Australian higher education has experienced considerable controversy over issues of academic freedom in its history, but the equilibrium reached in the 1960s and 1970s is now threatened by a trend toward private ownership and participation in institutional matters and the threat to institutional and faculty autonomy that accompanies it. (MSE)

The evolution of the faculty and working conditions at the University of Sydney (Australia) since its founding are chronicled, focusing on academic ranks and promotion, the growth of the faculty, internal governance, tenure, policy on sabbatical leave, salary levels, and the status of academics in the community. (MSE)