4. Objectives of the agreement

4.1.  This Agreement is designed to assist the University to achieve the goals of the ANU Strategic Plan 2017-2021 and its successors. This Plan aims to build on the distinctive excellence of ANU both as Australia’s national university and Australia’s finest university. These aims will manifest in the excellence of the University`s research, education and public policy outcomes.

4.2.  As part of achieving its goals the University makes the following commitments: Through the relentless pursuit of excellence, The Australian National University will remain one of the world’s top universities. To achieve this goal the University will work cooperatively with its staff. A policy which is developed and has an impact on employment conditions of those staff members covered by this Agreement will be subject to consultation with the University community and relevant unions. The University recognises that it is through the outstanding contributions of our people that the University will achieve its aims and that its capacity to support, develop and provide critique of Australian society will be greatest when intellectual freedom is exercised in a manner consistent with a responsible search for knowledge and its dissemination. The University will maintain a policy on Intellectual Property, which, among other things, recognises the moral and economic rights of staff and students.

4.3.  The University will work towards an environment that is:

• supportive, nurturing, challenging, and motivating for staff and students;
• exemplary in its encouragement of excellence, equity and tolerance and the creation of a constructively analytical culture;
• supportive of staff who are to be respected, talent is nurtured and supported, and staff enjoy a safe and engaging work environment; and
• encouraging of a genuinely collegial University, within which problems are shared and worked on collectively, and also within which staff members are encouraged to comment on the University’s operations.

4.4.  The parties agree to participate in ongoing reviews of existing practices to achieve the objectives of the University Strategic Plan. The managing change provisions of this Agreement will be used to progress any initiatives developed under any such reviews.