By Sarah McCrea
On February 6 2025, the ANU implemented its ‘Posting on ANU Campus’ policy. Under this policy, members of the general public have to seek approval from the university before displaying posters on campus. To display posters without needing approval from ANU, the posters must be attributed to an individual, group, or club that has created it. Posters cannot be “displayed in excessive numbers”.
If a poster does not meet these requirements, it will be taken down. The policy also states that posters “displayed in breach of the law or any ANU policy are prohibited and will be promptly removed”. All allowed posters are still removed at the end of each month.
The description states:
“This policy ensures that posters are displayed in appropriate locations maintaining the aesthetic and operational integrity of the University while supporting communication and engagement within the ANU community.”
Endorsed by both ANUSA and ‘No Cuts At ANU,’ a new student group is fighting back against this policy. The Poster Policy Working Group is a student-led subcommittee of the ANUSA Clubs Committee. It aims to have the university’s poster policy revised, calling it “draconian.”
The group plans to “unite diverse campus stakeholders” and organise “public demonstrations highlighting the absurdity of these rules”. With “petition and pressure” they demand ANU “Tear Down the Poster Policy”.
ANUSA Clubs Officer, Harrison Oates, is the convenor for the group. Speaking to Observer, he called the policy a “significant overreach” that “undermine[s] our ability to communicate freely and spontaneously”.
“They [ANU] are prioritizing a sanitized, corporate-friendly image over the fundamental rights of their community.”
Referring to the policy’s specifications on approved locations for posters and limits on poster amounts, he added that it “affects every club wanting to promote a trivia night, every band advertising a gig, every student group trying to build community”.
Regarding ANU’s poster policy description, Oates stated: “we don’t believe this rationale fully captures the impact of these changes.”
He referenced the policy’s implementation date, which “was also the same week as the heavily-postered ANUSA election period,” where “students vote[d] overwhelmingly for the ANU to divest its investments in weapons companies”.
The group raised concerns about the rule’s impact on freedom of expression and ability to partake in on-campus activism.
“A de facto restriction on advertising to only ANUSA-affiliated clubs…means that groups like No Cuts at ANU wouldn’t be able to operate effectively and build campaigns like the May 1st Student Strike.”
“[The rule of] mandatory attribution discourages participation in legitimate debate and protest for fear of personal consequences.”
Oates clarified ‘The Poster Policy Working Group’ has not yet received a formal response from the university, but he hopes the campaign will encourage ANU to “engage directly with the concerns.” At the same time, he says “we anticipate they might double down, perhaps reiterating their stated reasons about ‘aesthetics’ or ‘operational needs’”.
“Frankly, my role as ANUSA Clubs Officer should be focussed on fostering a vibrant campus life…it shouldn’t involve running activist campaigns against the university administration simply to protect the basic functions of student clubs and societies. Yet, that’s precisely the situation ANU’s recent decisions have created.“
Observer spoke to ANU about the new student committee and campaign.
A spokesperson for the university stated: “Our policies, and the way we apply them, are designed to support our people, and balance this commitment to freedom of expression with our legal responsibility to provide a safe environment for all members of our community.”
“All students and staff are free to express themselves on any issue in line with Australian law and the University’s Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech Policy.”
The university directs any feedback for the policy to [email protected].
The ANU spokesperson confirmed that, through this channel, there had been 7 pieces of feedback thus far. They stated the “majority” of this feedback was from community members looking to “ensure they’re following it [the policy] appropriately.”
They confirmed that the review date of the poster policy will continue as planned on August 6 2025.
Graphics by Shé Chani
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