Charles Sturt University has thrown its support behind a Universities Australia initiative to address sexual assault and harassment on campus.
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CSU vice-chancellor Professor Andrew Vann said along with supporting the latest initiative, some of the guidelines that were released on Friday are already in place at the university, including at its Bathurst campus.
The guidelines, address sexual harassment and assault issues dealing with student consultation on policies, streamlining communication between students and university administration, centralising reporting and monitoring of cases, and specialist staff training.
“CSU considers student welfare and safety as one of its chief responsibilities, particularly as so many of our students may move from home to study on one of our regional or metropolitan campuses,” Professor Vann said.
“Sexual assault is a crime. It is not acceptable. It has no place at CSU.”
He said the guidelines released on Friday form part of the Universities Australia 10-point action plan and the national Respect.Now.Always. initiative, which included a national student survey funded in 2017, in which CSU participated.
Of the 803 survey respondents, who came from all of CSU’s campuses, 18 per cent said they had been sexually harassed at university and 3.3 per cent said they had been sexually assaulted on campus between 2015/16.
As a result of the survey, the Human Rights Commission made nine recommendations, all of which were adopted by CSU.
Professor Vann said among the initiatives CSU has already put in place that address the new guidelines is the Playing Right program, which aims to improve bystander response to sexual assault and harassment among students and includes compulsory two-hour, face-to-face training for students who live on campus in 2018.
It is also compulsory for students in leadership positions such as O Week Leaders and Student Representative Council members.
“This program complements our existing Consent Matters online training program for our staff and students. This details the university’s policies and procedures for dealing with cases of sexual assault and harassment, on-campus and in our communities,” he said.
For sexual assault and harassment information and support, call 1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732.