August 23, 2024
Committee Secretary
Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee
The Group of Eight (Go8) submission to the Commission of Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities Bill (Antisemitism Bill) represents the views of the Go8 network, and our members may make their own, more detailed submissions.
The Go8 consents to this submission being published in full.
Executive Summary and Recommendation
- The Go8 rejects all forms of hate and prejudice, including antisemitism which are absolutely unacceptable and put our social cohesion as a nation at risk.
- We agree with the Director-General of ASIO, Mike Burgess, that there are warning signs showing across society, and we are committed to helping to address these issues.
- Go8 universities have taken decisive actions both collectively and individually as outlined in this submission and those of our members.
- However, as this is a whole of society issue, it will take a whole of society effort to address. The narrow scope of the Bill misses the opportunity to take a genuine look at the causes and drivers endangering our social cohesion.
- Australia is one of the most successful multicultural societies in the world and we must not let this opportunity pass us by.
- As educators of future generations of Australians and with a responsibility to act as change agents in society, universities have a key role in protecting and enhancing social cohesion. The Go8 believes that the Australian Human Rights Commission review into racism is the most appropriate forum through which to take this forward.
Recommendation: The Go8 supports the comments of ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess that the rise of ideological and religious intolerance across all of society is highly concerning and needs to be addressed. We therefore recommend that any inquiry – whether judicial or through the mechanism of the Human Rights Commission or any other form – be broadened in scope to incorporate all forms of racial or religious intolerance and include universities, the media, schools and other key components of broader society.
DISCUSSION
The Go8 universities strongly reject all forms of hate and prejudice.
This includes antisemitism, Islamophobia or any other form of racial or religious intolerance. There is no place for this behaviour in our society. Every Australian, no matter their race or religion, should feel safe in their community, without prejudice or discrimination.
This is a foundational principle across our membership from which we will not deviate.
At the same time, we respect the rights of the Australian people – including students, staff and other members of the university community to express their views through peaceful protest and lawful freedom of speech. This is a fundamental pillar of a healthy democracy. Indeed, all our members have committed to uphold Freedom of Speech and academic freedom and have implemented detailed policies as required by the Higher Education Support Act.
These rights are not limitless or absolute. The right to protest comes with the responsibility to act peacefully and within the law. It is crucial that we learn as a society how to hold conflicting views and engage in debate without breaking legal, civil or behavioural boundaries. At the Go8 we refer to this as “disagreeing well”.
However, in practice it is not simple to determine exactly where those boundaries lie. Concerned that the phrases “intifada” and “from the river to the sea” are considered highly offensive or threatening by some members of the community, the Go8 Chair and Chief Executive wrote to the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC, federal Attorney-General, seeking authoritative guidance on an appropriate response. This was because the legal frameworks that apply to this situation are complex. Relevant sources of law are the Commonwealth Constitution (implied freedom of political communication), Commonwealth law (e.g. Racial Discrimination Act 1975), State law, university statutes and regulations made under delegated authority from State Parliaments, and university policies that are enforceable contractually or under delegated legislation. While the response from the Attorney-General was prompt, no simple directive as to a legally sound course of action was provided.
The complexity of this issue was highlighted by Director- General of ASIO Mike Burgess in a media interview regarding individuals who express support or sympathy for Hamas:
It depends on …. what that looks like. If they’re supportive because they want their homeland, if they’re giving financial support or material aid that can be a problem and obviously we take each case on its merits and context of the information we have before us… if it’s just rhetorical support and they don’t have an ideology or support for a violent extremism ideology then that’s not a problem. [1]
The Go8 makes this point only to demonstrate the level of complexity and challenge that Australian society is trying to manage.
And the Director-General is very clear that it is a challenge facing us all. We are not living in a business-as-usual Australia. ASIO is seeing “a broad range of ideologies”; “people radicalising more quickly”; “more people thinking violence is permissible”; and that “there is more temperature in our security environment and inappropriate behaviour that is being normalised”.
The Go8 notes that the Antisemitism Bill is focused on one specific form of intolerance and is in complete agreement that antisemitism is totally unacceptable. However, we are concerned at the possible ramifications of focusing on only one form of religious intolerance. To quote Mike Burgess again:
Of course, there’s no doubt after the 7 October there was far more antisemitism in this country than Islamophobia. But we have both today. And I don’t think it should be considered a race of which one’s more important, because they are both harmful, threatening, intimidating and terrible for the people on the receiving end of it and both are unacceptable. [2]
It is also clear that ASIO’s concerns are not isolated to one group or segment of society, but far more widespread. Most worryingly, it encompasses minors:
This requires a whole of society approach… more broadly though, the youth are vulnerable and minors in particular. In the last…. since April, we’ve had eight instances we and the police have investigated for either acts of terrorism, planned acts of terrorism or alleged acts of terrorism. Five of those instances had minors involved, the youngest was fourteen. It’s something we have to focus on there across society, mums, dads, community leaders, state governments, federal government, we’ve got to press into that. The media has to be careful about their headlines. It can inflame. Politicians have to be careful about their robust political debate… There’s a small number of people in society, with a broad range of ideologies, who think that violence is the answer. That must be our focus.
In making this submission, the Go8 acknowledges the key role we must play in supporting a tolerant and cohesive society. Universities are anchor institutions and integral to shaping the future generations of Australian professionals. Many of our campuses are also community organisations which welcome a wide range of people onto their grounds to use their facilities. The Go8 – as a collective – has taken a range of actions both nationally and internationally to address these issues, including:
- Publishing a Statement of Eight Principles on Demonstrations on Campus affirming our commitment to upholding the rights of expression and peaceful assembly while rejecting any form of hate or prejudice, including antisemitism and islamophobia.[3]
- Co-authoring and committing to the Berlin Statement, a confirmation from the world’s leading research intensive universities – including the UK Russell Group, Association of American Universities, Canadian U15, German U15, Japanese RU11 and the League of European Research Intensive Universities – that we “strive to be places where the principles of freedom of speech and academic freedom are cherished and remain upheld, but where antisemitism, islamophobia, and racism in any of its forms, as well as intimidation and harassment, are never tolerated”.[4]
- Meetings of the Go8 Chair and Chief Executive with representative Jewish groups, including the Jewish Council of Australia (9 May 2024) and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and Australasian Union of Jewish Students (2 May 2024) to discuss their concerns.
Our members have also taken their own actions, guided by their individual circumstances. They will outline these in their own submissions, but a few examples are listed below:
- The University of Melbourne has developed and released an Anti-Racism Action Plan,[5] in addition to the 2023 Anti-Racism Commitment[6] The Plan was developed following consultation with students and staff and outlines practical actions it will take to address and combat racism on-campus.
- The University of Adelaide closely monitored activity on campus during the protest period and engaged extensively with student protesters to balance their right to lawful dissent with the safety and security of the community. This included engaging with law enforcement when appropriate and assisting police with their investigations. The University also engaged with representatives from the Jewish community on additional measures to assist students and staff to feel safe on campus.
- The University of Queensland is developing an anti-racism commitment, supported by a speaker series to build an understanding of different perspectives and lived experiences. This will be led and coordinated by the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and co-created with students.
However, universities are not just anchor institutions, we are also a product and reflection of broader society. Attitudes and actions on campus echo attitudes and actions that exist off campus. The Director-General makes it clear that countering these trends is a whole of society issue which requires a whole of society response. To focus exclusively on one sector, or on one form of intolerance, we miss the opportunity to address the real drivers of these challenges which are putting our social cohesion at risk. We would do well to heed the lessons of events in the US, where violence and police action played out on some campuses. We emphasise that these scenes were not replicated here. We also note that the disturbing scenes that have played out on Australian soil – on the steps of the Opera House on 8 October, 2023; vandalism of a Jewish MP’s office in Melbourne; and numerous incidents as outlined in the ECAJ Report on Antisemitism in Australia 2023[7]– did not occur on campus.
If Australia is to succeed where other societies have failed, we must work together with genuine commitment.
The Go8 urges the Committee to read this submission in the spirit in which it is offered and to work with us and other stakeholders to amend the Bill into an instrument that can manage these issues effectively, and help Australia continue to operate as a tolerant, successful multicultural society.
The stakes are too high to do otherwise.
[1] ABC Insiders, Sunday 11 August 2024, https://iview.abc.net.au/video/NC2405C027S00
[2] ABC Insiders, Sunday 11 August 2024, https://iview.abc.net.au/video/NC2405C027S00
[3] https://go8.edu.au/group-of-eight-principles-on-demonstrations-on-campus
[4] https://go8.edu.au/global-research-intensive-universities-berlin-statement
[5] https://www.unimelb.edu.au/newsroom/news/2024/august/anti-racism-action-plan-to-acknowledge,-understand,-prevent-and-respond-to-campus-racism
[6] https://about.unimelb.edu.au/diversity-inclusion/anti-racism-commitment