The National Tertiary Education Union alongside a powerful alliance of civil society organisations is urging the University of Melbourne to repeal its indoor protest ban as the University reviews its protest rules.
In its letter to Interim Vice-Chancellor Professor Glyn Davis, the groups are also calling on the university to overhaul protest restrictions that undermine academic freedom and the rights of staff and students.
The coalition includes the University of Melbourne Student Union, the National Union of Students, the Human Rights Law Centre, Victorian Trades Hall Council, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International Australia, the Jewish Council of Australia and the Islamic Council of Victoria.
The rules, which came into effect in March last year, ban all indoor protests and impose broad and vaguely worded restrictions on other protest activity.
NTEU Victoria Division Assistant Secretary (Academic Staff) Professor Joo-Cheong Tham said the indoor protest ban was a disproportionate response to safety concerns.
"An absolute ban on indoor protests has no legitimate place at a university where academic freedom must be paramount," Professor Tham said.
"Indoor protests have been a feature of university life for decades. Banning them outright is not a reasonable or proportionate response to any legitimate concern. This is a blunt instrument that restricts the rights of staff and students to express themselves within their university."
University of Melbourne Student Union President and Hansen Scholar, Lushy Chingaya said the broader restrictions are dangerously vague and risk arbitrary enforcement.
"The rules prohibit any protest that 'unreasonably disrupts' university operations, but provide no definition of what that means. That kind of vagueness risks discouraging legitimate protest and deters students from exercising their right to protest.
"UMSU has a rich history of peaceful assembly about social and legal reform and believes that students cannot be expected to regulate their conduct against a standard nobody can define, a vagueness which will ultimately stifle protest. That is a drastic impingement upon the human rights of students on campus."
"UMSU holds protest workshops for our members that includes tactics such as pamphletting, holding a meeting, seeking signatures for a petition, all of which are potentially captured by these rules. That is a drastic restriction on freedom of association and freedom of expression."
The groups have also criticised the university for failing to consult with staff and students before implementing the restrictions.
The rules came into effect the day they were announced, with no prior notice to staff or student representatives.
The letter calls on the university to establish an Advisory Group comprising equal representation from University management, the University of Melbourne Student Union, and the NTEU to develop a principled framework for protest regulation based on a presumption in favour of permitting peaceful protest.
National Union of Students President, Felix Hughes, said the current consultation process provided an opportunity for a genuine reset.
"Consultation means sitting down with staff and student representatives as genuine partners, not window-dressing a process that has already been decided," he said.
"The University of Melbourne has a proud tradition of protest and academic freedom. These restrictions betray that tradition."
Sophie L'Estrange, Lawyer Democratic Freedoms, Human Rights Law Centre said:
"These draconian protest restrictions, enacted without genuine consultation, risk silencing critical debate and diverse perspectives on campus - something students repeatedly warned the University of Melbourne about."
"Students should be commended, not punished, for standing up for human rights. The right to protest is fundamental to our democracy, and throughout history students and staff at universities have been crucial in driving positive social change – from the 1965 Freedom Rides, to standing up for marriage equality and climate action, and to organising against mandatory conscription during the Vietnam War.
"We call upon the University of Melbourne to stand by its own mission of promoting critical and free enquiry, informed intellectual discourse and public debate."
