AUSTRALIA: Academic freedom on the agenda

Freedom of intellectual inquiry at universities will become a hot topic now that it has legislative backing for the first time, writes Bernard Lane for The Australian.

"The opportunity is for universities to develop the best [intellectual freedom] policies they can," said George Williams, a legal academic at the University of New South Wales. He was commenting on the passage this month of amendments that require universities to have policies in favour of intellectual freedom.

The amended Higher Education Support Act includes in its aims a higher education sector that "promotes and protects free intellectual inquiry in learning, teaching and research".

As well, universities funded under the act "must have a policy that upholds free intellectual inquiry". Williams, a leading advocate of the reform, said the time was ripe for a debate about the meaning of intellectual freedom and how policies should protect it.
Full report on The Australian site