Branch News

Free speech on Palestine at the University of Melbourne has been severely curtailed through a range of measures taken by the University since October 2023. These changes followed the University of Melbourne’s adoption of the IHRA working definition on antisemitism in January 2023 and the ‘student encampments’ that took place on campus in Autumn 2024.

This submission is made by the National Tertiary Education Union University of Melbourne Branch, compiled by Branch Committee representatives, from experiences submitted to a staff censorship log, University policy changes, and discussions with various members of the university community.

Read the submission here

UniMelb VC Must Repeal Protest Bans

Joint Statement from the University of Melbourne Student Union and the National Tertiary Education Union University of Melbourne Branch

The students and staff of the University of Melbourne have been welcomed to Semester 1 on day 1 by new Vice-Chancellor Emma Johnston’s protest bans. With immediate effect, the Use of University premises and facilities: conditions regarding protests imposes new subjective prohibitions onto all protest activity on University of Melbourne premises.  

The University of Melbourne Student Union Inc (UMSU) and the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) UniMelb branch consider this an authoritarian approach that does not address racism or cultural safety on campus. 

UMSU and the NTEU are committed to advocating for critical reforms at the University, to create a safe and welcoming campus for all students and members of the community and to calling out and opposing any form of racism. However, taking action to address racism is not about banning indoor protests, or creating new rules to restrict protest activity. 

UMSU and the NTEU believe that the right to peaceful assembly is not subject to whether it unreasonably disrupts activities or operations or causes inconvenience. It is simply a fundamental right of a democratic society that goes to the heart of academic life.

These prohibitions were implemented with no consultation with UMSU’s elected student representatives, nor with the NTEU Melbourne branch. UMSU and the NTEU believe deeply in the right of both students and staff to respectful debate, critical thinking, freedom of speech and peaceful protest. 

 The University of Melbourne has been an institution where challenging ideas and authority is baked into its DNA. Peaceful protests at public universities have been the catalyst for women's rights, climate action, and socially progressive change. 

The President of the University of Melbourne Student Union, Joshua Stagg, stated that “Safety is a paramount consideration for UMSU, but the way forward must be undertaken in consultation with students and with respect to their elected representatives.” 

“This new protest rule has the potential to polarise students, not make them feel safe or welcome. Students' experience of racism is an issue of endless complexity. It requires proper consultation with all relevant members of the community, including peer-to-peer rather than a top down approach. UMSU is committed to listening to students” Stagg said.

“We have been calling for cultural safety on campus for years. We are again calling on the University of Melbourne to implement the recommendations in UMSU’s Racism at UniMelb Report, which are based on the lived experience of students. In our view, this is the way forward, as opposed to introducing new protest rules,” Stagg said.

David Gonzalez, NTEU UniMelb branch president and NTEU Victorian division President said, “University of Melbourne staff are united with students in the belief that protest has an essential role within public universities in advancing knowledge. Professor Johnston conflates staff and student comfort and their safety in this response." 

“It’s outrageous that in Professor Johnston’s first month as University of Melbourne Vice Chancellor she would launch this attack on a fundamental right to protest,” Gonzalez said.

This branch of the NTEU University of Melbourne Branch condemns the disgraceful attack on Khaled Sabsabi that has been driven by the LNP, the Labor Party and the Murdoch media. We condemn Creative Australia’s spineless capitulation to political pressure, which marks an abandonment of the organisation’s commitment to political independence.

This NTEU University of Melbourne Branch stands in solidarity with Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino, and calls for the board of Creative Australia to: 

1. Reinstate Sabsabi and Dagostino as the team for the 2026 Biennale;

2. Formally apologise to Sabsabi and Dagostino;

3. Meet with Sabsabi and Dagostino, to take accountability for their actions.

1. Calls on University of Melbourne management to cut ties with all organisations that enable the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

2. calls on University of Melbourne management to cut its ties with the defence industry/sector, the weapons industry and militaries in general;

3. calls on the University of Melbourne to amend its Gift Policy to abstain from accepting gifts from donors in the defence sector (e.g. Boeing, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin).

4. calls on the University of Melbourne to cease partnerships within the defence sector, including arrangements pertaining to strategic initiatives, in-kind support, and research collaboration with individual and group projects.

read the rest of the motion here