Uni should do more to keep students safe

Universities need to take the issue of assault seriously, says Nina Funnell

A FREEDOM of Information investigation has revealed the University of Tasmania has handed out harsher punishments for students who plagiarise than for those accused of sexual misconduct and rape.

Working alongside End Rape On Campus Australia, Channel 7 FOI Editor Alison Sandy has conducted the largest-ever freedom of information investigation in Australian history, targeting all 39 universities for their sexual assault data.

The results show that while other universities have been willing to expel rapists from their campus for violating the student code of conduct, there has not been a single expulsion from UTAS in the past five years.

During that period there have been 18 reports of sexual misconduct, 11 of which were accusations of rape.

Punishmen ts handed out by UTAS over proven cases of sexual misconduct have included: formal warnings; 25 hours of community service; a $200 fine; and a one-year suspension of enrolment.

By contrast, in the past five years, 18 students at UTAS have been either expelled or suspended over plagiarism.

End Rape On Campus Australia is a national organisation that works to prevent sexual assault on campus while also ensuring appropriate support for survivors following assault.

We are concerned that UTAS is lagging other universities in prevention and intervention efforts.

This month, for example, EROC Australia called on all universities to commit to an annual release of the numbers of sexual assault complaints they receive, along with any discipline measures for offenders.

Sydney University was the first to jump on board, with the Vice Chancellor publicly committing to release the number of complaints annually.

They have been joined by La Trobe University, Swinburne, University of New South Wales, University of Queensland, Western Sydney University, ANU and Deakin University.

UTAS has not been willing to commit to similar levels of transparency, meaning that both EROC Australia and the media will be forced to continually use FOI legislation to compel them to be open and accountable.

This week, students at UTAS protested, and activists handed over a petition to the Vice Chancellor’s office of more than 3500 signatures asking the university to take sexual assault seriously, and expel a convicted offender from campus.

Nicolaas Bester, a convicted paedophile, enrolled as a PhD student following his release from prison, only to reoffend as a student by creating child exploitation material.

He was sentenced to another four months in prison, but the university did not consider this serious enough to expel him. Instead he has been permitted to continue his studies.

Disappointingly, this week a Supreme Court judge wrote that Bester was the victim of “vigilantism”. What rubbish. Universities have a student code of conduct for a reason.

It is not vigilantism to expect them to enforce those codes of conduct, any more than it is vigilantism for a woman to report sexual harassment to her workplace and expect the human resources department to act.

Nina Funnell is an ambassador for End Rape On Campus Australia and a Sydney-based journalist.

If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, support is available by calling 1800 572 224.