UTSSA responds to university policy change on protests

The UTS Students’ Association has responded to changes to the University’s protest policy, which the UTSSA says failed to consult student leaders, restricts free speech, and carries racist and unfair implications for student leaders. 

A change to policy point 4.58 in the UTS Campus Policy, which was made on the 4th of February, now requires a form to be filled out and sent to UTS Security and UTS Emergency Management within a minimum of 24 business hours, as well as forcing protest organisers to account for “physical and psychosocial impacts” on groups within UTS and the general community.

However, the UTSSA was only made aware of this significant policy change days ahead of the National Strike for Palestine, which commenced on the 11th of March, and organisers did not complete the newly implemented form.

In a letter sent to Deputy Vice Chancellor Kylie Readman (Education and Students) on the 9th of March, UTSSA General Secretary Salma Elmubasher called the change a “stark departure from the existing practice at UTS for protests and demonstrations” and demanded for its revocation.

Prior to the change, the University required organisers to notify UTS Security and Emergency Management within a minimum of 24 business hours in advance, giving the department time to navigate risk management.

On top of this, the UTSSA accused the University of not consulting with them in this change, 

with students still protesting against Israel’s genocide of Palestine, as well as the looming mass job cuts, which continue to plague UTS. 

Elmubasher said this policy would restrict free speech by allowing the University to outright decline a planned protest.

On Palestine, Elmubasher also accused the policy of being racist, saying the application is not taking a neutral stance, writing: “In this context, the requirement to provide information on psychosocial impacts is an attempt to use right-wing opposition to pro-Palestine sentiment to silence protesters. Pro-Palestine protesters, as well as Arab and Muslim communities, are being targeted when we are the ones opposing genocide,”

“This amounts to racism. This pattern is reflected in the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Respect at Uni: Study into antisemitism, islamophobia, racism and the experience of First Nations people report, which found that 90.2% of Palestinian respondents experienced racism, the highest rate of any group surveyed,”

“When half of the protests on campus are advocating for Palestinian rights, Palestinian students become the most visible targets of hostility. Processes like this form risk institutionalising that pattern by placing additional scrutiny and barriers on the very students who are already experiencing the highest levels of racial harm”.

Psychosocial hazards as a concept have been used in the past several years against the Palestine movement as well as within academia to conflate criticism of Israel and Zionism as anti-semitism. 

Elmubasher also notes that having student organisers conduct risk assessments for psychosocial risks to members of the UTS community and the surrounding area directly contravenes 4.64 of the Campus Policy, which states that staff or students cannot “police” protests.

“The UTSSA understands this section as recognition of the inability of untrained staff and students to do the work of UTS Security in managing safety concerns arising from protests and demonstrations." Elmubasher wrote.

With this change placing liability towards the UTSSA, the UTSSA has said it will seek legal advice before completing the form for future protests, as well as its rights and responsibilities regarding academic freedom and freedom of speech under both federal legislation and the University's own legislation. 

Responding on behalf of DVC Readman, Pro Vice Chancellor Jacqui Wise (Students) rejected all the claims made in the letter. Writing back to the UTSSA, PVC Wise said the freedom of speech and academic freedom would still be protected under clauses 4.55 and 4.56 as well as accusing the UTSSA of “not being committed as the University” in identifying and assessing the risk of harm and saying the responsibility for protests is a “shared risk” between the UTSSA and student organisers outside of the organisation. 

Regarding the lack of consultation, PVC Wise also stated that the University reached out to the UTSSA last year for consultation on policy changes.

The UTSSA and Elmubasher were contacted for further comment but could not provide any at the time of publication.