Bond University

Bond University was established and funded in 1987 by the chairman of Bond Corporation, Alan Bond, the president of the Japanese-based Electronics and Industrial Enterprises International (EIE), Harunori Takahashi and Dr Taro Tanioka, in a joint venture to manage the land and construction of the buildings of the university.

The university's buildings and surrounding land initially covered approximately 212 hectares and encompassed what was previously a pine plantation known as the Burleigh Forest. In the 1970s, Bond had obtained control of a number of pine plantations in the region, previously owned by the Savoy Corporation Limited and Gold Coast Cooperative Plantations Society Limited, and established a new company known as the Development Equity Corporation (DEC) to develop them.

DEC was managed by Brian Orr who, in 1976, put forward a proposal to the Albert Shire Council for a university at Gaven Forest. While this project did not proceed, a subsequent proposal made in 1986 to build a university at Burleigh Forest did gain traction. Orr discussed the matter with Bond and Peter Beckwith and recruited Jo Anne Cracknell to research the feasibility of venture.

On 3 July 1986, Bond decided to proceed with the project and his intention to build the university, then known as the Bond University of Applied Technology, was formally announced at the National Party of Australia conference on the Gold Coast by the Premier of Queensland, Joh Bjelke-Petersen on 17 July 1986.

On 9 April 1987, the Parliament of Queensland granted Bond University university status via the passage of the Bond University Act. In 1989 the university commenced teaching with an initial intake of 322 students.

In 1991, EIE acquired Bond Corporation's share of the company that controlled the land on which the university buildings were constructed and the surrounding development lands following the collapse of Bond Corporation. By 1993, EIE was in receivership and the Bond University Council commenced negotiations to acquire the campus from the mortgagee, the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan. The university retained the name 'Bond' even though, within a decade of its founding, Alan Bond was sentenced to separate jail terms for investment and corporate fraud (1995 and 1996).

The Bond University Council was not the only entity interested in the site which was advertised for sale in major newspapers. In 1995, the Employment, Education and Training References Committee of the Australian Senate undertook a report into the proposed sale of the campus to the University of Queensland which had outbid the Bond University Council in their earlier negotiations to acquire the site.

In August 1999, the Bond University Council was successful in securing the 50-acre campus site which was acquired by a newly formed public company known as Bond University Limited.

Controversies

Australian Human Rights Commission Data and Report

In 2017, Bond University, in conjunction with all Australian universities, participated in a national report undertaken by the Australian Human Rights Commission to tackle the issue of sexual harassment and assault. The Vice Chancellor of Bond University acknowledged the survey results saying, "Today is a wake-up call, and we understand that the issue of sexual harassment and assault is real and attitudes need to change, both in society and within the university sector. One case is one case too many. We are supportive of the recommendations of the Australian Human Rights Commission, and have already implemented the majority of the measures they have proposed."