The Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee (AVCC) has today released its submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission's Review of Sedition Laws in which it has recommended the new sedition laws be repealed and replaced with laws that more appropriately deal with threats to national security in relation to universities and academic freedom.
AVCC Chief Executive Officer John Mullarvey said that the submission focuses on the way in which the new sedition laws affect universities, academics, and the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge.
"We are concerned that the new sedition laws restrict the extent to which people will be free to speak about matters that are of concern to local, national and international communities," Mr Mullarvey said.
"A special role that universities have is in relation to free, open and critical expression.
"The new laws impinge upon the freedom of academic thought and inquiry. We are also concerned with the narrow and uncertain scope of the protection measures in the new laws and particularly the `good faith provision'.
"A core element of the work of universities is to scrutinise the functioning of the Constitution and to subject the actions of the government, and the legislation of Parliament, to minute and critical scrutiny. This applies also to technology and science departments of universities whose work frequently intersects with government policy, which may be subject to scientific criticism," Mr Mullarvey said.
"It is routine for universities to examine, with students, such questions as the desirability of a republican constitution, which must, in the course of discussion bring into question the appropriateness of the present Constitution. If discussions like these were deemed to be uncongenial we are concerned that the sedition laws could be applied to silence critical debate in universities.
"To ensure the academic freedom of universities and their students the AVCC has asked that the sedition laws be reviewed and replaced with laws that both protect the rights of the individual and are appropriately balanced with the need to deal with threats to national security," Mr Mullarvey said.
The AVCC's submission recommends that:
the sedition laws be repealed and replaced with laws that more appropriately deal with threats to national security;
the provisions in relation to the intentional urging of someone to use force or violence against
someone on the basis of characteristics such as race or religious belief be removed, and
accommodated in the existing laws on incitement and conspiracy;
the `good faith' defences under Section 80.3 Criminal Code be amended to broaden the range of defences, providing expressly a defence for academic speech, artistic expression, and public reporting, similar to the express and comparable provision for such matters in the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) and similar State and Territory legislation; and
the laws relating to unlawful associations take into account that universities cannot be aware and responsible for the associations that their students and staff enter into.
To view a copy of the AVCC Submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission's Review of Sedition Laws please click here
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