Universities push back on foreign interference proposals

Universities in Australia are pushing to limit the number of academics required to disclose their membership of overseas political parties under proposed new foreign interference measures as the government refuses to abandon the requirement entirely, writes Lisa Visentin for The Sydney Morning Herald.

The move to force academics to reveal their overseas political affiliations is the most controversial element of draft foreign interference guidelines for the sector, with the federal government agreeing last week to redraft the proposal following a fierce backlash from university chiefs.

Universities are pushing back on a blanket requirement for all academics to disclose their foreign political party memberships. But university sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the confidential discussions, said it was expected the political disclosure requirements would be retained in some form in the final document.
Full report on The Sydney Morning Herald site