New university rules aimed at combating racism have taken effect today as the federal opposition accused vice-chancellors of failing to act against campus antisemitism and called for the mandatory adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition.
Governance standards that came into force on Monday require tertiary institutions to adopt definitions of racism, including antisemitism, Islamophobia and prejudice against Indigenous people.
Opposition education spokesman Julian Leeser said the government should go further and force universities to use the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
“The idea that you can walk around your university campus and use Nazi iconography to describe Israel and to describe Jews is just wrong. It’s not Australian, and it should have no place on our campuses,” he told ABC Radio National on Monday.
“Universities are the place where the next generation of leaders goes to be formed, and the fact that our vice-chancellors are so weak and spineless that they haven’t been able to crack down on this shows how much we need this definition adopted.”
The IHRA definition is used by the federal government, but critics argue its wording risks treating genuine criticism of Israel as antisemitic.
Leeser rejected that argument and said universities had been given more than a year to adopt their own definition but had failed to do so.
“We will have to drag the government kicking and screaming, because the universities have to be dragged kicking and screaming again to do the right thing,” he said.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke defended the government’s approach, saying the changes were already a big step forward.
Pressed on why Labor had not mandated a specific definition of antisemitism, Burke said the principle that students should feel safe was “very clear”.
“That’s what you want to make sure happens, and clearly that has not been happening,” he said.
The standards were foreshadowed in December as part of measures to combat antisemitism and were recommended by the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Respect at Uni report.
The report found more than 90 per cent of Jewish and Palestinian students and staff had experienced discrimination because of their religion or ethnicity.
Under the changes, universities must adopt definitions of different forms of racism, but they will not be directed to use specific wording such as the IHRA definition.
Universities will also be required to introduce transparent complaints processes and allow third-party participation in their decision-making.
They must establish rules for staff and students setting out measures to improve safety on campuses and online.
Public universities will also be required to publish the outcomes of governing body meetings and decisions, among other measures.
The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency will work with the sector to develop guidance on how the standards will operate.
Education Minister Jason Clare has also foreshadowed legislation giving the regulator stronger powers to fine institutions that fail to act.
“The regulator, at the moment, if it wants to fine a university, needs to go to court,” Clare told Sky News on Sunday.
“I figure that that’s not the right approach, and so I’ll introduce legislation to give the regulator more powers over the coming months.”
Clare said there was no place for antisemitism or any type of hate in universities.
“Anyone who doesn’t think there have been some challenges in university governance has been living under a rock,” he said.
The new standards took effect as the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion began hearings examining the experiences of Jewish students and academics and the responses of universities to campus antisemitism.
The Respect at Uni report also documented racist abuse, including petrol-sniffing jokes about Indigenous people and hostility in classrooms targeting Middle Eastern cultures and religions.
Its 47 recommendations included national and university-specific anti-racism plans and stronger reporting and transparency requirements.
By Tess Ikonomou and Zac de Silva/AAP