Uni Lobby Warns Against Valuing Rights of Sexual Assault Victims Over Alleged Perpetrators

Australia’s universities’ lobby has said it doesn’t want the rights of sexual assault victims placed above the rights of alleged perpetrators in a proposed overhaul of how universities respond to sexual violence and safety on campus. 

A new federal plan on university campus safety has proposed a national code that would regulate how universities respond to sexual violence complaints as well as an independent watchdog to investigate student complaints and a dedicated government ombudsman role specifically for students. The proposal comes after a 2021 national student survey published by the peak body itself found one in six students said they had been sexually harassed and one in 20 said they had been sexually assaulted since they started their degrees. 

In 2023 a Senate inquiry into alarming rates of sexual violence on campuses was launched and found Australian universities’ handling of sexual assault cases was woefully inadequate and inconsistent, leaving victims traumatised, retraumatised and in many cases having to end their education. 

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare has not yet agreed to implement the changes proposed in the plan but late last year he agreed to release the proposal for public consultation. 

In a submission to the proposal the peak body for Australian universities said the proposal needed to clarify that the new measure would be in line with the national criminal justice system. 

“An effective national code would need to adequately address these complexities and recognise that universities have responsibilities to all members of the university community. This includes those making allegations, victim-survivors and alleged perpetrators,” the submission said.

“The voices and needs of victim-survivors should be prioritised, but not at the cost of ensuring principles of natural justice and procedural fairness are applied to all cases. Any attempt to do so would not survive challenge in the courts.”

The founder of End Rape on Campus Australia, Sharna Bremner, has hit back and said the proposal nor any campaign or advocate has ever argued otherwise. 

“No one has ever tried to privilege victim-survivors over perpetrators. I don’t know why that’s an argument they feel they need to make,” Bremner told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Universities Australia also argued a government watchdog could end up working against universities and be employed as an avenue for general complaints.

“The [ombudsman] risks becoming one of many options that students who are aggrieved with their university can use, giving no certainty or finality to any of the parties involved,” its submission said.

But Bremner said “students don’t want to engage with complaints processes if they don’t have to”.

“The reality is, if universities were going to do the right thing to begin with, we wouldn’t end up in a situation where students feel they have to file an ombudsman complaint,” she said.

Aleksandra Bliszczyk is the Deputy Editor of VICE Australia. Follow her on Instagram.

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