Although Australia has (so far) contained the spread of Covid-19 within its population relatively successfully, its universities and academic life have suffered greatly as a result of the pandemic. This has been the result of campus shutdowns, unsympathetic government policy, and the collapse of the previously lucrative supply of international students. The result has been financial stringency throughout the Australian university sector, significant job losses, and the cancellation and inhibition of the international collaboration and interaction that is vital to our common global academic and research endeavours.