Government backs changes to Confucius institute agreements

The PIE News 17 February 2023

The Australian government has backed measures to prevent foreign interference on university campuses, but stopped short of cracking down further on controversial Confucius Institutes, writes Helen Packer for The PIE News.

The government of Anthony Albanese supported fully or in principle 21 of the 27 recommendations outlined in a parliamentary report completed in March 2022 into national security risks affecting higher education and research.

The committee recommended that Chinese-funded Confucius Institute agreements with host institutions should include free speech clauses and give universities the final say in curriculum content and the appointment of staff. But the government left these decisions in the hands of universities and the University Foreign Interference Taskforce, a group made up of higher education and government agency representatives established in 2019.
Full report on The PIE News site

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