Universities will be legally required to meet new standards to prevent racism and anti-Semitism and strengthen complaints processes from Monday, as vice-chancellors prepare to face a royal commission into their handling of anti-Jewish students.
New thresholds, introduced by the Albanian government, require universities to take measures to prevent racism and anti-Semitism; respond appropriately when incidents occur; establish transparent complaints processes; and adopt recognized definitions of hate.
The new anti-racism standard requires higher education providers to maintain a safe and inclusive environment for students and staff. Universities will be required to adopt a recognized definition of anti-Semitism; of racism against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; and hatred against Islam; 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 amendment also introduces governance regulations 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, the use of consultancy, external roles held by vice-chancellors and senior executives, and annual remuneration reports, including the vice-chancellor’s remuneration.
The reforms follow an earlier sector-wide assessment by Professor Greg Craven, the nation’s independent assessor. University Report Card on Antisemitismwhich found no Australian university had sufficiently adopted and used the definition of anti-Semitism.
The government will not dictate any current working definition, such as complexity International Holocaust Remembrance Association. Universities will be able to develop their own or adopt a trusted definition.
The industry’s peak Australian universities drafted a new definition of anti-Semitism last year, which was approved by its 39 members. The government said universities would not have to comply with the law until January 1 next year.
Craven said measures such as handling anti-Semitic complaints and training could not be properly evaluated without universities first adopting a recognized definition.
A university anti-Semitism report card that grades institutions from A to D will be put in place from next year. However, human rights activists say some of these measures may be suppressing academic freedom, freedom of speech and the rule of law.
The changes were announced ahead of public meetings 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 anti-Semitism on campus following the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.
Education Minister Jason Clare said the hearings would reveal the level of anti-Semitism experienced by Jewish students.
“I think you’re going to hear some terrible evidence … in the next few days, especially from Jewish students about the harassment, intimidation and harassment that they’ve had in universities,” he told Sky News on Sunday.
Clare said universities were “caught flat-footed” by the rise of prejudice.
“In fairness to the universities, some of them have made important improvements over the past few years, but it is not enough. There is much more to do,” he said.
He said the new standards that came into effect on Monday were intended to ensure that universities have appropriate systems to prevent and deal with anti-Semitism.
Clare will announce on Monday that the government would go further by giving the Higher Education Quality and Standards Agency more enforcement powers, including the power to fine universities directly when they fail to comply with their obligations.
“What we also need to do is to give the university regulator more teeth, more power, when universities fail to take action, to be able to fine them,” he said.
“The regulator, at the moment, if they want to fine the university, they need to go to court. I think that’s not the right way, and so we will introduce legislation to give the regulator more powers in the coming months.”
A report by the Australian Human Rights Commission earlier this year found out of 76,000 students and staff who were interviewed, 70 per cent had experienced indirect racism, including hearing or seeing racist behavior directed at their community. About 15 percent experienced direct discrimination at university.
Rates were highest for Jewish and Palestinian religious respondents (over 90 per cent), followed by Indigenous Australians, Chinese, secular Jews, Middle Eastern and north-east Asians (over 80 per cent). International students experienced racism more often than domestic students or workers.
The Royal Commission on Anti-Semitism and Social Harmony, chaired by former High Court Judge Virginia Bell, will also this week hear from Jewish students and academics about their experiences of anti-Semitism on campus.
Four of the five universities will likely host Palestinian camps in 2024 following the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war. Campuses became hotbeds for demonstrations and counter-demonstrations.
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Rob Harris is a national correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age based in Canberra. He is a former European writer.Connect through email address.
