As academic and professional staff at the University of Sydney, we are strongly committed to the university’s role as a forum for collective intellectual growth and political debate. Academic freedom and freedom of speech, assembly and association are precious democratic achievements; fostering the peaceful expression of different visions of the world is among universities’ most vital functions. We will not be silent in the face of radical attempts to sweep hard-won rights away in an institution which should honour them rigorously. 

In this light, we are horrified that the University Senate has, casually and without any consultation, agreed to the heavily authoritarian recommendations of the Hodgkinson external review. These include a complete ban on students addressing lectures before classes begin; a complete ban on indoor protests and the display of banners from footbridges; absurd and unworkable requirements on language which are readily weaponizable against dissent and will hamstring academic exchange; draconian restrictions on student organisations, including defunding them for non-compliance; and the prohibition of encampments as a form of protest.

These recommendations are appropriate to a dictatorial regime, not a university. As the NSW Council for Civil Liberties has noted, adopting them is tantamount to banning outright basic forms of democratic expression on campus. 

Even with respect to the deeply flawed Campus Access Policy (CAP), the Hodgkinson recommendations represent a significant escalation of repression. We note that they were accepted by the Senate  – an unrepresentative body mostly composed of non-academics – while the review into the CAP was still open. Yet again, university management have made it clear that consultation of the university community means nothing.

Maximally-unconstrained freedom of debate and political expression are not just central to the campus in its social function; they are also essential to its intellectual and educational functions of teaching and research. A climate in which accurately conveying the facts can be penalized and where language use is under the permanent threat of punishment or censorship is fatal to the robust, critical and imaginative debate needed for the production and dissemination of knowledge.

We are not just deeply shocked by the escalating repression of fundamental rights being embraced by the Chancellor and other university leaders. We could not be more dismayed that, once again, decisions by senior university management expose us, and our university’s good name, to ridicule in the public sphere. 

Mr Hodgkinson’s review was commissioned in response to pressure on the university following the Gaza solidarity encampment and pro-Palestine activism on campus. The expression of opposition to the destruction of Gaza, including the entirety of its university system and the vast majority of its schools, are an obligation on anyone committed to the role of education in forging a better world.

Democratic prerogatives are hard won and must be defended. Doing so starts here, in the institution where we work, and to which we are committed. Civil liberties cannot be observed by paying lip service to them while violating them in practice. The recommendations of the Hodgkinson review are profoundly antidemocratic and threaten the very nature of the university as an institution. They must be rejected.

Ms Brooke Ackland, Faculty of Science

Mr Bart Ahluwalia, Faculty of Medicine and Health

Rachel Aitken, Business School

Mr Sam Altman FASS

A/Prof Giorgia Alù FASS

Harriet Angel, Faculty Services

Emeritus Professor Derrick Armstrong, Education

Dr Dania Abu Awwad, Faculty of Medicine and Health

Dr Daej Arab, Faculty of Medicine and Health

Nic Avery, Political Economy

Dr Irene Baghoomians, Sydney Law School

A/Prof Susan Banki, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Ms Jane Barton University Library

Sulagna Basu FASS

Dr Mike Beggs, Political Economy

Professor Alison Betts, School of Humanities

Dr Louise Boon-Kuo, Sydney Law School

Dr Meg Brayshaw, English and Writing

Dr Anna Broinowski, MFSA Director, Sydney College of the Arts

Dr David Brophy, History

Dr Ben Brown Classics and Ancient History

Mr Arin Bryant-Munoz ARMS

Prof. John Buchanan, Business School

Ms Anamaria Buncuga Faculty of Medicine and Health

Prof Cathie Burgess, SSESW

Prof. Mark Byron, English and Writing

Natahlia Carthew, Centre for English Teaching

Dr Belinda Castles, English and Writing

Andrew Chuter, Learning Hub

Dr Frances Clarke, History

Ms Verity Cole Administration

Ms Beccy Connell, Business School

Prof. Dan R Corbett DVC-R

Sophie Cotton, Political Economy

Catie Croaker, University Library

Ms Blandine Crouch, Centre for Continuing Education

Prof. Leanne Cutcher, Business School

Emeritus Prof. Joseph G Davis, School of Computer Science

Cristina Dietmann External Engagement

Lucky Dodd, SUPRA

Ms Meredith Dowling University Library

Dr Briohny Doyle, English and Writing

Dr Niall Edwards-FitzSimons Media and Communications

Samiha Elkheir, Faculty of Medicine and Health

Dr Ann El Khoury, Faculty of Science

Professor Abbas El-Zein, Engineering

Caitlin Erbacher University Library

Dr Fernanda Penaloza, Spanish and Latin American Studies

Dr Francesca Ferrer-Best, Gender and Cultural Studies

Dr Ben Ferris, Classics and Ancient History

Katarina Ferro, School of Languages and Cultures

Dr James Findlay, History

Dr Toby Fitch, English and Writing

Ms Anthea Fitzgerald, SUPRA

Dr Ben Fulcher, Physics

Natalia Garcia-Fuentes FASS

James Gardiner, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

A/Prof Nidhi Garg, Faculty of Medicine and Health

A/Prof. Sarah Gleeson-White, English and Writing

Ella Somerville Glover, Faculty of Medicine and Health

Dr Josephine Goldman, School of Languages and Cultures

Amy Griffiths, School of Humanities

Mr Ben Griffiths University Library

Dylan Griffiths, Faculty of Medicine and Health

Dr Jia Guo, Gender and Cultural Studies

Dr Laura Haidar, Faculty of Science

Prof. Peter Harrowell, School of Chemistry

Tracey He ICT

Mila Heneck, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Dr Isabelle Hesse, English and Writing

Mx Jet Hunt, SUPRA

Dr Su-kyoung Hwang, FASS

Felicity Knibbs, Chau Chak Wing Museum

Emilie Kolb FASS

Prof. Kurt Iveson, Geosciences

Dr Louise Katz, SACE

Prof. John Keane, Politics and International Relations

Dr Kim Kemmis, School of Humanities

Dr James Kiek Conservatorium of Music

Dr Rachel Killean, Sydney Law School

Dr Coel Kirkby, Sydney Law School

Dr Ariel Kline, Art History

Finola Laughren, Gender and Cultural Studies

Dr Sophie Loy-Wilson, History

Dr Luis Angosto-Ferrandez, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Dr Alex Luke, Centre for English Teaching

Aiden Magro, Art History

Ms Rebecca Malek Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Dr Kayla Maloney, University Library

A/Prof Fiona Martin, Media and Communications

Professor James Martin FASS

Dr Maria Cristina Mauceri, Italian Studies

Dr Natalie Maystorovich, Sociology

Associate Professor Cindy McCreery FASS/SOH/History

Prof. Mike McDonnell, History

Jane McMahon, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Dr Nicolas McNair Technical Support Services

Dr Ben Miller, English and Writing

Emeritus Professor Meaghan Morris, Gender and Cultural Studies

Larisse Moran Sydney Future Students

Zoe Morgna Sydney Future Students

Melanie Morrison, Sydney Peace Foundation

Tamara Neal Classics

Ms Jade Needham, Faculty of Medicine and Health

Dr Briony Neilson, History

Chris Newton, HDRAC

An Nguyen, Faculty of Medicine and Health

Ms Kim Novick, SACE

Dr Rosemary O'Donnell, University Library

Ms Charlotte Okkes-Sane, English and Writing

Dr Markela Panegyres, Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning

Dr Claire Parfitt, Political Economy

A/Prof. Nicola Parsons, English and Writing

Dr Natali Pearson, School of Humanities

Laura Pham, Student Administration

Mr William Pidgeon, University Library

Ms Praveeni Prematunga Strategy Portfolio

Ms Khairunnessa Rahman CPC, DVCR

Elizabeth Rechniewski FASS

Professor Patrice Rey Science

Arina Ridha, Faculty of Medicine and Health

Dr Nick Riemer, English and Writing

Dr Julie-Ann Robson Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, School of Humanities

Matte Rochford, School of Languages and Cultures

Associate Professor  Stuart Rosewarne School of Social and Political Sciebes

A/Professor Antonia Rubino, FASS

Mr Andrew Russell, Student Affairs and Engagement

Nada Salama, Science

Richard Salman School of Architecture

Dr Riki Scanlan, Political Economy 

Dr Tatjana Seizova-Cajic, Faculty of Medicine and Health

Dr Susan Schroeder, FASS/SSPS

Kathryn Schumaker American Studies

Dr Lucia Sorbera, Arabic Language and Cultures

Dr Matthew Stavros, Japanese Studies

Associate Professor Josh Stenberg, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Dr Shawna Tang, Gender and Cultural Studies

Ms Christine Tennent Library

Nick Tesoriero University Library

Mr Mark Thorpe Library

A/Prof Rayner Thwaites, Sydney Law School

Mr. Ton Timmer University Library

Dr Jason Todd, Clinical Trials Centre

Dr Lorraine Towers, Indigenous Studies, SSESW, FASS.

Dr Vicky Tzioumis SOLES

Daan van Schijndel, TSS

Alice Mae Weber, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Dr Nikki Wedgwood, Faculty of Medicine and Health

Dr Tim White, Sydney Informatics Hub

Emeritus Professor Bronwyn Winter, School of Languages and Cultures

Dr Hamish John Wood English and Writing

Simon Wyatt-Spratt, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Prof. Christopher Wright, Business School

Dr Beth Yahp, English and Writing

Ms Zarwa Yaseen Core research facilities

Dr  Lobna Yassine  Social Work