This paper considers the idea of a university as it exists and is discussed in Australia at the beginning of the 21st century. Australia's history and partly derivative culture provide the relatively unintellectual context for sceptical utilitarianism in relation to a system which has expanded rapidly and is frequently described as being in crisis. Resource constraints and pressures to marketise and become more entrepreneurial have increased managerialism at the expense of a perhaps mythical ideal of a community of scholars. Different interests, influences and ideals jostle in a process that continues to determine the character of higher education, and the character of the different institutions that comprise the sector. The influence of national politics is recognised, including the possibility of softening the extreme free market position of recent years.