Photography by Mathilda Stewart

The National Day of Action for Palestine on 26 March saw students and staff rally on South Lawn, calling for an end to the war in Gaza. Students demanded that the University divest from all weapons manufacturers, cut all cultural and academic ties with Israel, end the ban on protest and overturn the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.

Protesters heard speeches from Dr Jordan Silverstein, UMSU Queer Office Bearer Ivy Pierlot, Peringatan Darurat and organisers from Students Against War and Unimelb for Palestine. 

Students and staff marched from South Lawn and into Arts West/Mahmoud’s Hall, where approximately 100 protesters defied the new Vice Chancellor’s Rules banning indoor protests.  While some protesters remained outside, chants and speeches continued inside for around 10 minutes before security personnel informed protest leaders that they were in violation of the VC Rules and requested that they leave the building. Protestors inside Arts West/Mahmoud’s Hall promptly followed the security’s instructions to exit the building.

The new VC Rules were announced on the first day of semester one 2025, and come after a historic year of protest at the University. The Rules ban protests that are ‘held inside, or obstruct entry into, or exit from, any building used for University activities.’ It includes prohibitions on protests or ‘other protest activity’ that ‘unreasonably disrupt(s) activities or operations of the University’.

Failure to comply with the directives of the new policy may result in student general misconduct. Students who breach the protest rules can be barred from campus and prohibited from attending classes or examinations. Students who breach these policies may also face suspension or termination of enrollment and restrictions on students’ capacity to access the University campus.

University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) President Joshua Stagg and National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) UniMelb Branch President David Gonzalez strongly condemned the VC’s Rules in a joint press statement, calling the rules an ‘authoritarian approach’ that does not address racism or cultural safety on campus.

The VC Rules were shortly followed by the implementation of new wireless terms of use which enshrined the University’s right to monitor students over their networks. To continue accessing the University Wi-Fi, students and staff were required to accept the new Wireless Terms of use.

The new conditions permit the University to monitor students in order ‘to assist in the detection and investigation of any actual or suspected unlawful or antisocial behaviour or breaches of University policies’ as well as ‘to infer the location of an individual via their connected device.’

Despite the University’s efforts, student action for Palestine has continued on campus. Students Against War recently held a forum titled ‘Why Anti-Zionism is not Antisemitism’, while Unimelb for Palestine has been holding weekly gatherings on South Lawn to raise money for aid provision in Gaza. 

While the full impact of the new policies is still unclear, these members of the University community remain committed to their campaign for divestment from weapons manufacturers.