It has been argued that in a workplace environment that is characterised by significant change and uncertainty, the formation and content of the psychological contracts are of increasing importance regarding levels of employee trust, satisfaction, commitment and motivation, and teaching and research outcomes. While research has clearly demonstrated that psychological contracts can have considerable impact upon workplace relations and employee performance, research into the formation, content and effects of psychological contracts between academics and the University has been very limited. The paper used a sequential multi methods research design to explore the formation and content of psychological contracts established by the academics within an Australian University. The empirical research began with exploratory focus group discussions which were followed by a mail survey. The focus groups were carried first to identify the issues and themes that can subsequently be drawn upon to...