Feedback will be sought from staff, who are likely to be offered the chance to seek a voluntary redundancy package, the university said in a statement.

The university has not made any decisions about which campuses will be affected, but it did say of the 400 jobs to go, about 100 were vacant.

Jobs are expected to go at each campus, with the university revealing the cuts would be spread across faculties and portfolios and balanced across all sites.

Vice-chancellor Iain Martin university staff, telling them, on Monday, a loss between $250 million and $300 million in revenue is expected next year.

Warrnambool mayor Tony Herbert said it was disappointing jobs would go at the city's campus.

Cr Herbert said the university's financial loss would be significant, particularly with uncertainty around when international students could return to the country to study.

"Sadly, it's another example of the impacts of this pandemic," he said.

However, he said in a recent briefing with the university's Vice-Chancellor, it was made clear the city's campus had a bright future.

"The Vice-Chancellor indicated very strongly they are very supportive of Deakin Warrnambool," he said.

The announcement comes just days after Target revealed Warrnambool's store would remain open, while dozens of others across Australia would close.