What it does
The Griffith University Act 1998 is the foundational statute that constitutes Griffith University as a body corporate with perpetual succession, a common seal and full legal capacity to sue and be sued (s 4). Its primary substantive work is to articulate the university’s statutory functions and then to allocate powers and governance structures so those functions can be discharged.
Section 5 enumerates nine core functions. The university must provide education at university standard, maintain facilities for study and research (with particular reference to Brisbane, Gold Coast and Logan), encourage advancement of knowledge and its application to government, industry, commerce and community, confer higher education awards, disseminate knowledge, provide staff and student wellbeing facilities, and — importantly — “exploit commercially, for the university’s benefit, a facility or resource of the university” including research or knowledge whether alone or with partners (s 5(h)). The final function is a catch-all: to perform any other functions conferred by this or another Act. These functions are not aspirational; they are the legal mandate against which the council’s performance is measured.
Part 2 establishes the council as the university’s governing body (s 8) and confers on it all powers necessary or convenient to perform its functions (s 9). The council’s membership is statutorily fixed at 18: two official members (chancellor and vice-chancellor), seven appointed by the Governor in Council, five elected (two academic staff, one general staff, one undergraduate and one postgraduate student), and four additional members chosen by the council itself, at least two of whom must be graduates and none of whom may be current students or staff (ss 12–16). The Act is prescriptive about terms of office (ss 18–20), casual vacancies (ss 20A, 21, 22), disqualification (s 23 referencing Corporations Act pt 2D.6 and indictable offences), vacation of office (s 24), and ministerial or council discretion to restore members convicted of indictable offences in appropriate cases (ss 25, 26).