La Trobe University has withdrawn its suspension of the academic Roz Ward, because a high-profile legal battle would be against the university’s interests, vice-chancellor Professor John Dewar has said.
Ward, who co-founded the Safe Schools program, was suspended without pay from the university on Wednesday over a Facebook post that described the Australian flag as racist.
In a statement released to university staff on Friday evening, Dewar defended the decision to suspend Ward, saying it was made in the best interests of the university’s Australian Research Centre for Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS) and the Safe Schools program.
But he said it was clear, in the face of widespread criticism of the decision that accused the university of giving in to “moral panic” about the LGBTI anti-bullying program and stifling academic freedom, that “the underlying aim of the university’s actions” – to protect its reputation – was “unlikely to be achieved by the means we have previously chosen”.
The announcement came after law firm Maurice Blackburn, acting for Ward through the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEC), sent La Trobe a letter on Friday arguing her suspension was “unlawful” and demanding it and the allegations against her be withdrawn by Monday.
Latrobe Uni just withdrew suspension & all allegations against Roz Ward . Wooo Hooooo!!!! Ping @NTEUVictoria , @WeFightForFair
— Josh Bornstein (@JoshBBornstein) June 3, 2016
“The university does not accept that it has acted unlawfully, however, I believe that it is not in the university’s interests to be engaged in a high profile and protracted legal dispute when there are so many other important priorities,” Dewar said.
“Accordingly, I have decided after much consideration and in consultation with colleagues, that the allegations against Ms Ward and her suspension will be withdrawn.
“We will continue to work to ensure that vulnerable young people in the LGBTI community have the support and information they need through the Safe Schools program.”
Last week, Ward posted a picture of the LGBTI flag flying over state parliament with the caption: “Now we just need to get rid of the racist Australian flag on top of the state parliament and get a red one up there and my work is done.”
The post was picked up by the Australian, which has run a campaign against the Safe Schools program. Ward resigned her advisory role with the Victorian government in response, issuing a statement acknowledging that the post was “inappropriate”.
She was suspended without pay from the university on Wednesday.
Dewar said the suspension was not a reaction to Ward’s left-wing political views or the fact that some could consider her unpatriotic comments about the Australian flag offensive, “but because they were made at a time, and in a context, when there is intense scrutiny of a program which is closely associated with La Trobe, and which she could have foreseen would further inflame opinion about the Safe Schools program and her involvement in it”.
“The nature or content of her views is irrelevant – the issue was that she made them in a way that could have been foreseen to adversely affect the university, the Safe Schools program and ARCSHS if they became known more widely,” he said.
On Friday it was revealed that the university had published an article on its website three years ago making a similar argument about the flag.
Matthew Lesh, a research fellow at the free-market Institute of Public Affairs, who had criticised the university’s ruling on Ward on free speech grounds, said he welcomed the backdown.
“This is a big win for academic freedom and free speech on campus – we should not be persecuting academics for political statements,” he said.
“While most Australians might disagree with what she said, we must continue to stand for everyone’s right to express ideas. This is a vital element of a living in a free liberal democratic society.”
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