A new merger could see the creation of one of Australia’s biggest universities.

The University of Adelaide and UniSA are in merger talks, and have reportedly reached agreement “regarding a formal pathway” to combine.

If the deal goes ahead, the universities will amalgamate and rebrand as a single institution within three years, with the new ‘Adelaide University’ expected to be operational from January 2026.

A previous merger proposal was announced in June 2018, but fell through months later.

It has been alleged that the officials in the talks could not agree on what to name the institution and how to choose its leaders.

But this week, University of Adelaide chancellor Catherine Branson and UniSA chancellor Pauline Carr issued a joint statement saying they are “delighted” by the prospect of joining forces. 

“With appropriate government support, we believe this is all possible and through our feasibility phase we hope to show that it can be realised,” they said.

“We believe that through a union of equals and combining the best of our present institutions, a future institution could deliver teaching of the highest quality.”

Both sites are public-run, and the SA Government has pledged to financially contribute towards the cost of a merger deal, and claimed “there would be no net job losses as a consequence of creating the combined university”.

Deputy Premier Susan Close said the deal would create one of Australia’s biggest universities. 

“It [would] immediately put us as the biggest educator of Australian students in the country, the second biggest educator of students from low [socio-economic] backgrounds and in the top 10 for Aboriginal students going to university,” she said.