University of Sydney criticised for plan to ban protest banners being displayed without prior permission

The University of Sydney confirmed three of its draft policy revisions emerged from the Hodgkinson review commissioned after the disbanding of the pro-Palestine encampment. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

University of Sydney staff and students would be banned from holding banners on campus without prior permission and staff would be unable to send political emails unless recipients had expressed prior interest under a string of draft policies introduced before the academic year.

In 2024, the sandstone institution introduced a “draconian” protest crackdown that required three days’ notice for demonstrations and explicit permission for megaphones to be used on campus.