A major report by Human Rights Watch has exposed the growing influence of Chinese nationalism at Australian universities.

Human Rights Watch interviewed 24 pro-democracy Chinese international students and 22 academics and heard accounts of Chinese state police allegedly attempting to enlist a student to spy on the Australian Muslim Uighur community and academics who spoke of in-class surveillance.

The report has prompted university leaders to concede more needs to be done to protect international students from Chinese government surveillance on campus.

Federal political reporter Lisa Visentin has seen the report and she joins Nathanael Cooper on Please Explain to tell us more about it.