The University of Newcastle has shut down an online forum created for staff to comment on the upcoming enterprise agreement after material deemed inappropriate was posted.
Vice Chancellor Alex Zelinsky told a staff forum on Wednesday that the comments breached university's policies relating to respectful communication.
"Last night I was alerted by our IT people to inappropriate comments posted on our SharePoint where the enterprise documents were lodged. I did confirm with HR that these comments were in breach of our policies of respectful discourse and have violated our policies. So what we have done is stopped any comments being posted on there for the moment," Professor Zelinsky said.
"Going forward we are going to scrub those inappropriate comments out and reopen the site for comments but they will be moderated."
The Newcastle Herald understands about 150 comments were removed.
The controversy is the latest chapter in protracted negotiations between the university and unions over the new enterprise agreements.
The 15-month long negotiations broke down on Monday with the university choosing to put the proposed agreements to staff without the union's endorsement.
The National Tertiary Education Union has urged members to reject the university's offer.
NTEU Newcastle Branch president Terry Summers said he did not see any comments on the Sharepoint forum on Tuesday evening that he considered to be inappropriate.
"People were certainly talking about rejecting the offer but there wasn't anything abusive or disrespectful," he said.
"I have just come back from a meeting of more than 500 staff. I never seen so much opposition to something in my 25 years at the university. It seems like the university is getting very sensitive."
Professor Zelinsky said he did not wish to stifle robust debate about the new enterprise agreement.
"We are not against any messages for or against it's all about respectful and factual comments and not passionate opinions that breach guidelines," he said.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Newcastle Herald website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.
