Disclaimer: I'm on the "dean" side of the ledger as a contractor for an Australian university.

One of the bloggers on my little network calculated that approximately 28c of each dollar of public funding for Australian universities is spent on academic staff:

http://clubtroppo.com.au/2012/11/19/the-university-coalface-...

He went on to discuss reform options and possibilities:

http://clubtroppo.com.au/2012/11/21/university-reform-part-i...

http://clubtroppo.com.au/2012/11/23/university-reforms-part-...

http://clubtroppo.com.au/2012/11/26/university-reform-part-i...