Leah Blyth (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Stronger Families and Stronger Communities) Share this | Hansard source

Creating a national code to prevent and respond to gender based violence in universities is, of course, a noble intention, and the coalition is supporting the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Bill 2025. I worked within universities for over two decades, and I support the approach to ensure that all students, staff, residents and visitors at university campuses are safe. It is shocking to learn from the Universities Australia 2021 National Student Safety Survey that one in 20 students reported being sexually assaulted, one in six reported being sexually harassed, over half of the respondents did not understand formal reporting processes and almost half were unaware of where to get support. It is clear that there is much work to be done in communication with staff, students and residents on the support and processes that are available to them.

There are some fundamental questions that must be answered about whether the government's approach is appropriate. This bill empowers the minister to make a national code that can lead to higher education providers losing accreditation and being subject to civil penalties if they do not comply. That is an incredibly serious consequence to threaten tertiary education providers with.

Debate interrupted.