University provision for academic development is well established in the USA, UK and many other countries. However, arrangements for its provision and staffing vary. In Australia, there has been a trend towards professional rather than academic staff appointments. Is this appropriate? In this paper, the domains of academic development work are explored and roles that are essentially academic in nature--and those that are not--are identified. Upon investigation, the current staffing balance in Australian central units appears appropriate, but a further move to increase the proportion of professional appointments in central Australian academic development units would be counter-productive.