Who Will Be the Next Leader of Australia's Top University?

Australia's top university, the Australian National University (ANU), is searching for a new chancellor after Julie Bishop left the role early this year. The chancellor is the head leader of the university, and it is one of the most watched jobs in Australian education. Bishop's time in the role was filled with problems, and she left seven months before her term was supposed to end. Now, several well-known Australians are being talked about as possible replacements.

The search for a new chancellor is being done with help from a government body called the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Authority, or TEQSA. This group helps make sure universities in Australia meet high standards. Bishop said that TEQSA's involvement in finding her replacement felt too controlling, and it was a big reason she left early. Her departure left the university working hard to find someone to fill the important role.

One name being talked about is Christine Nixon, a former head of Victoria Police. Nixon also wrote one of several reports about problems happening at ANU. She is said to be close friends with the university's acting chancellor, Rebecca Brown. The two even gave an interview together to the ANU student newspaper, Woroni, about problems in the university's health and medicine school.

Some insiders say the university might not choose another woman for the role, though many people think that idea is unfair. Other possible candidates include two former Chief Scientists of Australia — Alan Finkel and Ian Chubb. Chubb has a strong connection to ANU, since he served as the university's vice-chancellor for ten whole years. That was long before ANU's recent problems began.

In other news, former rugby league player Trent Merrin has had a very eventful few years. Merrin, who is 36 years old and a father of two, used to play for the St George-Illawarra Dragons. In 2025, he was charged with dishonestly getting money by deception after a year-long police investigation. Police claimed he stole about $140,000 worth of Bitcoin from his former teammate Kaide Ellis.

Merrin received an 18-month community release order and was not officially convicted of a crime. Since his legal troubles, he has started a new business giving advice to fathers going through separation from their partners. He charges $395 for a 90-minute session and calls his service a 'playbook' for dads in tough personal situations. He is not a lawyer, but he says he can connect clients to lawyers he works with.