This paper adds to the debate about threats to free speech in Australian universities by suggesting how and why a ‘university freedom charters’ policy might be implemented by the federal government to promote intellectual tolerance and diversity of ideas, opinions, and debate on campus.

Claire Lehmann is one of the leading figures of the so-called ‘intellectual dark web’ – which is pushing back against the stultifying political correctness promoted in academia, and defending the vital principles of freedom of speech and thought that universities used to stand for.

As the way academics work becomes increasingly specified and regulated, the role of the public intellectual, as championed by Burawoy and exemplified by Jakubowicz, is changing. Engagement with the professions and industry is being proposed as a requirement for a research-active academic.

Trigger warnings, cultural appropriation and safe spaces. Who decided to bestow guardian status to Australian universities? This publication looks at how we got here, where we are headed and what the alternative is to this new status quo.

This Good Practice Note does not purport to deliver a ‘solution’ to the problem of contract cheating, but aims to provide a stimulus for reflection and a call to action, both in our own institutions, and as part of a sector-wide collaboration.