The university’s management takes a stern view of critics

Last year Murdoch U  sued union officials over an article which it claimed included false and deceptive content. In the end the university dropped the case. Now, as widely reported, it makes a claim against one of its own academics, Gerd Schroder-Turk, for loss of income and reputation, following his going public with concerns about the English standards of some international students at the university.

This is not going down-well on social media. The National Tertiary Education Union is calling on the university, “to drop the legal action immediately.”

“Academic staff not only have the right, but also an obligation to the public to speak out about matters of importance to higher education, including to criticise their employers when necessary,” federal president Alison Barnes says.

And on Friday an on-line petition started, calling on the university to drop its case and for “a transparent inquiry” into the international student standard issues raised.  It had 1570 signatures last night.