Sydney Uni bans encampments, lecture protests

The University of Sydney has accepted a series of recommendations to limit protest activity on campus, after an external review commissioned in response to the pro-Palestine encampment earlier this year.

The new policies are drawn from the Hodgkinson External Review Report, which was commissioned after the University faced charges of antisemitism at the encampment, and complaints that the University bowed to protesters' demands and failed to provide a safe environment for Jewish staff and students.

The new protest policies include:

The New Civility Rule is the most controversial move and has been criticised by David Brophy, a senior history lecturer at the University of Sydney, as “utterly bizarre and unworkable”.

“Are academics really expected to explain the context of every word and phrase they use?” he said. “A vague rule like this will most likely be wielded selectively against those who speak up for Palestine,” he told The Guardian.

The rule was proposed by the review to deal with grey areas such as the phrase “from the river to the sea”, which pro-Palestine protesters describe as a generic protest call but which supporters of Israel’s right to exist describe as genocidal and antisemitic, because a Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea would require the complete destruction of Israel and the decimation of 40% of the world’s Jews.

The Hodgkinson Review said the rule will “make the speaker responsible for ensuring that the meaning of the words and phrases used by them was clear to the audience being addressed”.

The Review endorsed the right to academic freedom and freedom of speech but noted these rights were "not without restriction" and were limited by laws prohibiting vilification and requiring workplace safety.

The University is facing a SafeWork claim from Jewish staff and students seeking remedies for “psychosocial harm” from antisemitism on campus.

“Some of the traditions of the University have been referred to as the basis for permitting particular types of activity such as sit-ins and other forms of protest in buildings and the addressing of lecture halls with political statements. These traditions grew up in a different time and when the legal framework with which the University must comply was far less complex. The maintenance of these traditions has led to students feeling unsafe. There does not appear to be a reason for their continuation particularly in light of social media communication methods.

“By prohibiting all forms of protest in the University’s buildings the University will make every building on campus a safe place; a refuge where those who feel unsafe as a result of protest activity can escape that activity,” the report said.

The new rules were welcomed by Jewish students and staff, including the Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS), which had named Sydney University as one of the worst in the country for Jewish students.

The Australian Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism (5A) expressed confidence civility rule and said it particularly welcomed the review’s recommendation to hold students and academic organisations accountable for their actions, including posting of imagery and posters across campus.

"The vandalization of public spaces and the liberties some organisations have taken—seizing spaces and time that are not theirs to loudly and forcefully disrupt students and academics as they pursue their daily academic work—must be stopped.

"These measures will ensure that free speech is exercised to its fullest potential—promoting genuine dialogue, as well as protecting against the abuse and weaponisation of free speech as a means to suppress opposing viewpoints and transform universities into war zones dominated by vocal gangs—a scene repeatedly witnessed over the past year."

The National Tertiary Education Union president, Dr Alison Barnes, condemned the measures, saying they would have a “chilling effect” on all protests, including union activity.

“University leaders need to stand up against this sort of heavy-handed approach,” she said.

In a submission to the Senate inquiry into antisemitism on campus earlier this year, Sydney University Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark Scott apologised to Jewish staff and students and admitted he had failed them.

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University of Sydney External Review Report (Full report)