The measures are contained in new draft foreign interference guidelines for universities,which are being furiously debated among university leaders and government officials. The federal government has already beenforced to review a key element of the guidelines,which would have required all academics to disclose their membership of foreign political parties over the past decade,following a fierce backlash from university chiefs.
Following growing concerns from Australia’s security agencies about the risk of research theft by China and other foreign actors,the guidelines state that students and staff are to “receive training on,and have access to information about how foreign interference can manifest on campus and how to raise concerns in the university or with appropriate authorities”.
The measures are also aimed at addressing reports of students and academics being harassed by pro-Beijing groups on campuses. They propose that orientation programs should be used to “promote to all staff and students ways to report within their university concerns of foreign interference,intimidation and harassment that can lead to self-censorship”. Universities will also be required to have policies that set out how reported “concerns are tracked,resolved and recorded and shared” internally and when they should be reported to outside authorities.
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To oversee these measures,the guidelines state that universities must have an “accountable authority” – either a senior executive or executive body – that will have responsibility for research collaborations with overseas institutions,and reviewing security risks and communicating them with the government.
The guidelines have been drafted by the Universities Foreign Interference Taskforce (UFIT),a collaborative body that includes university vice-chancellors and government officials. The final version will replace existing guidelines,which are far less prescriptive. The proposal has prompted considerable concern among academic leaders about the mandatory language underpinning the new requirements,and what consequences,if any,universities will face from government if they fail to implement them.
Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge has declined to comment on “what is and isn’t in the draft guidelines”,but said earlier this year he wasdeeply concerned by a Human Rights Watch report that revealed accounts of Chinese international students being surveilled and harassed by their pro-Beijing classmates.