Adelaide Uni lecturer wondered if accused Professor was too drunk to realise what he was doing

An academic who alleges she was sexually assaulted while drunk by an Adelaide Uni colleague has told a tribunal she wondered if he was also too intoxicated to realise what he had done.

An academic who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a top colleague while drunk wondered if he was also too intoxicated to realise what he was doing, a tribunal has heard.

On Tuesday, University of Adelaide lecturer Dr Giang Thu Nguyen continued giving evidence in the SA Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

She said that, following a drunken sexual encounter with Professor Joshua Ross at a three-day maths retreat, she struggled to understand what had happened to her.

Dr Nguyen agreed she had sent a text message to a friend saying she had read a “striking” sentence online saying: “Chances are if you’re wondering ‘was it rape?’ then it probably was.”

“I didn’t realise people would Google ‘was I raped’, it’s not a nice thing to Google,” she said.

Jane Abbey, for the university, asked Dr Nguyen if she had been researching the issue of consent.

“I wondered, if I was too drunk to realise Josh was raping me, then maybe he was too drunk to realise he was doing it?,” Dr Nguyen replied.

“You are all lawyers here, you know that in a criminal case there would be the question of consent and the question of intent.

“My question for myself, at that time, was if Josh was too drunk to realise he was raping me, how could it be said he had the intent to rape me.”

Dr Giang Thu Nguyen arrives at the tribunal hearing. Picture: Dean Martin

Dr Nguyen is seeking $1m compensation, asserting she was sexually harassed by Prof Ross at a three-day maths retreat and that the university failed to properly investigate.

She asserts she was too drunk to consent when she and Prof Ross had sex, and retains only “flashes of memory” of the incident.

Prof Ross, whom SA Police declined to charge, has denied the allegations and asserted Dr Nguyen was a “willing and consensual partner”.

The university has stood by its investigation.

On Tuesday, Dr Nguyen became visibly distressed when asked when she came to believe she would be unable to recover further memories of the night.

She said that, a few days after the sex, she had asked a rape counsellor if her recollection would return and had been advised “probably not”.

“I spent the next whole week trying to think about my memories,” she said.

“If I’m to be honest, I’ve spent the past two and a half years trying to remember, but I just can’t.”

The hearing will resume for further evidence in late May or early June.