Media Coverage

ABC: ‘Student welfare’ at heart of university guidance on how to respond to sexual offences

20 Jul 18

‘Student welfare’ at heart of university guidance on how to respond to sexual offences

Natasha Robinson, ABC

Universities should train all frontline staff as first responders to sexual assault or abuse as part of measures to protect victims on campus.

That’s according to new national guidelines agreed to by the nation’s universities.

The representative body Universities Australia has officially released the guidelines today, a year after a nationwide survey by the Human Rights Commission exposed the extent of abuse on campuses.

[…]

“It’s definitely one of the strongest statements we’ve seen made in the sector to date,” Natasha Abrahams, president of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations, said.

“I think the guidelines send a very strong signal about what universities, in principal, are not willing to tolerate.

“Having said that, I think it remains to be seen at each university how processes are borne out on the ground. There’s going to be no excuse to deal with this issue poorly in the future.”

Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-20/university-guidelines-response-sexual-assault-abuse-on-campus/10014390