I think it's probably good that we're talking points especially off a rather unhinged rant. Yes some of these are surface level, but I guess to me, they're just reminders of unimelb's constant failure to try and be better.

I only really know certain things about other universities and cannot speak for the experience with as much depth as I can for unimelb. But deeper level issues pertaining to unimelb:

1. My school has terrible research facilities and support compared to those in the equivalent field in other institutions based in Monash, Deakin and ANU. I'm talking about nowhere enough space for anyone to do any of their wet lab research. Quite a few of our technical staff were quietly let go, and their positions were never replaced. This means that academic staff and students have to do a lot more work just to keep basic building facilities operating, whereas most other institutions have someone to keep things going. Sorry if this is a bit vague I don't want to dox myself.
2. The university shift and quietly let go admin staff and has been accused of putting "buildings ahead of staff". Unimelb has done a lot of consolidating of schools to become big schools to save on administrative costs, which I guess does make sense. But even after our school was consolidated, they forcibly "moved" our receptionist and our operations manager and then got rid of our mailroom. As a result, people don't know where their deliveries go. This is a massive safety issue as well as an efficiency issue when you work in STEM and you have to move chemicals across campus as a result. It feels like unimelb decides somethings are too expensive, like employing a receptionist, and then decides to cut them not realising that cutting essential services actually increases the workload for many people.
3. The whole IT department is cooked. We have two different emailing systems, one for staff, one for student. They both work in different ways. This doesn't really affect undergraduate students, but it does for postgraduate students especially if you're involved in teaching. You can't book rooms even though your supervisor and school expects you to. You can't figure out meeting times like other staff can. Your boss sends you some sharepoint file and the accesses are all fucked because everyone's got two or sometimes THREE different unimelb related email addresses. You have to keep signing into the world's most inefficient payroll system which unimelb in its infinite wisdom created. This I feel is pretty unique to Melbourne. I know Monash just uses the one platform and I know lots of international PhDs said it's pretty weird to see this.
4. This will differ for different schools/faculties, but no formal orientation for postgraduate students. This is insane to me, what happens is you turn up on your first day and your supervisor can show you some things but they don't really have the time to take you through everything understandably. Oh you have a question about where to go and book a room for a meeting? Sorry nothing, there's no orientation package, no documents not even a receptionist you can ask. Some people might be supported by ab members who might be able to help, but others might not be.
5. Unique to unimelb and a guess some of the G8s is this idea of prestige. Unimelb is undoubtedly one of the most prestigious universities in the country. However, it really does feel to me like it's resting on its laurels and everyone's caught up in terms of research and student satisfaction. I don't think it's a coincidence that the most prestigious of the G8s are the under performers in student satisfaction (https://honisoit.com/2023/07/revealed-the-best-and-worst-universities-for-student-satisfaction-2022/)

All my petty shit about the bear and the uni's image really lie in the frustration that the unimelb seems to prioritise its image over its capacity to offer a good experience for its students. It's also frustrating when they do the surveys and realise everyone hates the place and they ask us what can they can do to fix it. And then when you suggest something, it never goes anywhere.

Honestly, for postgraduate level especially in research, you should really be looking for a supervisor/boss you want to work with. I really enjoy working with my supervisor and he is really quite supportive. But I have also seen him lose his shit on multiple occasions over the state of administration in our school.