ABC, 16 July 2026
Chancellor says universities hide behind freedom of speech to avoid taking action on hate speech
By Conor Duffy
From ABC
The chancellor of Western Sydney University has criticised other university leaders and labelled universities "the most prominent sites of antisemitic activity" in a personal royal commission submission.
"I speak as an Australian, and a leader, who has watched, with growing alarm, the unravelling of something we once took for granted: that Jewish Australians could live, study and work in safety and dignity," wrote Professor Jennifer Westacott in her submission to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.
Professor Westacott is a former chief executive of the Business Council of Australia and is a guardian of the Dor Foundation, a Jewish non-profit set up to fight antisemitism.
She said universities "hid" behind the "concept of free speech" as well as academic freedom to avoid taking action on what was "plainly abhorrent" and "hate speech".