Exclusive leaked documents have unveiled a contentious new system where Australian universities will receive formal grades based on their handling of campus protests, encampments, and flag displays. This initiative forms part of a wider antisemitism report card framework adopted by the Albanese government, which was accelerated in the aftermath of the Bondi Junction terror attack.
Government Fast-Tracks Antisemitism Response
The antisemitism envoy, Jillian Segal, originally devised the comprehensive report card system as a key component of a plan delivered to the federal government in July last year. The proposals aim to combat rising antisemitism and include the potential withholding of government funding from institutions deemed to "facilitate, enable or fail to act against antisemitism". Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed late last year that his government was actively collaborating with the envoy to produce these university assessments.
Four Priority Areas for Assessment
According to the criteria sent to universities and obtained by Guardian Australia, institutions will be evaluated across four priority areas, receiving grades from A to D. The first area focuses on university policies, specifically requiring that they "effectively address access to campus grounds, regulates outdoor protests, encampments and display of flags, imagery and promotional materials".
Universities will also be judged on whether they "facilitate appropriate, rapid and effective response to all protests, encampments and display of flags, imagery and promotional materials within university campuses and buildings". Additional assessment criteria will examine complaints processes, the implementation of antisemitism training programmes, and the formal adoption of an accepted definition of antisemitism.
Controversial Appointment and Criticism
In November, Segal appointed constitutional lawyer Greg Craven to lead the report card initiative. Craven, a former vice-chancellor of the Australian Catholic University and regular columnist for The Australian, has previously described Group of Eight universities as "elitist", "self-interested", and "greedy" institutions that have "dissed Western civilisation, minimised antisemitism and genuflected to Trotskyist student unions".
This appointment has drawn significant criticism from academic representatives. Dr Alison Barnes, president of the National Tertiary Education Union, expressed "grave concerns" about Craven's capacity to conduct a balanced and independent inquiry, particularly following his comments after the Bondi shooting where he referred to campus protesters as "mutant radical groups" and suggested universities had made antisemitism "respectable".
University Sector Response
Vicki Thomson, chief executive of the Group of Eight universities, questioned the effectiveness of potential funding withdrawals, arguing that "it would only reduce funding in the very areas we are focused on, which is student and staff safety, and addressing the scourge of antisemitism". She described the report card as "a blunt instrument to a much more complex problem".
Several prominent universities, including the University of Sydney, Australian National University, and University of Melbourne, faced criticism from some Jewish groups for permitting pro-Palestine encampments to operate for extended periods, leading to new restrictions on protests being implemented.
Support and Further Developments
Despite the criticism, the report card system has received support from Jewish community representatives. Liat Granot, advocacy and public relations manager for the Australasian Union of Jewish Students, stated that the situation on many campuses had become "unsustainable" for Jewish students, emphasising that "addressing antisemitism and upholding free inquiry are not competing goals".
Simone Abdel, head of legal at the Executive Council for Australian Jewry, endorsed the report card system and potential sanctions as a "last resort", noting that "antisemitism has become entrenched and systemic in certain parts of institutions within the tertiary education sector".
In addition to the report card initiative, the federal government has established a 12-month antisemitism taskforce chaired by former UNSW chancellor David Gonski. This taskforce will implement Segal's broader plan and advise education ministers on further reforms to address antisemitism, including strengthening the powers of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency.
The university regulator has already begun taking action, with Teqsa confirming at its latest meeting that it was writing to all vice-chancellors ahead of Orientation Week encouraging stronger institutional responses to antisemitism. Luke Sheehy, chief executive officer of Universities Australia, confirmed that Australia's universities were "working cooperatively on the recommendation to develop report cards".
The first assessments of Group of Eight universities are expected to be completed by May, marking the initial phase of this controversial grading system that continues to generate heated debate across Australia's higher education sector.
