Across universities in all states there was evidence that IS groups had restructured, or were planning to do so. In Queensland, for example, this was the case with every one of the 11 universities surveyed.

In some instances, IS groups that had achieved administrative independence from business faculties were subsumed back within business after the decline in IS enrolments. In other instances, administratively separate IS groups lost their independent status, instead being recognised less formally as IS groups within a more generic ICT school or faculty. The state report on Tasmania also refers to pressure on computing to take over IS teaching areas. Almost without exception, the planned restructuring in Australian universities involved a reduction in staffing levels within IS groups.

This downsizing was accompanied invariably by a rationalisation of ICT curriculum offerings. It is clear, however, that the consequent planned reduction in IS subjects is far from uniform across Australia. In one reported Victorian university, for example, the process of rationalising the ICT curriculum led to a strengthening of the relative position of IS. In such cases, senior ICT academics have taken the strategic view that, in an Australian context, future job opportunities will favour ICT graduates with a good grasp of the organisational and application context, as well as the technology—that is, IS graduates. A similar positive view for IS is proposed by David Wilson in his response to the Underwood and Jordan report on IS in New South Wales. The latter NSW authors had commented that, because IS was fragmented, a continued decline in undergraduate enrolments would weaken the position further.

The decline in the range of subjects in the IS curriculum does not appear to have been matched by a comparable decline in IS research. While the impending reduction in the number of IS academics could be expected to lead to a reduction in IS research output from Australian universities, a more recent focus on research quality has been reported. This latter development was driven by the proposed introduction of the RQF in the Australian university sector. The planned RQF and its potential wider impact on IS in Australian universities are discussed more fully in the next section of this chapter.

The recent reduced student enrolments led to changes in the organisational location of IS groups in many universities, reduced staffing and rationalisation of the ICT curriculum. In some IS groups, these changes were used strategically to strengthen the position of IS in comparison with related disciplines. Reduced student enrolments appeared not to have impacted on the quality of Australian IS research.