Academics urge university to drop pursuit of Gerd Schröder-Turk after he spoke out about treatment of international students

This article is more than 11 months old

This article is more than 11 months old

Murdoch University’s decision to sue a whistleblower has prompted a fresh wave of condemnation from more than 50 of Australia’s most distinguished professors, who say it poses a grave risk to academic freedom and sets a “dangerous precedent”.

The professors, all recipients of the Australian Research Council’s laureate fellowship, have written to Murdoch University’s vice-chancellor, Eeva Leinonen, urging her to drop the Perth university’s pursuit of damages from whistleblower Gerd Schröder-Turk.

Schröder-Turk, an associate professor at Murdoch, spoke to ABC’s Four Corners program earlier this year to voice concern about the university’s treatment of international students. He said it was accepting students who were below the university’s English standards, effectively exploiting them in pursuit of revenue and putting academic integrity at risk.

Schröder-Turk said the university took reprisal action against him soon after the Four Corners program aired, and he has since sought to activate whistleblower protections in the federal court.

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But the university lodged a cross-claim and sued Schröder-Turk, alleging his comments contributed to the loss of revenue and a drop in international student numbers.

The 50 academics said they held “deep concern” about the university’s legal action and urged Leinonen to withdraw the claim and settle the dispute without punitive measures.

“Our concern is that the claim for damages sets a dangerous precedent for all Australian universities,” they wrote.

“It is a long-established principle of academic freedom that academics must be able to criticise university governance. This right is especially important where aspects of university governance might compromise the integrity of teaching and research.

“The claim for damages is highly intimidatory to all Australian academics and therefore risks the capacity of Murdoch University and all Australian universities to pursue excellence in research and teaching.”

The letter was sent on the same day that media outlets united to campaign against increasing government secrecy. That secrecy is born in part from Australia’s treatment of whistleblowers, who are currently being pursued by a range of governments and institutions for speaking out.

Media outlets are campaigning for reforms to public sector whistleblowing protections, which have been criticised as weak and too slow to activate. The laws force whistleblowers into costly and protracted legal actions to protect themselves from reprisal, often pitching themselves in court battles against well-resourced employers.

The letter from the Australian academics follows a previous open letter from 23 academics from across the globe protesting against Schröder-Turk’s treatment, sent in May.

The Australian Institute of Physics has also urged the university to drop its action.