We will make an assessment based on the criteria in legislation as to whether a foreign university has institutional autonomy. To help with the assessment, we may need more information from the foreign university and we may ask you to request information from your contact at the university.
A foreign university does not have institutional autonomy if a foreign government is in a position to exercise substantial control over the university.
Under the Act, a foreign government will be considered to be in a position to exercise substantial control over a university if, and only if, one or more of the following indicators are satisfied:
- (a) a majority of the members of the university’s governing body are required, by a law or the university’s governing documents, to be members or part of the political party that forms the foreign government; OR
- (b) education provided or research conducted at the university is required, by a law or the university’s governing documents, to adhere to, or be in service of, political principles or political doctrines of:
- the foreign government; or
- the political party that forms the foreign government; OR
- (c) the university’s academic staff are required, by a law or the university’s governing documents, to adhere to, or be in service of, political principles or political doctrines referred to in (b) above, in their teaching, research, discussions, publications or public commentary.
The circumstances described in (a), (b) and (c) above must be required by a law or the university’s governing documents for the foreign university to be considered to not have institutional autonomy.
The three indicators are set out in the legislation to make the process of considering whether a foreign university has institutional autonomy as simple as possible. Similarly, the need for the indicators to be required by a law or the university’s governing documents ensures that State and Territory entities do not need to consider whether the foreign university has institutional autonomy in practice.
The vast majority of foreign universities will not meet any of these indicators. Universities with similar levels of institutional autonomy to Australian universities do not meet these indicators. Universities with institutional autonomy separate from government, with freedom in relation to their internal governance, curriculum, research, teaching and discussion, and ability to publish those things, are not within scope of the Scheme. Accordingly, arrangements with these universities do not need to be notified.
Current (as of 2023) information on the state of global institutional autonomy can be found here (Academic Freedom Index Update 2023).
