The National Tertiary Education Union has set up a group dedicated to monitoring the effects of the controversial Defence Trade Controls Act on academia.
The union was among those to express concern last year that the legislation could restrict the work of academics by classifying military research as an intangible export—thus hampering their ability to communicate their work to international colleagues.
In response to the critics, the government has agreed to allow a group led by the chief scientist to monitor implementation of the legislation. The NTEU committee will liaise with this group based on information gathered from members about their experiences of the new rules.