Overview

• City of Greater Bendigo chief executive Andrew Cooney committed to a 2025 review after describing the weekend as challenging.
• More than 50 speakers withdrew after a code sent days before the event required adherence to La Trobe University’s Anti‑Racism Plan and to avoid language or topics deemed “inflammatory, divisive, or disrespectful.”
• Organisers said over 60% of billed events proceeded and 35 sessions were delivered, with refunds for cancelled sessions and costs being tallied from existing budgets.
• Rights advocates and festival bodies pressed for clarity and freer debate, with the Human Rights Law Centre seeking urgent guidance on how the antisemitism clause would apply to topics such as First Nations sovereignty, feminism and critiques of Zionism.
• The Sydney Morning Herald reported the lobby group 5A urged organisers in July to reconsider the appearance of Palestinian‑Egyptian author Randa Abdel‑Fattah, and Abdel‑Fattah responded by accusing the festival and La Trobe of indulging a defamatory smear.