Australian universities could employ specialist staff to help sexual assault victims – as one in five students report harassment
- Universities have been urged to change the way they tackle sexual assault
- Released by Universities Australia, the new guidelines centre on student safety
- Included in the recommendations are training specialist staff to aid in reporting
- A recent report revealed one in five students has experienced sexual harassment
Universities have been urged to change the way they deal with sexual harassment, with new measures including training specialist staff in a bid to protect victims.
The guidelines follow a damning report which last year revealed one in five students experienced sexual harassment at Australian universities in 2016.
Universities Australia, who released the suggestions, said the new procedures will put ‘student safety and wellbeing at the centre of a university’s response’ to reports of sexual assault, abuse and harassment.
The guidelines follow a damning report which last year revealed one in five students experienced sexual harassment at Australian universities in 2016
Included in the measures are a stand-alone policy to address the problem along with recommending there should multiple ways to make a formal report.
Universities are also urged to minimise the number of times a student has to recount a traumatic experience as well as streamlining arrangements for academic special consideration.
Other recommendations included providing a specialist-trained single point of contact for students making reports to ensure processes are ‘compassionate, consistent and robust’.
According to Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson, the guidelines are part of an overhaul to how universities tackle sexual assault and harassment.
Other recommendations included providing a specialist-trained single point of contact for students making reports to ensure processes are ‘compassionate, consistent and robust’
‘The whole point of these guidelines is to remove barriers to reporting,’ Ms Jackson said.
Universities Australia CEO Catriona Jackson (pictured) said ‘the whole point of these guidelines is to remove barriers to reporting’
‘Every single one of the recommendations in this set of guidelines is about attempting to encourage and support people in making those enormously painful but very important disclosures.’
‘Every student should feel — and be — safe, both on campus and in the wider community.’
Last year Australia’s 39 universities were rocked after a Human Rights Commission report exposed rampant sexual behaviour occurring on the country’s campuses.
It found that one in 10 female university students had been sexually assaulted in the past two years.
Additionally, only four per cent of students believed their university was doing enough to support victims.
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