Confucius Institutes Pose Workplace Discrimination in Australia

Australian workplace employment laws could be violated as NSW State schools prepare to integrate the global Confucius Institutes (CI) network, while questions are being raised about the China-based language and culture programme.

Teachers in the CI programme are employed by the Confucius Institute headquarters in Beijing—a body known as Hanban, which is directly linked to China’s Ministry for Education. According to Hanban the aim is to promote Chinese language and culture in the West.

Hanban has pushed for the Institutes to become integrated into the overseas education institutions since 2004. There are now over 300 CIs set up at international universities across 101 countries.

In Australia there are currently 12 Confucius Institutes at universities in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. The so-called “Confucius Classrooms” will also soon be amalgamated into NSW State schools, according to the Department of Education.

However, the teacher employment provisions come with a catch. According to the Hanban hiring guidelines, the volunteer teachers are to have “no record of participation in Falun Gong” or any other organisation deemed “criminal” by the Chinese regime.

This clause would potentially rule out a range of groups that participate freely in Australian society, including various Christian churches, pro-democracy groups, or Tibetans who maintain links to the Dalai Lama.

Workplace Discrimination

Professor Andrew Stewart from Adelaide University specialises in employment and workplace law. Adelaide University incorporated the Confucius Institutes (CI) programme into its Humanities and Social Studies Faculty in March 2007.

He agrees that the employment of teachers under the CI programme to work in Australia should fall under the local anti-discrimination laws.
“Certainly discrimination laws would apply if you have a worker being hired for an Australian-based employer,” says Professor Stewart.

He believes that even if the controlling organisation is overseas, the local employers are not exempt from the legislation.
“There are a lot of people who work for multi-national companies in this country. But the entity that employs them is an Australian subsidiary—whether it’s a university or [another] organisation.”

While Professor Stewart did not wish to comment on any particular case, he agreed that there “seems to be a very legitimate question and a case to answer."

NSW Parliament Forced to a Debate

This year CI has extended its reach to NSW state schools. In July the NSW Department of Education has launched its pilot “Confucius Classroom” programme, after receiving a $220,000 handout from China.

Seven schools—two primary and five high schools—are set to be part of this trial, before CI becomes cemented into the department’s operations.

NSW State Parliament will debate this week whether these institutes should be given such a prominent place in the state’s education system.

One of the greatest problems with this programme is lack of transparency. —Greens Legislative Member of Parliament, Jamie Parker

“One of the greatest problems with this programme is lack of transparency,” says Greens Legislative Member of Parliament, Jamie Parker, who tabled over 10,000 petitions against the Institutes in September, forcing a parliamentary debate.

He acknowledges that teaching Chinese language and culture is important at state schools, but says that students should be given the choice to study a “truthful reflection of Chinese history”, when it comes to matters like the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Tibetan culture or Falun Gong.
“The question is whether or not it should be independent of foreign government and influence of Chinese Communist Party.”

Potential Legal Implications

Professor Paul Harpur, a solicitor and international employment specialist from Queensland University of Technology, poses a hypothetical situation where a student in a “Confucius Classroom” may ask about Falun Gong or other topics deemed sensitive by the Chinese Government. The teacher will give a response that may be skewed towards the Communist Party guidelines set by Hanban, which may then fall under vilification laws in Australia.

He also believes that Hanban’s discriminatory employment provisions could put local employers at risk of legal action.
“Potentially [the employer or teacher] could be sued by someone … it’s not a very nice situation,” he says.

Continued on the next page: Meteoric growth, and soft power