Universities will be required to act against antisemitism and other forms of abuse
Universities will be legally required to meet new standards to prevent racism and antisemitism and to strengthen complaints processes from Monday, as vice chancellors prepare to face the royal commission over their handling of hostility towards Jewish students.
The new threshold standards, introduced by the Albanese government, require universities to take steps to prevent racism and antisemitism; to respond appropriately when incidents occur; to establish transparent complaints processes; and to adopt recognised definitions of hate.
The new anti-racism standard requires higher education providers to maintain safe and inclusive environments for students and staff. Universities will be required to adopt recognised definitions of antisemitism; of racism towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; and of Islamophobia; they must implement transparent complaints processes; and they must provide clear guidance to students and staff about safety and security on campus and online.
The reforms also introduce governance principles requiring universities to report annually to the regulator on an “if not, why not” basis.
Public universities will also be required to publish governing body decisions, consultancy spending, external roles held by vice chancellors and senior executives, and annual remuneration reports, including vice chancellors’ pay.
The reforms follow an initial sector-wide assessment by Professor Greg Craven, the independent assessor for the national University Report Card on Antisemitism, which found no Australian university had adequately adopted and applied a definition of antisemitism.
The government will not mandate any current working definition, such as the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. Universities will be able to design their own or adopt credible definitions.
Sector peak body Universities Australia drafted a new definition of antisemitism last year, which was endorsed by 39 of its members. The government said campuses would not have to be compliant until January 1 next year.
Craven said measures such as complaint-handling and antisemitism training could not be effectively assessed without universities first adopting a recognised definition.
A university antisemitism report card regime that grades institutions from A to D will be put in place from next year. However, human rights activists say some of the measures could be an affront to academic freedom, freedom of speech and the rule of law.
The changes were announced ahead of public hearings in Melbourne this week, where senior leaders from the University of Sydney, the University of NSW, the University of Melbourne, Monash University and the Australian National University will be questioned about their response to antisemitism on campus following the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.
Education Minister Jason Clare said the hearings would expose the extent of antisemitism experienced by Jewish students.
“I think you’re going to hear some pretty horrific evidence … over the next few days, in particular from Jewish students about the abuse that they suffered, the intimidation and the harassment that they experienced at universities,” he told Sky News on Sunday.
Clare said universities had been “caught flat-footed” by the rise in antisemitism.
“In fairness to the universities, some of them have made important improvements over the course of the last few years, but not enough. There’s a lot more to do,” he said.
He said the new standards, which came into force on Monday, were intended to ensure universities had appropriate systems to prevent and respond to antisemitism.
Clare will announce on Monday the government would go further by giving the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency stronger enforcement powers, including the ability to fine universities directly when they fail to comply with their obligations.
“What we also need to do is give the regulator of universities more teeth, more powers, when universities fail to act, to be able to fine them,” he said.
“The regulator, at the moment, if it wants to fine a university, needs to go to court. I figure that that’s not the right approach, and so we’ll introduce legislation to give the regulator more powers over the coming months.”
An Australian Human Rights Commission report earlier this year found of the 76,000 students and staff that were surveyed, 70 per cent had experienced indirect racism, including hearing or seeing racist behaviour directed at their community. About 15 per cent experienced direct racism at university.
The rates were highest for religious Jewish and Palestinian respondents (more than 90 per cent), followed by Indigenous Australians, Chinese, secular Jews, Middle Eastern and north-east Asian respondents (over 80 per cent). International students experienced racism more frequently than domestic students or staff.
The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, led by former High Court Justice Virginia Bell, will also this week hear from Jewish students and academics about their experiences of antisemitism on campus.
Four of the five universities to appear hosted pro-Palestinian encampments in 2024 following the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war. Campuses became flashpoints for protests and counter-protests.
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Rob Harris is the national correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age based in Canberra. He is a former Europe correspondent.Connect via email.