RMIT University

RMIT University   (University)
Formation	1887
Headquarters	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Type	• public • research
Melbourne university researching censorship implementation.

RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), is a public research university in Melbourne, Australia.

It has an enrolment of around 95,000 higher and vocational education students, making it the largest dual-sector education institution in Australia. With an annual revenue of around A$1.5 billion, it is also one of the wealthiest universities in Australia.

The main campus of RMIT is situated on the northern edge of the city centre of Melbourne. It has two satellite campuses in the city's northern suburbs of Brunswick and Bundoora and a training site situated on the RAAF Williams base in the western suburb of Point Cook.

History

Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering classes in art, science, and technology, in response to the industrial revolution in Australia. It was a private college for more than a hundred years before merging with the Phillip Institute of Technology to become a public university in 1992.

Censorship research

In 2020, the university started the project Combating fake news on social media: from early detection to intervention. It intends to develop "computational approaches" and "novel solutions" to "address technical challenges for detection of fake news with scarce signals." The project will "directly benefit Australian government agencies and companies that provide social media surveillance services for law enforcement and other applications." It received a grant from the ​Australian Research Council.

Academic freedom

In December 2023, the university fired professor Andrew Timming, in what Timming said was an unlawful dismissal. The origin behind the firing was Timming criticizing double standards in the social media posts of Greta Thunberg, questioning why she was praised for a sexist remark.

The tweet in question from Timming.

After being threatened with disciplinary action and subsequently bullied, I lodged a complaint in May 2023 alleging a violation of the University’s academic freedom policy. This was the start of my nightmare.

The week after lodging my complaint, I was stood down as Professor of Management and Deputy Dean Research and Innovation and prevented from communicating with any of my colleagues. When I asked why I was being stood down, I was told that RMIT had initiated the "Termination of Employment on Grounds of Ill Health" clause (31) in our Enterprise Bargaining Agreement, in spite of the fact that, just one day before my stand down, RMIT was provided a letter from my doctor stating that "Prof. Timming is fit to carry out his usual duties now and into the future." RMIT viciously bullied me for months. It withdrew sponsorship of my Department of Defence security clearance. When the University's own doctor instructed it to return me to my role of Deputy Dean "with immediate effect," the following week I was instead sacked as Deputy Dean "with immediate effect," reverting me back to my underlying professorial appointment. When RMIT attempted to load me up with teaching that was not agreed in my work plan, I initiated the workload dispute resolution clause (38.26) in our Enterprise Bargaining Agreement. Just days before Christmas, I was sacked, allegedly for not doing the very work that I was already disputing legitimately under the Agreement.

The real reason for my termination was that I exercised a workplace right to complain about RMIT’s violation of my right to freedom of speech.

 

An Alumnus on Wikispooks

Person	Born	Nationality	Description
Alan Wrigley	19 July 1931	Australia	ASIO Director-General of Security

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