News Archive

A news article in today’s Australian , with secondary reporting in The West Australian , stated that UWA’s total debt stood at $134 million.

This figure appears to have been drawn from tables in UWA’s 2019 Annual Report. While the tables were correct at the close of the 2019 Annual Report period, the impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic have further increased our current debt profile.

UWA increased its borrowings by $56 million to date in 2020, to a total of $190 million. At a University level our debt gearing ratio forecast for 2020 is 10 per cent. However, for an institution with unrestricted assets of less than $900 million, this represents a debt ratio of 20 per cent.

Travel restrictions associated with the COVID-19 global pandemic prevented almost 1,000 UWA students from arriving in Perth in time to commence their studies in Semester 1, 2020. A further cohort of up to 1,000 UWA students will forego commencement in Semester 2, 2020 unless Commonwealth and State travel restrictions are changed to accommodate a safe transit corridor for students to return to campus.

Media references

Simone Hewett (UWA Media and PR Manager)                               08 6488 3229 / 0432 637 716