ANU denies it ‘lost control’ to a pro-Palestine encampment, royal commission hears

The royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion is examining the lived experiences of Jewish students and academics, including the response of universities. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP View image in fullscreen The royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion is examining the lived experiences of Jewish students and academics, including the response of universities. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP ANU denies it ‘lost control’ to a pro-Palestine encampment, royal commission hears Internal safety review at Australian National University found encampment had ‘high’ psychosocial risk rating Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Australian National University’s acting provost has denied the university “lost control” of its campus to a pro-Palestine encampment, revealing an internal safety review found the encampment had a “high” psychosocial risk rating. Prof Joan Leach appeared before the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion on Thursday, which is examining the lived experiences of Jewish students and academics, including the response of universities. The students set up camp on the grounds of the university in April 2024 in solidarity with Palestinians amid the Israel-Gaza war , with the group taking aim at the university’s links to weapons manufacturers. The workplace review was finalised in October 2024. It found the direct and residual psychosocial risks of the encampment were high. “There is now a procedure so security knows what to do should a protest like an encampment feature,” Leach said. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Asked if the ANU “had essentially lost control”, Leach said she would not “characterise it in that way”. “But I think there were concerns about the risks to students and to people in the university community at that point,” she said. “The security services at the university tend to know many of the students and staff, and they were quite active in interacting with the encampment to ensure that they had kept a constant watch on what was going on. “And again, to encourage any students who wanted to leave, or maybe were feeling peer pressure to stay on, to do so.” ANU tried to disband the encampment on multiple occasions, with it ending over a dispute about electricity and light in the evenings. It came just after the university announced “it would not invest in controversial weapons manufacturers and civilian small arms manufacturers”. Leach was also asked about the university’s investigations into an alleged Nazi salute at a student association meeting. The alleged salute received widespread media coverage after video footage was circulated allegedly showing a student performing what appeared to be a Nazi salute and another allegedly mimicking a Hitler moustache. skip past newsletter promotion after newsletter promotion University of Melbourne ‘sharply’ changed protest policies after pro-Palestine sit-