The ideological capture of Australian libraries

One man's fight for freedom of belief and speech at work.

Declan Mansfield, Library Clerk who was pushed out of a job he loved

Declan Mansfield, a library clerk who worked for 15 years at the Armadale library in Perth, Western Australia, left his job late last year after being bullied for holding his own philosophical and political beliefs. The mandatory Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training brought into the open the desire to impose ideological conformity on employees.

After being assured by his manager that the course was not ‘ideological’, Mansfield agreed to attend but following the three-hour session - found it to be a perfect example of ‘propaganda’.

So, what is DEI training and how has it taken over so many institutions across Australia?

A Billion Dollar Industry paid for by taxpayers

In 2024, DEI training in Australia was worth $1.3b - with both federal and state governments mandating training for public workers that prioritises a person’s identity over their skills and their ‘lived experience’ over their expertise. Employees are categorised into ‘oppressor’ and ‘oppressed’ groups, based on their immutable characteristics such as sex and race.

DEI promotes reverse discrimination in hiring and promotion for those in the ‘oppressed’ group in order to make up for any ‘past discrimination’ these individuals may have experienced.

DEI promotes the belief that employees in the ‘oppressor’ group suffer an unconscious negative bias toward employees in the ‘oppressed’ groups. This is an unfalsifiable claim that is not backed up by any scientific evidence and risks false accusations, psychological harm and the erosion of trust between employees.

While The Aristotle Foundation’s 2024 literature review of hundreds of studies (1930s-2020s) concluded DEI training is “divisive, counter-productive, and unnecessary,” and often worsens intergroup relations.

The words diversity, equity and inclusion themselves have a double meaning – a surface or commonly understood meaning and a hidden meaning - here’s a brief explanation of both:

Diversity - employees from all walks of life with different opinions, views and political views are valued.

Hidden meaning: employees who look different but share the same social, cultural or political beliefs are valued.

Equity - employees are hired and promoted based on merit, capability, experience and competence.

Hidden meaning: it’s necessary to practice reverse discrimination by lowering standards to hire or promote those from ‘marginalised’ groups to ‘make up for’ past injustices.

Inclusion - everyone’s opinion is sought, respected and has equal value.

Hidden meaning: an organisation must be a ‘safe space’ and must restrict speech or silence opinions that might cause ‘offense’ to those who are ‘marginalised’.

Mansfield is a published journalist who writes regularly for the Spectator magazine and was well versed in the ideological foundations and impacts of DEI training and said:

I have read extensively about DEI and believed it prioritises group loyalties over individual rights, which I found fundamentally unfair, especially in how it selects certain groups for favour while excluding others.

Following his participation on the course, Mansfield wrote an article for the Spectator magazine about his concerns of the impact of DEI training in public institutions.

While the course was framed as anti-bullying training, Mansfield argued it was itself a form of bullying where course attendees had to publicly agree or disagree with a set of questions — one of which related to using preferred pronouns:

We then had to publicly call out our answers, which I refused to do. I told the presenter it was a form of bullying. Outing a person’s private beliefs in a work setting, when those beliefs go against the official ideology, is bullying.

Mansfield’s own philosophical beliefs are those of classical liberalism that promotes individual rights, merit-based achievement, equal opportunity, viewpoint diversity, free speech and institutional neutrality. Mansfield said:

I believe that government institutions, local government in particular, need to be politically and philosophically neutral; diversity, equity and inclusion and its subcategory, you could say, of transgender ideology or gender ideology, is not politically neutral.

While there were negative comments about the article these were part of a sustained campaign of hostility and gossip started months earlier. Mansfield was put through a highly stressful but bogus disciplinary procedure, labelled a ‘transphobe’ and accused of being ‘bigoted.’

But the final straw was being told that everything Mansfield did would be monitored and that the library could terminate his employment at any moment: “I also thought I can’t work under people who would do this to me.”

Queering the Catalogue

While many employees at the library were apolitical, there was a small group of what ‘zealots.’

Two members of staff had a very deliberate conversation in front of me where one of them was explaining to the other, with the other’s enthusiasm, that this person’s ambition was to ‘queer the library’ which has a philosophical meaning not necessarily linked to being gay or something like that, it’s a political thing.

This led to customer reservations being cancelled and the mis-shelving or hiding books critical of gender identity ideology including Helen Joyce’s book, “Trans, when ideology meets reality.”

“In at least one instance, a book was removed from the library entirely, and the issue was covered up with no action taken.”

Gender identity ideology denies that humans are a dimorphic species; believes sex is a social construct and children can be ‘born in the wrong body.’

Hiding books at the back of the shelves

Helen Joyce’s book “Trans” provides a compelling analysis of the history and impact of gender ideology on vulnerable LGB youth and the erosion of women’s sex-based rights. A book that has drawn the ire of trans rights activists along with others such as Abigail Shrier’s book “Irreversible Damage”

During a recent visit to Melbourne, Joyce said that her book is often removed from the shelves in order to make it inaccessible to readers in libraries, bookshops and universities.

A woman put in a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to find out why Trans had been removed from the library at the University of Swansea to the off-site stacks several miles away and if this had ever happened to another book. After many weeks, the woman received a short reply from the library that said - Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler.

Joyce spoke about the fact that Declan’s case is critical for Australia and may well be its breakthrough ‘Forstater’ case – which was an employment tribunal case won on appeal by a UK woman called Maya Forstater in 2021. In the judgement it was ruled that Forstater’s belief that sex is biological and immutable is a protected philosophical belief under equality law underlying UK citizens’ right to freedom of belief and expression.

History Repeating Itself

Censoring ideas by banning, burning and removing books has a long and dark history -from the 1933 Nazi book burnings of writers deemed “un-German” to China’s Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) where the Red Guards destroyed countless books, deemed “bourgeois” to enforce ideological adherence.

Censorship at the Armadale library itself comes straight out of DEI ideology in which who are considered ‘marginalised’ need to be protected from views that might cause offence. Over time, the atmosphere at work deteriorated to such an extent that Mansfield said:

We would meet secretly among the shelves, glancing around and even checking under shelves to ensure no one could overhear. These were ordinary conversations, but people approached me covertly because they knew I had written about these issues. They would ask me what certain terms meant or what was happening. I wasn’t seeking to cause strife or stir debate; people came to me with their concerns.

The library launched two parallel investigations - one regarding the DEI training and the other, a bogus accusation of bullying and harassment.

I knew, to put it bluntly, that they were after me and they’d already displayed a complete disregard for what I would consider civilised norms, so I knew what they were capable of.

I had planned to spend my entire career at the front desk, even past retirement age, but I felt compelled to resign. It wasn’t a choice; it was more like being forced out.

With the help of the Free Speech Union (FSU), Declan Mansfield has launched legal action before Western Australia’s State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) against the City of Armadale for unlawfully discrimination due to his political beliefs.

FSU Director, Reuben Kirkham said the case highlighted a growing problem in government workplaces across the country:

Declan’s case is about something bigger than one man’s treatment. It’s about the right of every Australian to hold and express political opinions without fear of punishment from their employer.

Please consider contributing to the legal fund to support Declan’s fight for free speech that, if successful will protect every Australian’s right to freedom of speech and belief.

freespeechunion.au/supportdeclan

Follow Declan Mansfield on X @DecMansfield

Follow the Free Speech Union on X @FSUofAustralia and consider becoming a member.