My career was suddenly and ruthlessly halted. Now, I rely on contacts for a little casual teaching. This has been one of the most traumatic events of my life — going from ‘tenure’ to precarity.  The only upside is that I received a substantial payout due to the length of my career and the hard fought for Enterprise Agreement. This enables me to live (for now) but does not compensate for the loss of my livelihood and academic life/career.   The impact of this precarity reach is beyond me. My postgrad students have suffered enormously. Several have simply withdrawn due to a lack of alternative supervision. I continue to supervise in a voluntary capacity.  Colleagues have largely abandoned me with several notable exceptions. You certainly learn who your real friends are when you are precarious!  My career was in full swing. At 60, I was disposed of regardless of how well I met the system’s ‘metrics’ and other measures of success. My redundancy was described as ‘not personal or professional’ but as a ‘change of direction for Uxxx’ (a GO8 university).