Charlotte Walker (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I note that this is not my first speech. I rise to speak on the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Bill 2025. This is the time of year when universities across the country are holding their university open days. Attending a university open day is an exciting experience for so many young people. It's a day when visitors see endless future opportunities before them. Campuses often feel like magical places on that day. There are talks, demonstrations, hands-on experiments and endless information stalls giving away biscuits, lollies and all forms of promotional material. Excitement is undoubtedly in the air as so many young people explore how to launch their future and expand their horizons. However, it is devastating that, for way too many young women, this journey can later turn into devastating physical and mental harm through sexual assault and rape.

Contrary to what some people believe, the threat of sexual assault hasn't rapidly diminished as the number of women attending university has increased. It is still a real and present danger for young women on campuses across Australia. Even at open days, you can hear this danger lurking, as older and past students say to prospective students, 'This study centre is open 24/7, but, if you're ever leaving here at night, make sure someone walks you off campus.' We know that one in six students report experiencing sexual harassment and one in 20 report sexual assault since starting university.

We also know that, far too often, complaints and reports of assault are being swept under the carpet. Victims are ignored, doubted or pressured into silence. This disgusting behaviour is often wrapped up in a veneer of virtue: 'You don't want people to talk about this. It will hurt your reputation,' 'He was drunk and didn't mean it. You don't want to ruin the rest of his life over that,' 'You know this college is a special place. We need to protect the reputation of all the students here,' and, 'He is a very good professor. He got carried away. He will apologise and we will reprimand him, but you wouldn't want him to never work again.' Or it is just blatantly dismissive: 'She didn't get the grades she wanted, so she put in a complaint,' 'She was pretty drunk herself,' 'There was a lot of touching going on at that party,' and, 'I'm sorry but there were no witnesses, so there's no proof.' And the worst excuse of all: 'It's just part of the culture.'

We know that the negative consequences of sexual harassment and sexual assault can last a lifetime. It can rob a woman of all the joys and benefits of her education, making attending university a millstone around her neck rather than a stepping stone to her future. Many young women living in on-campus residential halls have detailed incidents of sexual harassment, rape and stalking in their accommodation on campus, which, let's face it, is sexual harassment, rape and stalking in their homes. A number of those women have shared how their universities did not take them seriously.

It is important that we hear these voices of lived experience in this place. It is important we bring this horror out into the light. So I would like to read some of the quotes from some of the responses to the #IDeserveSafety survey detailed in the STOP Campaign's submission to the Australian Universities Accord panel in September 2023. So many respondents told the survey about their personal and horrendous experiences, like respondent No. 44:

I experienced assault as a young adolescent. I was so excited to leave my home town and attend university, live on campus and make friends. It was one of the worst experiences of my life—and that is saying something. The culture on campus was indisputably unsafe and toxic.

This doesn't just happen behind closed doors. Women report regular and repeated sexual harassment and assault in public settings. Respondent No. 22 spoke of the regular assault she experienced whilst playing sport:

I was grabbed on the arse multiple times by another residential hall's player whilst playing AFL, and goaded with "I bet you like that" …

Respondent No. 51 shared this horrible story of assault occurring in front of people:

Last year, I went to my friend's apartment to get ready for the student association's start of semester party. Here, I met her roommates, including a new student who had just started his degree. A man, who after hearing us talking about my past sexual assault, chose to drug and repeatedly sexually assault me based on what he'd just heard. I was sexually assaulted at the university bar, which was witnessed. I was sexually assaulted at another location, also witnessed. I was then raped in the public bathroom at the university residence, and the nightmare only ended when security staff asked for the door to be opened.

In case some people think we've moved past the age of 'She was asking for it,' let me quote from the experience of young women assaulted at university while they were drunk. Respondent No. 25 said:

I was so drunk I couldn't walk when it happened, but both of my perpetrators carried me back to one of their residences, where I was later assaulted by them both. I was confused and scared and felt like it was somehow my fault. It took me almost six months to come to terms with the fact that I had been assaulted.

Respondent No. 18 said:

It took me a long time to see this—

their experience—

as an assault because attitudes around drunk sex are generally that [non-consensual drunk sex] is acceptable.

I want to be clear—there are many stories like this, stories of what should be the best days of your youth turning into the worst. What makes it even worse is the betrayal by some university staff when complaints are downplayed or ignored. Respondent No. 48 said:

… countless senior staff members would regularly blame alcohol for assault and shame victim-survivors for their 'behaviour' that 'caused' them to be raped … a senior executive of the the university told 100 students in a session at our hall that students can be expect to be raped if they drink, and another Head of Hall would actively blame students who disclosed they were raped if they had had any alcohol when it happened … it reinforced harmful rape myths and stereotypes that alcohol rapes people… when in actual fact people rape people.

Respondent No. 35 said that, in response to an act of violence by another student, they immediately went for support. They said:

They turned us away and told us we would ruin her life if we went to the police. We received no support and had to figure this out ourselves, as international students in a foreign country … I ended up moving to another city because … I also wanted to get away from that educational institution who was only focused on protecting the offender to avoid bad PR.

And these students are being trained to work as professionals. Respondent 8 said:

… the university's decision to impose a mere six-month suspension for rape has left me feeling betrayed and unprotected.

Most distressing is the fact that, upon his return, he was permitted to engage in clinical placements at a hospital, working with vulnerable individuals.

And, just in case anyone thinks these are largely isolated incidents, listen to the words of respondent 3:

Almost every single woman in my life has experienced some form of sexual violence at university. A member of my family was sexually assaulted in her first year of university by someone at her college. My good friend was sexually assaulted in our first year by one of our friends … I have been harassed, grabbed and groped by men at college parties and out dancing with my university friends. I have been followed down the road to my university college at night. I have friends who have experienced sexual violence but do not recognise it as such—either because they didn't know how to characterise what has happened to them, or because they were gaslit by people around them to play it down or to let it go.

And the impact of this violence is significant. Respondents to that same survey reported the devastating consequences for them: nervous breakdowns, dropping out, failing subjects, withdrawing socially, panic attacks, PTSD, depression, losing friends, living in fear and institutional mistrust. That is why this bill is so important. This bill will force universities across Australia to take rape, sexual assault and gender based violence on campus and in residential colleges seriously.

This bill is a key measure of the Action Plan Addressing Gender-based Violence in Higher Education, which was agreed to by all Australian education ministers on 23 February 2024. Already the National Student Ombudsman, another key measure of the action plan, has been established, and it commenced operations on 1 February this year. The ombudsman gives students a place to escalate complaints about the actions or inactions of their university, including gender based violence complaints. No longer will there be nowhere to go when the university hierarchy turns a blind eye. The ombudsman is an independent body that can investigate how complaints were handled.

This bill is the next step and is about addressing the systemic approach by universities to gender based violence. This bill allows for the Minister for Education to create a national code that requires universities to address both the violence and the factors that contribute to it. They will be required to actively work to change both systems and culture in relation to violence against women on campus. Systems will need to be put in place to educate students and staff as well as listen to victim complainants and deal with complaints in a trauma informed way.

The code requires vice-chancellors and CEOs to make a whole-of-organisation plan and to report to their governing bodies every six months on the actions they are taking to implement it. Every institution must implement trauma informed complaint handling responses and train staff on how to respond to disclosures. Action plans are required to change culture and processes, as is regular reporting of incident data. And efforts to prevent and respond to gender based violence are being mandated.

There will also be a new specialist unit in the Department of Education to monitor and enforce the national code. This unit will be able to help universities meet their obligations. There will be annual reporting on the unit's operations, and this will be tabled in both houses of parliament. Critically, as well, the secretary will be able to report on whether universities are complying with the code. We know that the power to name and shame is a powerful motivator for compliance, and I hope that the very existence of the code will mean that it never has to be used.

Gender based violence is a scourge on our society and is significantly costing our country in every possible way. It costs us in mental health and wellbeing; it costs us in health and social services; it costs us in policing and justice; it costs us in productivity and talent; and, most importantly, it is stealing the positive futures of our young women. I am proud that this government has listened to the experience of so many young women and is acting on gender based violence in higher education.