 whilst Vice-Chancellor of RMIT, Gardner overturned the findings of an internal RMIT Redundancy Review Committee (RRC) and unlawfully terminated the employment of social sciences professor Judith Bessant. The RRC found that fair process had not been followed by the university and that there had been a failure of natural justice. Despite these findings, Gardner decided to proceed to make Bessant redundant.

On behalf of Bessant, the National Tertiary Education Union launched an "adverse action" claim against RMIT and Gardner in the Federal Court of Australia. The presiding judge, Justice Gray, was critical of Gardner's management of the case, especially given her considerable experience in industrial relations. In deciding the case, Gray also said he took into consideration the "apparent determination" by Gardner to "ignore her knowledge of Professor Hayward's animosity towards Professor Bessant". He also found that Gardner displayed a lack of contrition for what the court found to be a blatant contravention of workplace laws.

The Federal Court reinstated Bessant and indicated that she would be entitled to approximately $2 million in compensation if she was not reinstated. The court also ordered RMIT to pay a civil penalty of $37,000 for two contraventions of the Fair Work Act 2009 as a warning to employers of the risks of using "sham" redundancies as a means for dismissing difficult employees. The case was reported in the national media in addition to becoming an important case study that is widely discussed on legal websites. Bessant later published a personal account of the case.

Honours

Orders
  26 January 2020: Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) "For eminent service to tertiary education through leadership and innovation in teaching and learning, research and financial sustainability."
  26 January 2007: Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) "For service to tertiary education, particularly in the areas of university governance and gender equity; and to industrial relations in Queensland".

Organisations
  September 2018: Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

Appointments
  2023: Colonel of the Royal Victoria Regiment.
  2023: Deputy Prior of the Order of St John.
Awards
  2022: Honorary Doctor, Griffith University

Personal life

Gardner is married to Glyn Davis, who is secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in the Albanese government and was previously vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne.

References

1954 births
Living people
University of Sydney alumni
Australian economists
Australian republicans
Australian women economists
Vice-Chancellors of RMIT University
Companions of the Order of Australia
Officers of the Order of Australia
Academic staff of Monash University
Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
Women heads of universities and colleges
Governors of Victoria (Australia)