The review was commissioned by the University of Sydney Senate and the University of Sydney has now accepted the review and all of its recommendations “in principle”.

The report recommends that the University:

• Restrict protests on campus, including banning protesting in any university building;
• Ban postering on campus;
• Ban students from making an announcement before a lecture; and hold responsible any staff member who allows an announcement to be made in their class;
• Implement a set of “civility principles” that all events held on campus must comply with; and
• Withhold funding from any student organisation, including the student union, if they or any of their elected members do not comply with these rules.

Postering, lecture announcements, protesting (inside and outside of buildings), have been part of student activism for decades. They are an essential part of students’ rights to political expression.

Universities are under an obligation to facilitate freedom of political discourse. Tertiary education providers should celebrate their students taking political action, not reject and seek to restrict it. Student union resourcing is a tool to be utilised for the benefit of students in all aspects of their tertiary education experience. Campaigning, protest and political discourse is a fundamental and irremovable aspect of this. Student unions have a long and significant history of taking action to protest against broader political issues; we must ensure that this tradition continues for the current and future generations. The recommendations within the Report provide an alarming set of reforms that would fatally undermine the ability of student unions to support their constituents through the exercise of free speech that acts as a fundamental pillar to student unionism.

The University of Melbourne Student Union stands united against the Hodgkinson Report and will continue to advocate in support of students and their right to peaceful protest.