New row over disabled film
LAWYERS for an Aboriginal woman have said they are about to launch a damages claim against the Queensland University of Technology, reigniting bitterness over a contentious PhD film project called Laughing at the Disabled .
"We're putting six figures on it," said Brisbane solicitor Stephen Kerin, who represents May Dunne. She was allegedly stereotyped as an Aboriginal drunk by the PhD project.
Mr Kerin said he would lodge a racial vilification action against the QUT and PhD student Michael Noonan in the Federal Court "within the next week or so".
This follows the failure of a conciliation attempt through the Australian Human Rights Commission.
In Mr Noonan's film two young intellectually disabled men go on a road trip and MrsDunne is among the locals they meet. According to MrNoonan, the film was an attempt to present disability in a fresh and affectionate light.
At first called Laughing at the Disabled, its title was changed to Laughing with the Disabled. It had QUT ethics approval and Mr Noonan has critics as well as supporters among disabled groups.
Yesterday Mr Noonan said he was happy to show Mrs Dunne the completed, reality television-style film and to discuss any cuts with her.
But he rejected the racial hatred claim and big money talk. He said her representatives had first asked for $50,000, then increased the demand to $100,000.
"They've accused me, multiple times, of forging her signature (on a consent form for the project)," he said. "How would I even know what her signature looked like? It's crazy. I always get consent forms."
Mr Kerin said Mrs Dunne had told him "she never gave consent".
In April last year two QUT academics, Gary MacLennan and John Hookham, wrote an article in the HES condemning the project as an unethical exercise in mockery.
A dispute on many fronts was unleashed. QUT convicted Dr MacLennan and Dr Hookham on disciplinary charges, apparently on the basis they had overstepped the limits of civil debate. They said QUT had trampled academic freedom.
The two academics responded with a Federal Court challenge, which was settled on confidential terms last October. They resigned, were cleared of misconduct charges and walked away with $200,000 each, the HES reported.
This month, key figures in the dispute -- including witnesses for Dr Hookham and DrMacLennan in the Federal Court -- have been on the receiving end of a freedom of information application seeking emails about the PhD project and affidavit material from the case. The applicant "has expressly advised me that they do not wish for their identity to be disclosed", said Sally Whitehead, QUT's FoI officer. The university's FoI policy allows this.
Dr MacLennan, who is among those affected by the application, said he supported FoI but not its anonymous use. He said he would use FoI to get the university to reveal the identity of the applicant.
"I think this is a trap for me. If I comply with (the FoI request) I could be breaching the confidentiality agreement (following the Federal Court settlement)," he said.
Mr Noonan said he was not aware of the anonymous FoI application but it was possible that his lawyer had made it in the course of gathering material for the Dunne case.