Australia’s universities today have one million students. But this apparent vigour belies a reality of decay. The Australian campus is marked by either torpor or mob rule. Academic morale is low. Students are disengaged. Unemployment rates of new graduates are strikingly high. Campus Meltdown seeks to cut through the din of self-celebratory propaganda from ‘the sector’ which shrouds these facts. It fires a flare over the stricken scene of the Australian university; throws light on the causes of the shambles; and identifies the springs of hope that are yet to be found in Australia’s academic wasteland.