I rise to join with my colleagues in indicating the coalition does strongly support the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Bill 2025 and its purpose, and that is to establish a national code to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in higher education. This bill makes it very clear that everyone on a university campus—students, staff and residents—has the right to be safe. As we have already talked about in this debate, the Universities Australia national student safety survey revealed alarming figures that one in 20 students reported being sexually assaulted, one in six reported sexual harassment, over half of students didn’t understand the formal reporting processes and almost half were unaware of where to get support. There is no doubt that the universities sat on their hands in the face of this deeply concerning safety issue on university campuses and did far too little for far too long.
After my two years as the former shadow minister for education, I can only say that I am deeply disappointed in the regulator, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, which failed to throw the book at universities and hold them accountable. TEQSA has a number of existing powers which it did not use as it should have, but also it did not exercise its statutory right to suggest to the minister that it needed further powers. Then, of course, when we had the antisemitism crisis on university campuses, it sat there doing almost nothing before rushing around in a last-minute, one-minute-to-midnight attempt to make up for lost time. During this period, in the first 12 months when I was the shadow minister, the Minister for Education, Mr Clare, also did very little in relation to these matters. He only got on the bus very late in the piece.
There is strong bipartisan support—or tripartisan support, I assume, if I include all members of the crossbench—and that is a very good thing, but it should not have got to this. We have a higher education regulator that is there to hold universities to account, overseen by the minister and the government. Unfortunately, for far too long, the minister did not do enough, and the regulator sat on its hands and did not seem to understand the urgency of the situation on university campuses. That is really disappointing because, as we’ve heard in a number of inquiries, including before the education legislation committee, many young people, mainly women, on university campuses have really suffered. We need to make sure that the universities, in every respect, give a voice to these complaints. Yes, of course, there is always the option, when a criminal act has been committed, to go to the police, but there are many other issues that arise on university campuses in relation to safety that, frankly, have been swept under the carpet for far too long.
I want to particularly acknowledge the work of advocates like Fair Agenda, End Rape on Campus and The STOP Campaign. I work very closely with those organisations to support their incredible work to improve the safety of students and staff on campus. I do want to raise, however, that, rather than give TEQSA the powers it needs to properly enforce the conduct of universities, the government, led by the minister, has decided to give the administration of the code to the Department of Education. I learnt—I was quite shocked to learn—that there will be 16 or so staff within the Department of Education charged with administering this code, which seems an extraordinary number of people. I think what that does say is the minister does not have the ticker to improve the performance of the regulator. The regulator should be throwing the book at universities in relation to student safety. The minister should be ensuring the regulator, answerable to him, is doing his job. I think he has also failed to do that. But, be that as it may, I think it is important that we provide bipartisan support in every respect to this bill, and that has very much always been the coalition’s position.
However, there is one glaring oversight in relation to student safety on campus, and that is the antisemitism crisis on university campuses. While the government has been responsive to issues of sexual harassment, sexual assault and the safety of women in lecture theatres, on the grounds of universities and in student accommodation, the minister and this government have not been responsive in relation to the safety of Jewish students on campus. Frankly, that is a disgrace. That is why we are moving a second reading amendment to this bill, to implement a code to prevent and respond to antisemitism. For the last two years, and particularly since October 7, I’ve prosecuted the case in relation to what Jewish students have endured on campus. Antisemitism is a vile stain on any civilised society. It is not only an attack on the Jewish community; it is also an assault on the values of tolerance, diversity and freedom which defines our country.
Since the heinous Hamas terrorist attacks of 7 October 2023, we have witnessed a shocking surge in antisemitic hate across our nation. It is hard to comprehend what has unfolded: the firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne and, more recently, the synagogue in East Melbourne; the attack on the Sydney childcare centre; vile graffiti on schools and burnt-out cars; and the most recent vile attack on the Jewish restaurant in Melbourne.
All in all, we have seen an absence of leadership from the Albanese government over antisemitism in this country. It’s all very well for the Prime Minister to stand with the wonderful antisemitism envoy, Jillian Segal, and welcome her very significant report to combat antisemitism in Australia. But I say—and I was burning with rage as I watched this—what a disgrace that the Prime Minister is up there with the antisemitism envoy, welcoming her work over many months but not indicating that the government will even consider or accept one of the recommendations by the antisemitism envoy. That is just an absolute disgrace.
Jewish Australians deserve better, and, as I say, when we don’t stand up for Jewish Australians, it says a lot about our failure to stand up for social cohesion across our country. I am reminded of one of the most powerful conversations I had when I was the shadow minister. It was at a rally, a religious freedom alley, in Western Sydney, and an Islamic school’s leader came up to me, and he said, ‘Thank you for what you are doing to fight antisemitism on university campuses.’ I said, ‘Wow, that is incredible; that means so much to me, from the leader of an Islamic school.’ And he said, ‘My families and my students do not want to go to universities riddled with hate and division, so thank you for what you are doing and for what the coalition is doing.’
I was really proud to take, on behalf of the coalition, a comprehensive policy to the last election, which included: establishing a commission of inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities, to be led by an eminent jurist; a requirement on all universities to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, IHRA, definition of antisemitism, which is strongly supported by the antisemitism envoy—in fact, the Student Ombudsman is using that very definition when looking at and determining cases of antisemitism; developing a national higher education code to prevent and respond to antisemitism, the subject of the second reading amendment—and that would cover both staff and student safety; and the prohibition of encampments and other activities designed to intimidate and vilify students and staff. What a disgrace. Those encampments went on for months on university campuses, and Jason Clare, the minister, never said a thing. It is just extraordinary that at no time did he ever speak out and say this is not appropriate. Jewish students, particularly at the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne, were hiding in the shadows. Many were too afraid to go to their university.
We also took a policy obligating universities to report antisemitism complaints to the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, enabling referral to Home Affairs if necessary. Our policy also included a very strong conviction that students on visas who are found guilty of antisemitic misconduct must be deported and that there should be an antisemitism specialist within the office of the National Student Ombudsman to address incidents and support affected students. Along with Alan Tudge, in earlier days of course, I was a very strong advocate for the National Student Ombudsman. I’m very pleased that the minister picked up the idea of the ombudsman, which of course came from the coalition. But, in order for the ombudsman to do her job properly, she needs to have appropriate experts, particularly on the issue of antisemitism. So it is really concerning that that resource, which we put up in an amendment in the Senate, was also rejected.
I just want to say, in relation to this pushback that we’ve seen about antisemitism on university campuses: Marcia Langton compellingly argued in her column in the Australian in January 2025 that there is ‘no excuse for allowing Jewish hate to fester on our campuses’. She said:
Academic freedom is not freedom of speech; these are very different concepts and rights. Only academics are entitled to academic freedom, and this right is conditional on their work conforming with the rigorous rules of the academies and their disciplines that relate to evidence, ethics and integrity.
Freedom of speech is also limited by laws relating to defamation, racial and other forms of discrimination. University administrators and anti-Semitic protagonists alike have conflated the two concepts; one seeking refuge against their responsibilities on false grounds and the other seeking free licence on our campuses to spread anti-Semitism and hatred.
We also took a range of other important policies to the election, including an antisemitism taskforce, a security package for Jewish schools, some support under Crime Stoppers and, of course, our commitment to rebuild the Adass Israel Synagogue. Our message is very simple: the coalition stands with Jewish Australians every step of the way.
So I would hope and trust that this second reading amendment will get the support of the Senate, because it is just not good enough that we don’t have a code after what we have seen on university campuses—a true antisemitism crisis against students and against staff. Much more needs to be done, and for this prime minister to stand up with the antisemitism envoy and then not commit to do anything, I say, is an absolute disgrace.