Carol Berry (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Bill 2025 and, alongside it, the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2025. We are debating legislation shaped by the stories of students and staff who have endured the unthinkable in places that should serve as safe harbours of learning and growth. Over the last several years, evidence has shown that gender based violence—specifically, sexual harassment and violence—continues to occur in higher education settings at unacceptable rates.

Unfortunately, many students and staff don't know where to seek support or make a formal complaint to their tertiary education provider, and those who do are too often dissatisfied with the process. This is all very concerning for parents and friends of students who are worried about what their loved ones may experience during their tertiary education years. This should not be the case. Students should be able to prepare eagerly for higher education and embrace everything campus life has to offer whilst knowing they are safe and supported. At the start of each semester, students are warned about drink spiking at O-week events and told how to stay safe at campus parties and what support services are available to them. They receive training from universities on consent and how to recognise dangerous situations and safely intervene. The onus has been placed on students time and time again to keep themselves safe.

I am pleased that this bill shifts some of the accountability and responsibility to ensure safe environments onto institutions and providers of services to students. Stamping out gender based violence is everyone's business and requires a zero-tolerance approach in every context. It is in that spirit that I rise to support this bill, as it recognises the problem that we collectively face and proposes concrete action to address it. This bill is not just another piece of legislation; it is a bold step in our national journey towards ending gender based violence, especially in higher education. This bill will ensure that higher education providers prioritise safety, proactively strengthen prevention efforts and improve the response to gender based violence. It will hold them to account for their performance in responding to these issues, including, importantly, in student accommodation.

The introduction of this legislation is a key measure of the Action Plan Addressing Gender-based Violence in Higher Education agreed to by all education ministers in February last year. This government has already been responding to this plan through the establishment of the National Student Ombudsman, which commenced earlier this year. With strong powers to investigate complaints made against a university, it is a national first that will actively ensure that students' concerns are heard and acted upon. The ombudsman is just the beginning, however. Over the last several years, evidence has shown that gender based violence—specifically, sexual violence and harassment—continues to occur in higher education communities at significant rates. For too long, universities have been blind spots in our fight against gender based violence. They are places where sexual assault and harassment go underreported, where survivors feel silenced and where institutional responses are inadequate. A 2024 report from the University of Sydney revealed 231 staff and students had reported sexual misconduct in a single year, with students making up 73 per cent of reports. Yet most victims chose not to proceed with investigations, citing fears of being retraumatised and a lack of trust in existing processes.

Legislative reform must accompany social reform, as we are witnessing within the community. Across the country, students have held vigils and rallies organised to respond to this important issue that has impacted too many young lives. Students should not be left to themselves to carry this responsibility to prompt action, and it's timely for parliament to respond. These are our students, our future educators, innovators, business owners, workers and leaders. Their education should not be derailed by harassment or violence, and their safety must be non-negotiable.

What this bill does is both deliberate and decisive. Firstly, it establishes a national higher education code, which will empower the minister to set national standards and requirements for preventing and responding to gender based violence. Secondly, it makes compliance mandatory for all higher education providers registered under the Higher Education Support Act 2003. Institutions must align with the national code to maintain their approved status. Additionally, providers must also develop a gender equality action plan and gender impact assessments and provide evidence based education and training on the factors that drive and contribute to gender based violence. Thirdly, it creates robust regulatory enforcement mechanisms. The secretary of the Department of Education, through a dedicated specialist gender based violence unit, will monitor compliance with powers including civil penalties, enforceable undertakings, infringement notices and injunctions. The secretary will also be able to disclose information to the public about a provider's compliance with the code.

Fourthly, the bill imposes national standards across seven key domains: leadership and governance, safe environments and systems, knowledge and capability, safety and support, safe processes, data and impact, and student accommodation. Fifthly, it introduces accountability at the highest level. Vice-Chancellors and CEOs will be directly responsible for compliance and required to report every six months to their governing body. The gender based violence unit will publish annual operational and performance reports to both houses of parliament. Sixthly, it builds on existing work through the National Student Ombudsman and the broader Action Plan Addressing Gender-based Violence in Higher Education, a multi-pronged strategy agreed to by education ministers, outlining seven actions to transform sector culture.

The new national code is at the heart of this legislation. With the goal to ensure study, work, social and living environments are safe, respectable and inclusive for staff and students, it will draw a line in the sand against university mismanagement and failures to respond. Every student and staff member deserves to learn and work without fear. Educational institutions must be sanctuaries for the development of knowledge. There must be proper complaint systems in place that provide safety and security for affected students. In their most vulnerable moments, these students must feel there are measures in place that will respond to their needs and deliver the response they rightly deserve. Survivors must be heard, supported and empowered.

This bill ensures survivors will not be left to drift in processes that do not deliver outcomes. It ensures victims-survivors receive timely and expert responses from their institutions. This legislation will provide a pathway to justice for survivors while pursuing the end of gender based violence. Institutional leaders will be expected to actively lead change. Vice-Chancellors and CEOs will be expected to confront these issues head on. This bill ensures that addressing the crisis of gender based violence in higher institutions becomes a priority for governing bodies.

Importantly, this bill is built upon consultations with students, victim-survivor advocates, gender based violence experts, the higher education sector, student accommodation providers and a range of other government agencies. This legislation also aligns with our national plans and international commitments, including the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032. A new, specialist, gender based violence unit will be established within the Department of Education to monitor and enforce the new national code. This will collectively reduce systemic issues and proactively create safer environments within affected institutions.

This issue demands our continuing focus, and that is why the national code will require higher education institutions to provide annual data on gender based violence so that this parliament and future parliaments, along with the public, can remain informed on trends and performance. This ensures our continued attention to this matter. Further, it ensures increased data transparency and scrutiny which allow for adjustments and responses where necessary. This is not about red tape; it's about leadership. Universities already commit to excellence and will now also ensure the same commitment to safety. A whole-of-organisation approach will embed prevention at every level.

True change requires accountability, and this legislation's civil penalties and enforceable undertakings ensure that we move from symbolic gestures to actual transformation. To the supporters who fought for these changes to be implemented for so long: I thank you. I commend you for your time, your passion and your energy. I'm proud to be part of a government that listened and committed to delivering actual change for students. After extensive consultation and listening to those affected by the changes, the Albanese Labor government is pursuing these reforms to make a real difference for all students pursuing higher education. We must act now in the interest of the safety of our students. Students and staff are supportive of these changes alongside other associated stakeholders.

In the spirit of Labor values, safety, equality and fairness, I urge this House to support the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Bill 2025. Let us ensure our universities become places where students and staff thrive always, free from fear, fully supported and pursuing their futures in a safe environment.

See this speech in context