When The University of Western Australia was established more than 100 years ago, its founders aspired to create an institution that would "advance the prosperity and welfare of the people". Over the decades UWA has tasted and relished success in achieving this objective and has grown to become an integral and cherished part of the WA community.

I am pleased to report on our performance and achievements for 2016.

The past year was one of transformation and positive development for the University. The University reviewed its internal operations through the Renewal Project, reorganised its academic structures and agreed upon a functionally aligned service delivery model, all aimed at embedding excellence, further enhancing our teaching and research capabilities and offering a distinctive UWA world-class student experience.

By year end the University had completed this significant, yet vital, change process successfully. We are now implementing our new structure and looking to the future with a great deal of excitement and optimism. Our focus in the year ahead will be on the formulation of our education strategies and on the relationship between our teaching and research missions.

Amid the change, the University has continued to deliver on its vision and is proud of how much has been accomplished. In 2016, we were once again ranked as one of the world's top 100 universities and we continued to attract the highest proportion of students with an ATAR above 95. It fills me with tremendous satisfaction to see how our staff, students and graduates are using their education and experiences at the University to realise their dreams and make their mark on the world.

We are proud to be a community institution and I would like to thank our staff, students, graduates and many friends in the community for their ongoing support, commitment to our success and involvement.

The University recorded a financial surplus of $25.8 million in 2016 with an underlying deficit of $1.8 million. I am confident that the changes made through the Renewal Project will ensure the University's long-term financial sustainability.

Our stronger financial results provide us with the means to embark on a range of exciting new strategic projects. We have planned a global recruitment exercise seeking to target academics with impact, who will help us realise our objectives for research-led teaching at this University.

Plans are well advanced across campus for enhancements to our information technology (IT) infrastructure, new state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities and other initiatives to positively impact the student experience.

We are also making important changes to the way we support and encourage our early- and mid-career female academics as part of our participation in the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Athena SWAN Charter pilot project.

UWA's focus on equity and diversity and continued promotion of an inclusive culture led to it being ranked in the top five employers for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) inclusion by the Australian Workplace Equality Index. UWA was the only WA-based organisation to make the top 20.

I would like to thank my predecessor, Professor Paul Johnson, for the tremendous impact he has made over his five-year term as Vice-Chancellor at the University. It has been a humbling experience and unparalleled privilege to be selected in January 2017 to lead this dynamic, world-class University as its next Vice-Chancellor. I look forward to building on our traditions and significant achievements of the past year and to continuing to nurture and support our dedicated staff and talented students to achieve their full potential.

* Figures shown above without brackets indicate a surplus, figures in brackets indicate a deficit.