Sacked professor plans defence union for whistleblower academics

One of Australia’s most eminent neuropathologists is raising funds to establish a whistleblowers’ union after he was sacked from the University of Sydney.

Manuel Graeber was dismissed on 3 November after the university suspended him in August. Professor Graeber claims the institution fabricated misconduct allegations against him after he lodged a public interest disclosure (PID) in 2021 criticising management.

He says the disclosure of “alleged criminal misconduct” was one of many complaints he pursued on colleagues’ behalf in his role as president of the University of Sydney Association of Professors (Usap). In 2022 he issued a vote of no confidence in Sydney’s chancellor and vice-chancellor over the institution’s “totally inappropriate handling” of the PID.

“Until this day, there has been no…truly independent investigation,” he said, adding that the university’s reprisals had been discounted in a “factually highly incorrect” audit report. “My termination is an attempt to continue the cover-up of management wrongdoing in my opinion,” he told Times Higher Education.

In October, lobby groups Public Universities Australia and the Australian Association of University Professors republished a Usap statement condemning Professor Graeber’s suspension as “seeming retribution” for his public disclosures.

The university said it could not comment on individual matters due to privacy obligations. But it said staff and students were free to express their opinions, including views about the university. “We strongly refute any suggestion we would take action against a staff member for simply doing that,” a spokeswoman said.

She said Sydney had a “clear mechanism” for raising concerns about management. “We protect those who speak up from detriment, in line with our policies and legislation. We don’t take any disciplinary action lightly,” she added. “All matters are carefully considered and managed in line with our policies and procedures.”

Professor Graeber said he has been targeted twice for blowing the whistle on university misconduct. In 2007 he resigned as founding chair of neuropathology at Imperial College London after attracting disciplinary proceedings over his complaints about the administration of a brain tissue bank.

Two years later he won a £63,500 payout after an employment tribunal ruled that Imperial had not followed correct procedure in disciplining him, and had never adequately explained the retrospective alterations to brain bank documentation that had initiated his complaints. The tribunal also heard that his disputes with colleagues had preceded the complaints and found “legitimate concern” about his conduct.

Professor Graeber has aired his concerns with the University of Sydney administration in political probes including an inquiry into the University of Tasmania’s legislation. He told Tasmanian parliamentarians that managerial abuse was “rife at our universities” and persecution was the “typical response” to complaints about management misconduct. “Australian whistleblower laws do not provide any relevant protection,” he said.

He also accused the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption of “collusion” with university management after it refused to investigate “several serious University of Sydney cases”. The commission has denied the claim.

His fundraising campaign, accessible via his website, seeks A$500,000 (£263,000) to establish an academic defence union. “There is no such support for academics at present,” it explains.

Professor Graeber told THE that Sydney’s professed adherence to whistleblowing legislation was “a trap for duty-bound reporting. The public needs to be warned about the fundamental lack of probity at our university due to a lack of governance. There needs to be a thorough and truly independent investigation of the management of our university.”

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com