UPDATE 10/07: One company, Sandfire Resources, has strongly denied the assessment that it is not "socially responsible" and is "doing harm". 

One big Australian university is getting rid of its investments in mining companies.

As global divestment movements encourage similar groups to stop propagating pollution, the Australian National University (ANU) says it is getting out of the resource game.

The ANU Council has officially agreed to a proposal by Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Young to divest itself of stocks in seven companies, following an independent review of ANU domestic equities.

The review, commissioned as part of ANU’s Socially Responsible Investment Policy, provided Environmental, Social and Governance Ratings on ANU-held domestic stocks.

As a result of the ratings, the University will divest its holdings in Iluka Resources, Independence Group, Newcrest Mining, Sandfire Resources, Oil Search, Santos and Sirius Resources.

The stocks to be ditched represent around 5.1 per cent of the University’s Australian equity holdings and approximately one per cent of its total investments.

The Council also agreed to outsource its management of domestic equities to an enhanced index manager.

The university says the selection of the manager will include assessment of their ability to meet the Socially Responsible Investment requirements.