Question – University of Tasmania Employment Contracts & Deeds of Settlement
Questions asked by the Hon Meg Webb MLC on 22 March 2022 and answered by the Government on 28 April 2022.
Question 1 – With regard to staff resigning, separating and/or taking redundancies from employment at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) recently, can the Government:
1(a) confirm that UTAS staff have been required to sign Deeds of Settlement containing confidentiality and/or non-disparagement clauses; and
1(b) if so,
(i) clarify whether Deeds of Settlement containing confidentiality and/or non-disparagement clauses are a standard practice at UTAS or any other educational institutions established under state legislation;
(ii) confirm how many former staff were required to sign Deeds of Settlement containing confidentiality and/or non-disparagement clauses upon leaving UTAS employment for the period of the last 5 years, including the College or Department in which they had been employed at the time of employment termination; and
(iii) advise what legal assistance is provided to staff at the time of negotiating Deeds of Settlement?
Answer: The questions relate to the operations of the University of Tasmania and to matters that are ultimately the responsibility of the University Council.
Question 2 – With regard to employment contracts for staff at UTAS, can the Government:
2(a) confirm whether confidentiality and/or non-disparagement clauses are currently written into employment contracts at UTAS as a standard practice;
2(b) advise the current number of UTAS staff with confidentiality and/or non-disparagement clauses included within their employment contracts; and
2(c) advise whether the use of NDAs and confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses and their potential negative impact upon academic freedom of speech, and the reputation of UTAS amongst the Tasmanian community, are consistent with the cultural and social obligations as stipulated under the University of Tasmania Act 1992?
Answer: The questions relate to the operations of the University of Tasmania and to matters that are ultimately the responsibility of the University Council.
Response from UTAS Vice-Chancellor, Professor Rufus Black:
See more of Meg’s Questions to Parliament.
