A leading academic at the University of Melbourne (UoM) has resigned from one of his roles heading Indigenous programs after public complaints over institutional racism at the faculty.
Dr Eddie Cubillo, a Larrakia, Wadjigan and Central Arrernte man, was working part-time as an associate dean and senior fellow at the university’s prestigious Melbourne Law School (MLS).
Before joining the university, he was the Northern Territory anti-discrimination commissioner and executive officer of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service.
Cubillo tendered his resignation as associate dean this week, adding he would continue to lead the university’s Indigenous Law and Justice Hub.
It followed a lecture delivered by Cubillo at the University of Sydney last month on the Indigenous academic’s encounters with racism at law school.
The University of Sydney has not published the lecture on its website, as it does usually. A spokesperson said the lecture “powerfully addressed … systemic discrimination and structural bias against First Nations peoples” but ongoing legal issues prevented the recording being distributed.
“We acknowledge his courage in delivering this message.”
Cubillo told Guardian Australia he had tried to effect change within the law school but not nearly enough had been done on cultural safety.
“It’s the most culturally unsafe place I’ve worked,” he said, adding it wasn’t keeping pace with the increased diversity of student cohorts. “They’re not listening and not taking action … there’s an exodus of staff because of the cultural safety issue.
“I’m not alone.”
Of 126 staff at the faculty, Cubillo is now the only Blak academic.
He said an anti-racism body needed to be constructed as a matter of urgency and an Indigenous legal subject should be a mandatory part of the curriculum.
“I don’t want to see my grandkids go through this bullshit,” he said.
@SydneyLawSchool Dr Eddie Cubillo sharing his experiences in the academy fighting racism pic.twitter.com/HbPWHI8Wvt
— Jakelin Troy YES23 (@JakelinTroy) August 9, 2023
The Melbourne Law School Indigenous student representative, Keshi Moore, said Cubillo was “staying strong” after stepping back from the university during a “confusing and overwhelming time”.
“His resignation is a poignant reminder that he currently stands as the sole Indigenous academic at MLS, with several others having departed due to similar circumstance,” she said.
“The circumstances of his resignation compel us to engage in a profound introspection regarding the principles that define us as MLS students and aspiring legal professionals.
“It calls for an examination of our collective stance on racism, particularly the injustices faced by individuals from the most marginalised communities in our nation … Racism at the No 1 law school is not acceptable.”
Amanda Porter, associate professor in criminology and criminal law at the UoM’s school of social and political sciences, was one of three First Nations staff members to also resign from the law school earlier this year.
She said students were lodging complaints, deferring their studies and leaving due to a lack of cultural safety and racism experienced in the classroom.
A spokesperson for the UoM did not respond to questions about how many First Nations students had quit but said Indigenous enrolments at the law school had trebled since 2016.
Internal emails viewed by Guardian Australia before Cubillo’s resignation from MLS dean Prof Matthew Harding acknowledged a “number of events” over the past year had pointed to aspects of its culture that “we all need to reflect on and indeed change”.
“These events have left Indigenous colleagues and students feeling unsafe and unwelcome here,” it read.
“Some Indigenous colleagues have left the law school in recent months. This is a deeply concerning situation.”
Solidarity with students at MLS. The worst place I've ever worked. pic.twitter.com/mM0DdYp9Th
— amanda porter (@amanda_j_porter) September 7, 2023
Posters plastered throughout the law school by students on Thursday featured excerpts of Cubillo’s speech, hitting back at “white privilege” and “elitism” that continued to persist in tertiary institutions.
“Mob are not safe here,” one read.
Earlier this year, Cubillo gave evidence to Victoria’s Yoorrook Justice Commission, arguing Australia’s current approach to legal education and accreditation supported the law’s “systematic discrimination and structural bias” against First Nations people.
He pointed to the fact there was no requirement for Indigenous subject matter or content to be delivered with any Indigenous lens, and no profession-wide requirement for lawyers to complete training in Indigenous cultural awareness or safety.
A UoM spokesperson said in a statement that Cubillo was a highly valued member of the Melbourne Law School senior leadership team.
An Indigenous-led advisory firm has been commissioned to undertake an Indigenous cultural safety review of the school, and is due to deliver its findings early next year.
Other university-wide initiatives include a mandatory Indigenous cultural education program for staff, an anti-racism action plan and an Indigenous strategy launched in August.
“We are aware of and deeply concerned by cultural safety issues [Cubillo] has raised and have discussed them at length with him,” the spokesperson said.
“Those experiences have challenged us to consider what we are doing to address Indigenous cultural safety and to demonstrate that racism is not tolerated at the Melbourne Law School.
“It is not acceptable that Indigenous staff and students have been made to feel unwelcome or undervalued.”
• This story was amended on 11 September 2023 to make clear in the lead paragraph that Dr Eddie Cubillo resigned from one of several roles, and to correct one reference to Cubillo having resigned as “the dean”. He was an associate dean.
