2021 National Student Safety Survey

Today, Universities Australia has released the 2021 National Student Safety Survey (NSSS) report.

The following statement can be attributed to Vice-Chancellor Professor Alex Zelinsky AO:

“At our University we are adamant that any experience of sexual assault and sexual harassment is completely unacceptable, on or off campus. Every member of our community has the right to feel safe. We are committed to ensuring a sensitive, coordinated and victim-survivor centric approach to preventing and managing incidents of sexual assault and sexual harassment.

“Over the past five years, the University of Newcastle has been working to better respond to, and support victim-survivors of sexual assault and sexual harassment. Our overall approach centres on education, and the development of a ‘culture of consent’ in the University community with the aim of preventing sexual assault and sexual harassment.

“Any experience of sexual assault or sexual harassment is a serious issue - it can impact anyone, regardless of age, race, gender identity, sexual preference, religious or cultural background. Our aim is to ensure that any person who is impacted has access to the support they need, whenever they need it.

“Our University is led by evidence-based practices in responding to disclosures and reports of sexual assault and sexual harassment and takes a sensitive and collaborative approach when managing these incidents.

“While we have made progress, we know there is more to do. The University and UNSA are committed to working with students, staff, and victim-survivors to strengthen our student safety and support initiatives and to address the issues raised in the National Student Safety Survey.”

The University of Newcastle has implemented the following measures to support the prevention of, and respond to, reports of sexual assault and sexual harassment.

• Continuing to ensure that our Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment (SASH) policies and procedures regularly reviewed and updated to ensure that any work that contributes to the prevention and response of SASH is current and that they are trauma informed and led by the needs of the victim/survivor. The University of Newcastle manages formal reports of Sexual Assault and sexual harassment under the Code of Conduct which supports the principles of natural justice for all parties.
• The University of Newcastle initiatives under our Governance, Prevention and Response frameworks are guided by our Safe and Respectful Communities Advisory and Working Groups. These teams function to develop and support practices that reflect institutional and community needs and expectations.
• Campus Care: Our Campus Care team of trained health professionals provide dedicated support to students to ensure that care and attention is provided when reports of sexual assault and sexual harassment are made, with the needs of survivors at the forefront.
• Counselling Service: We provide a range of free services, including consultations with a Wellbeing Advisor within a day or two, face to face and online counselling appointments, online drop-in sessions via Skype, after-hours phone support, and a range of resources to help students to improve their wellbeing and reach their academic potential.
• After-hours support line: This service is operated by a team of qualified crisis support specialists who can support you to find relief from distress, explore coping strategies, and find pathways to support. Available 5pm-9am weekdays and 24 hours on weekends, public holidays and university close-downs.
• Additional resources: Information on relevant support external to the University can be found on the National Student Safety Survey information page.
• Student involvement: We firmly believe that our students have a crucial role to play in informing what we do. To support this, we have included student representatives on our Safe and Respectful Communities Advisory Group. This group works to make sure the University’s policies, procedures and initiatives are trauma-informed and that our practices are victim-survivor-led.
• Consent Labs training: As the first step in a holistic sex and relationships education program being piloted in 2022, Student Living invited not-for-profit education organisation Consent Labs to deliver their peer-led sexual consent lectures and workshops to residents. 59 Residential Mentors (RMs) and over 500 residents who will live on campus in 2022 were trained by Consent Labs. Those who were unable to attend will have the opportunity to receive further consent education throughout the year.
• The Campus Care team has delivered tailored training to the team of 59 Residential Mentors that focused on responding to disclosures of sexual assault. This training focused on teaching these student leaders how to create an environment of safety and support for students.
• Resident workshops: Elephant Ed will deliver a range of workshops to residents on topics that will be determined in collaboration with the student community, including consent, relationships, safe sex and harassment and assault.
• Consent Matters module: All students, including residents, at the University are also required to complete the online Consent Matters module as part of building a safe and supportive community.
• Staff training: Our staff in key roles also receive training in responding to disclosures of sexual assault and sexual harassment, to be able to better support students who share these experiences.

Notes to editor:

• In line with global best practice and expert recommendations, the 2021 survey introduced behavioural questions, stronger measures of prevalence that enable comparison with national and international datasets, and open-ended questions allowing students to anonymously share their experiences. For this reason, prevalence rates from the 2021 survey are not directly comparable with results from the 2016 survey.
• It is important to note that in some circumstances there were not sufficient responses from University of Newcastle students to provide a published result. This is due to the requirements of the survey to be able to protect the privacy of the personal information of those students who responded.