Academic freedom as insubordination: the legalisation of the academy

Australian academics, like their overseas counterparts, have, over recent years, felt an attenuation of the freedom traditionally ascribed to the academic. This attenuation has been accompanied by termination of employment, legal proceedings, and limitations placed on use of facilities or previously enjoyed freedoms. This paper considers the notion of academic freedom, and its traditional justification. It assesses the basis of that justification in the changing environment of higher education, and asserts that the need for academic freedom is not diminished by the commercialisation of the academy. Quite the reverse is the case. The paper considers the legal justifications for attacks on academic freedom, and the premises upon which they are based, with a view to arming the academic against such justifications.     

Crisis,justice, and managing the appetite for risk

Jindal Global Law Review - The phrase ‘never let a good crisis go to waste’ is often (mis)attributed to Winston Churchill. It expresses the common perception that the sentiments evoked...     

Sausage rolls and sports fields: the debate over voluntary student unionism in Australia

The Australian Federal Government recently amended the Higher Education Support Act 2003. The effect of this amendment, which came into force on 1 January 2006, is to abolish compulsory up-front fees for the funding of student unions. Voluntary student unionism has been a plank of the Liberal (conservative) platform for many years, but its introduction is as unpopular with universities as with student organizations. This paper analyses the reasons for the introduction of the Act, and the debate over the introduction of the Act in universities and in the media. It considers some fundamental misapprehensions in the origins and rationale of the Act.     

L'efficacité des programmes d'accés à l'égalité pour les femmes

Sommaire: Le gouvernement du Québec, à titre d'employeur, a élabore le Programme d'accés a l'égalité pour les femmes de lafonction publique afin d'accroCtre de façon significative le nombre de femmes dans les catégories d'emplois oú elles étaient sous-représentées, comme celle des cadres supérieurs ou leur proportion était de seulement 7,2% en 1987. L'évaluation des résultats obtenus montre que les objectifs quantitatifs visés par le programme n'ont pas été atteints. Une telle situation nous améne à nous demander si les programmes d'accés à l'égalité sont vraiment efficaces. Notre étude montre que, pour le personnel d'encadrement supérieur, les objectifs du programme d'accés a l'égalité auraient pu être atteints selon l'échéancier prévu. Les femmes se sont inscrites aux concours de recrutement et de promotion dans une proportion plus élevée que les prévisions établies. Elles ont été moins admises que les hommes, mais ont légérement mieux performé aux moyens d'évaluation appliqueés lors des concours. Les femmes ont été titularisées dans une proportion plus élevée que s'il n'y avait pas eu de programme d'acces à l'égalité, mais néanmoins pas aussi souvent qu'elles auraient dû l'être. Abstract: The Government of Quebec, as an employer, developed the Employment Equity for Women in the Public Service program in order to significantly raise the number of women in the job categories where they were underrepresented, such as senior management positions, where the ratio of women to men was only 7.2 per cent in 1987. Assessment of the results shows that the quantitative objectives of the program have not been achieved. In view of this situation, we wonder whether employment equity programs are truly effective. According to our study, the objectives of the program for higher executive personnel could have been achieved according to schedule. Women signed up for recruitment and promotion competitions at a rate higher than predicted. Although they were admitted to the competitions to a lesser extent than were men, their performance was slightly better based on the assessment used within the framework of the competitions. Women obtained positions at a higher rate than what would have been the case without the employment equity program, but the rate was not as high as it could have been.     

Claims against a university: the role of administrative review in Australia and the United Kingdom

The recent decision of the High Court of Australia in Griffith University v. Tang denied judicial review to a student aggrieved by the decision of a university to exclude her. This article analyses the role of judicial review of university decision-making in the United Kingdom and Australia, analysing the justification for administrative remedies in universities. It considers the legislative reform of administrative review in Australia, and the impact of that reform in some states. It places administrative review in the context of the visitorial jurisdiction, where that jurisdiction still exists. Finally, it addresses some of the policy aspects of denying judicial review in the case of the university.