University of Melbourne report reveals number of staff, students forced to leave over sexual harassment allegations
A senior academic is among six staff and students forced to leave the University of Melbourne following sexual harassment allegations.
Education
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Six staff and students were forced to leave the University of Melbourne in 2021 as a result of a new hard-line approach to combating sexual misconduct.
Professor Alan Lopez, a senior academic found likely by an independent investigator to have sexually harassed a young female colleague, also left the institution last year.
It is understood that Professor Lopez categorically denies the allegations against him.
The university’s first Sexual Misconduct Annual Report for 2021 reveals nine sexual complaints reports were made against staff, which led to five staff leaving.
Four complaints were made against students, which led to one expulsion, two suspension and one order for the perpetrator to attend a specialist training workshop.
The report is part of the university’s new push for greater transparency and accountability in handling sexual misconduct and harassment complaints.
It comes after a damning 2021 review found its processes were not “sufficiently victim-centred nor trauma-informed”.
The university was widely condemned for failing to remove Professor Lopez in 2021 and for not taking student complaints seriously enough.
The report comes amid continued allegations of sexual harassment at the leading institution, with 181 staff reporting sexual harassment during 2021 and nine making formal complaints as part of the Workplace Gender Audit.
The National Student Safety Audit also revealed four University of Melbourne students lodged formal complaints of sexual harassment last year although seven per cent of students reported sexual harassment and 1.3 per cent reported sexual assault as part of the survey.
The Sexual Misconduct Annual Report states that two of the staff members accused of wrongdoing initially tried to contest the claims through the Fair Work Commission but withdrew without settlement.
“It was made clear at conciliation that the University would not settle (either on a monetary or non‐monetary basis) and was prepared to invest in defending the matter,” the report states.
“Our ambition is for the University of Melbourne to be a place where all students, staff and visitors are safe and treated with absolute respect, and where there is no place for any form of sexual assault or sexual harassment,” it says.
Provost Nicola Phillips, who arrived at the university in September 2021 from King’s College London, said the public release of the report was “an important step forward for us as a university and helps us to be transparent”.
She said it was “heartening to see how things are changing”.
“The goal is to eradicate sexual misconduct but we have to accept it may happen – it’s what we do about it that’s important.”
Professor Phillips said under-reporting was still an issue but greater consistency and transparency would hopefully give people confidence to come forward.
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