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The University of Sydney has come under fire from a political party for bowing to pressure from nationalist group the Great Aussie Patriot, run by Reclaim Australia's national event organiser, Sherman Burgess.

The Socialist Equality Party [SEP] planned to hold a meeting at the university on April 26 to discuss the "glorification and militarism of Anzac day", but was informed by the university that the "potential for disruption to access on campus was unacceptable," according to SEP national secretary James Cogan.

Last week Sydney University's vice-chancellor Michael Spence talked of his vision for the university as "that of a forum for the free debate of difficult and often confronting ideas", after protests marred a public lecture by controversial academic Dr Richard Kemp.

"We must be a place in which debate on key issues of public significance can take place, and in which strongly held views can be freely expressed on all sides," he said. "This vision of the function of a university is one often as unpopular with those of the political left as those of the political right."

Mr Cogan accused the university of hypocrisy on Sunday. "It makes an absolute mockery of its claim to represent freedom of speech," he said.

A spokeswoman for the university said that there was a clash with other events scheduled for that day.

"The university also received security advice that holding this event posed a risk of disruption to events on campus and could affect the safety of students and staff," she said.

The university is the second venue to have cancelled the SEP's booking after Burwood council also informed Mr Cogan that the meeting could no longer take place in the Burwood Library Auditorium following "a number of complaints from residents about the nature of the meeting".

The complaints appear to have emerged from a Great Australian Patriot thread which posted a picture of a flyer promoting the debate and encouraged all members to "gatecrash the meeting" and make complaints to Burwood council amid calls for the "traitors to be deported".

The group also appears to be targeting a similar meeting on the history and politics of Anzac Day due to be held in Melbourne on Wednesday.