Melbourne University lecturer sacked for alleged sexual misconduct

A Melbourne University lecturer has been sacked for alleged sexual misconduct — one of four stood down this year.

A Melbourne University IT lecturer has been sacked for alleged sexual misconduct.

Associate Prof Aaron Harwood from the university’s School of Computing and Information Systems is one of four staff members dismissed so far this year “as a result of sexual misconduct”.

Assoc Professor Harwood was stood down for behaviour “in breach of the university’s Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response Policy and Appropriate Workplace Behaviour Policy”, a University of Melbourne spokesman said.

“We can confirm Dr Harwood’s employment at the University of Melbourne was terminated in September following an independent investigation, which resulted in a finding of serious misconduct,” he said.

“The University of Melbourne does not tolerate sexual misconduct and is committed to eliminating it from its community and to the safety and wellbeing of all those that experience it. We have a comprehensive program of activity designed to equip everyone to play an active role in identifying, responding to and preventing sexual misconduct. This is supported by a strong policy and governance model, and increased resources to support every member of the university community.”

Associate Professor Aaron Harwood has been dismissed.

Melbourne University says it will not tolerate sexual misconduct.

Melbourne University students took to online platform Reddit in September

querying the reason for Assoc Prof Harwood’s sudden departure.

“So recently my lecturer Aaron disappeared all of a sudden and missed one lecture. A week later I heard that he was removed already from the university. I like his lectures and fun assignment, does anyone knows what happened to Professor Aaron Harwood that he got removed that fast?” one student posted.

“I’ve not seen anyone removed that fast, he didn’t even have chance to post (an) announcement for not running (his) lecture last week,” another wrote.

Yet another posted Melbourne University had “removed all unimelb affiliated pages (even staff ones) pretty fast”.

A closed and confidential unfair dismissal remedy hearing for an Aaron Harwood versus The University of Melbourne matter was listed in the Fair Work Commission on Thursday.

CSIRO and other research blogs reveal Assoc Prof Harwood worked on projects as diverse as fingerprint authentication for smartphones, voter identification, “tuple space modelling” for big data processing and monitoring of traffic status through social media data analytics.

The university last year introduced its first standalone sexual misconduct policy.

Melbourne University introduced its first stand alone sexual misconduct policy last year, outlining its “commitment to eliminating sexual misconduct and developing a victim‐centred and trauma‐informed approach”, following an independent review of its previous policy and extensive consultation.

The review found the benefits of a stand alone sexual misconduct policy were well documented.

“This approach offers an opportunity to affirm the commitment to ending sexual misconduct at a whole‐of‐organisation level, provides a single reference point for those seeking information, and demonstrates that preventing and responding effectively to sexual misconduct are high priorities for the organisation,” a report states.