The full statement is below.

International university collaborations are critical to address shared global challenges and prepare students for work and leadership in a connected world, and while Australian research and innovation is among the best globally, we cannot do it in isolation. 

We take our obligations around research collaborations very seriously, and will continue to follow all Australian Government’s guidelines and requirements on countering foreign interference.

We’ve also introduced our own guidelines to ensure all research partnerships comply with Australian laws, including sanctions and export controls, and initiated a review earlier this year to respond to evolving geo-politics and reinforce our expectations around international collaborations with our community. 

Academic trip to Iran

While we are limited in what we can publicly say given our privacy obligations to staff, we are keen to address recent reporting about an academic who travelled to Iran last year.

In our 2025 annual report, we provided relevant information on international travel in line with the NSW Government’s Treasury and Policy Guidelines, including record of a single instance of an academic travelling to Iran last year. 

We confirm the academic has no background or research ties in STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) or defence.

The visit to Iran formed part of a broader trip which also included plans to attend a conference in Turkey, scheduled meetings and a portion of annual leave. 

As standard we don’t allow University-related travel to destinations with ‘do not travel’ advice.

Global tuberculosis research

Media reports have also referred to a clinical research project supporting global efforts to tackle tuberculosis.

Under proposed data-sharing agreements, University researchers would have received anonymised patient data on drug‑resistant TB for analysis, responding to a World Health Organisation identified evidence gap. No data was to be shared with any Russian or Belarusian institutions.

We proactively notified the Foreign Arrangements Branch about proposed agreements including with a Russian university and a Belarusian medical research centre, but no work with these institutions proceeded and no data was shared following government advice.

All steps were taken in line with government processes.

Examples of our research collaborations

At Sydney our institutional partnerships focus on innovative and impactful research across health, technology, food production and more – and our researchers also have academic freedom to collaborate internationally on projects that are conducted in line with Australian laws, government guidelines and our own policies and codes of conduct. 

Our overseas collaborative research funding relates to approximately 500 research projects and is sourced from industry partners, government funding bodies and research councils and philanthropic foundations.  

Collaborating researchers are disclosed on projects and funding coming to Australia from international companies or institutions for consultancies and as partners on industry grants. 

Our comitment to research governance

We support proposed reforms to the Foreign Arrangements Scheme, and remain committed to conducting research that delivers public benefit while maintaining strong governance and ensuring all international collaborations align with Australian laws and national interest.