Respect@ANU

Content warning: This webpage contains information about harmful behaviours including sexual assault, sexual harassment and racism which may be distressing for some people. For support, contact Student Safety and Wellbeing or the Staff Respect Consultant.

About this page

ANU is a diverse and inclusive community made up of students and staff from a range of backgrounds and with varied life experiences. We are committed to providing a safe, respectful and inclusive environment for our community on our physical campuses as well as online. 

We are continuously working to achieve a culture that is free from harmful behaviours including sexual and gender-based violence and racism. Our holistic response to prevention covers three key areas:

Governance, strategy and action plan

  • The University established the Student Safety and Wellbeing Committee in 2022. The Committee reports directly to the ANU Council and is charged with monitoring and advising Council on the University's management of matters concerning the safety and wellbeing of students enrolled at the University.
  • Key actions the University is undertaking to support student safety and wellbeing can be found in our second action plan – the Student Safety and Wellbeing Plan (2024-2026). Our first action plan can be found here. 
  • The Student Safety and Wellbeing Steering Group, which includes student representatives, meet monthly and support the monitoring, implementation and evaluation of the Plan. 
  • The University also has a Sexual Violence Prevention Strategy (SVPS) as well as a suite of policies and procedures to support the strategies and plans. These include the Sexual Misconduct Policy and new procedure for dealing with reporting.

Prevention and response

  • The University has a dedicated prevention, education and harm-minimisation unit within the Inclusive and Respectful Communities team. The team leads sustainable cultural change through evidence-based education and professional services as well as supporting the development and monitoring of the University’s equity, diversity and inclusion strategies.
  • The University has a Harmful Behaviours Disclosure tool which facilitates for students and staff to make an identified or anonymous disclosure of a harmful behaviour they have experienced, witness or being made aware of. Identified disclosures are responded in a trauma-informed and person-centred manner by staff of the Student Safety and Wellbeing team or the Staff Respect Consultant.
  • The Harmful Behaviours page provides further information and access to support and the harmful behaviours disclosure tool.
  • The University has dedicated response services for students and staff. These services provide information and coordinate support for anyone who has experienced a harmful behaviours – for students, services are provided through the Student Safety and Wellbeing unit and for staff through the Staff Respect Consultant. Services are free and confidential.

Commitment to transparent communication

  • The University has an ongoing commitment to improving institutional transparency and accountability about incidents of harmful behaviours. 
  • Since 2022, we have published a report into incidents of sexual assault and sexual harassment that have impacted our students and have been disclose or reported to the University. The latest report can be found under the documents section in this page.
  • The University has responded to multiple student reports including from the ANUSA Women’s Officer and ANUSA BIPOC Department. These reports can be found under the relevant sections below. 
  • Under the SVPS, the University undertakes yearly external reviews of the progress achieved under the Strategy. The latest report and its recommendations can be found under the documents section in this page. 

Racism and discrimination

The ANU is committed to providing a studying, working and living environment that is free of racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia and other forms of discrimination, In 2022, after signing the Australian Human Rights Commission campaign ‘Racism. It Stops With Me.’, ANU established the Anti-Racism Taskforce led by Professor Sujatha Raman.

The Taskforce conducted consultations and undertook research in relation to the prevention of and response to racism and racial discrimination in university spaces.

The Anti-Racism Taskforce report was released in September 2023 outlining recommendations to be considered over three phases.

Governance

Prevention and response

  • In February 2024, the University expanded its Disclosures tool, previously used only for disclosures of sexual assault and sexual harassment to include disclosures of other harmful behaviours including Racism (not limited to race, religion, ethnicity, home country or language spoken, antisemitism or Islamophobia)
  • The Inclusive and Respectful Communities team in liaison with its Peer Educators have developed anti-racism posters distributed to on-campus residences. They are working on the inclusion of anti-racism and bystander education for student leaders in residences. 
  • The Student Safety and Wellbeing team and Staff Respect Consultant provide holistic support and information for those members of the community impacted by racism and discrimination. 

Commitment to transparent communication

 

Gender-based violence

  • The University has taken progressive steps to meet the recommendations found within the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Change the Course Report and the ANU Sexual Violence Prevention Strategy (SVPS). 
  • We’re developing a regular student forum which includes senior members of the University to continually gauge student insights on what is working and where we need to improve.   
  • In August 2023 we partnered with the Gendered Violence Prevention Strategy Research Network (UNSW) to undertake a mid-review of the Sexual Violence Prevention Strategy. The outcomes of the review can be found here.

Governance:

Sexual Misconduct Policy

Human Rights Commission’s Change the Course Report

ANU Sexual Violence Prevention Strategy (SVPS) 2019-2026

Student Safety and Wellbeing action plan 2024-2026

Prevention and response

  • In January 2023, the Rights, Relationships and Respect program launched. This is an education program which introduces new students at ANU to core concepts about consent and respectful relationships and is mandatory for students living in residence.
  • The program was evaluated by the ANU POLIS: The Centre for Social Policy Research in 2024. A copy of the evaluation report can be found here.
  • Released the ANU sexual violence prevention toolkit, a practical guide to help implement change across all areas of ANU. 
  • Implemented the Residential Community Safety Officer program across residences to add additional safety and support to our residential students after hours. 
  • Launched in May 2024 a Rights Relationships and Respect module program for HDR students and HDR supervisors.
  • The University has dedicated response services for students and staff. These services provide information and coordinate support for anyone who has experienced a harmful behaviours – for students, services are provided through the Student Safety and Wellbeing unit and for staff through the Staff Respect Consultant. Services are free and confidential.

Commitment to transparent communication

The documents, communication and reports below demonstrate our ongoing commitment to improving institutional transparency and accountability about incidents of sexual assault and sexual harassment on campus. Read below to find out what the university has done in response.

 

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Documents

Website links

Contact