New Zealand to tighten campus free speech legislation

New Zealand’s coalition government has unveiled plans to tighten free speech legislation amid perceptions of an increasingly “risk-averse” cancel culture on campuses.

The government said changes to the Education and Training Act, to be introduced into parliament in March, will set “clear expectations” on how universities should approach freedom of speech.

Universities will be required to “actively promote an environment where ideas can be challenged, controversial issues discussed and diverse opinions expressed”, according to the governing National Party and its coalition partner, Act New Zealand.

The legislation will prevent institutions from “constraining the freedom of speech rights of students, staff or invited speakers”. Universities will also be banned from adopting positions on issues not directly related to their “core role or functions”.

Tertiary education minister Penny Simmonds said she was worried that universities were “taking a more risk-averse approach” on issues of free expression and academic freedom. “Universities should promote diversity of opinion and encourage students to explore new ideas and perspectives,” she said. “This includes enabling them to hear from invited speakers with a range of viewpoints.”

Act leader and associate education minister David Seymour said universities’ legislated role as social critic and conscience was being undermined by “a growing trend of universities deplatforming speakers and cancelling events where they might be perceived as controversial or offensive”.

The government expects the new rules to be enacted by the end of 2025, with universities then given six months to develop “freedom of speech statements” and get them approved.

Administrators will be obliged to install “robust complaint systems” and report annually on their adherence to their free speech commitments.

The proposals go further than recent reforms in Australia, where universities were pressured to adopt free speech and academic freedom policies, but compliance was technically voluntary and institutional neutrality was not discussed.

Opinions on free speech are split in New Zealand, where many insist there is no problem while others – led by Act and the Free Speech Union (FSU) – argue that race, indigenous rights and gender issues are becoming very difficult to discuss on campus.

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A proposed University of Auckland symposium on the fraught relationship between science and Māori knowledge, initially conceived as a “respectful, open-minded, fact-based exchange of views”, was delayed for almost a year and evolved into an exposition of cultural practices and arts.

More recently, a Victoria University of Wellington panel discussion on free speech had to be delayed for a month following a backlash over some of the invited speakers.

A 2024 report from the New Zealand Initiative thinktank detailed widespread constraints on free speech and academic freedom at universities, after a 2023 FSU survey found that almost half of academics felt unable to “argue against the consensus” with their colleagues.

The newly announced legislative changes were foreshadowed in a coalition agreement between the National and Act parties, which suggested that tertiary institutions that failed to adopt free speech policies could lose access to government funding.

Universities New Zealand said the government’s proposals appeared “consistent” with vice-chancellors’ views on free speech. “The university sector will be keen to work with government to ensure whatever is finally put into legislation is workable and useful,” said chief executive Chris Whelan.

“For this to be successfully implemented across all eight universities, it will need to be necessarily high level, and not prescriptive.”

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com