Fury over rates of sexual violence at unis as peak body unable to commit to fresh survey

The chair of the peak body representing Australian universities has not committed to running another survey to gauge the rates of sexual violence on campus.

Frustration over inaction on sexual violence on campus has boiled over as the peak body was unable to guarantee if it would fund fresh research into the matter.

The 2021 National Student Safety Survey found one in 20 students had been sexually assaulted since starting university.

One in six reported being sexually harassed.

The survey was funded by Universities Australia and was to be repeated every three years, as recommended in landmark 2017 report by the Australian Human Rights Commission.

But chair David Lloyd was unable to commit to running it in 2024 when asked during an appearance at the National Press Club on Wednesday.

Mr Lloyd was asked about the results of a student safety survey at the Press Club on Wednesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“Personally I am of the view the survey give us an indication of where the issues are but they’re not actually linked to the actions and outcomes that we have,” he said.

The NSSS was run in 2021 and has received criticism for being run during the period of Covid lockdown when a majority of students were not on campus.

Mr Lloyd’s speech coincided with the appointment of the chief of the violence against women prevention organisation, Our Watch, to head up a review into sexual assault on campus.

Patty Kinnersly will lead the working group tasked to provide advice on how universities can create safer campuses for students and staff, which will begin work next week.

Education Minister Jason Clare on Wednesday slammed the sector for not doing enough to curb violence on campus.

“The actions universities have taken to address sexual assault and harassment on campuses to date have not been good enough,” he said.

“We have the research. We have the evidence. We have to act. It is clear that university governing bodies must do more.”

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley said more must be done to ensure universities were required to publish data in relation to complaints of student safety, including sexual assaults.

Mr Clare said the status quo was not good enough. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“Without data, progress is uncertain and evidence-based policies to combat this serious issue are much harder to formulate,” she said.

“More research into campus sexual assault and the effectiveness of different prevention strategies is essential if we are to ensure all students are safe on campus.”

The issue formed part of the Universities Accord interim report. It heard evidence the existing approaches to reduce the incidence of sexual assault and harassment on campus was “inadequate”.

The final report, which is looking at reforming the higher education sector, will be handed back to the government at the end of the year.

Mr Lloyd welcomed Ms Kinnersly’s appointment and said he had “no issue” with the statements made by the minister.

“We have a significant issue in our institutions which we have to step up on and be accountable for and we cannot do enough to actually engage to deliver better outcomes for our students,” he said.

He said Ms Kinnersly would be able to give the peak body “hard evidence-based interventions” to better student outcomes.

The peak body has been under fire in recent weeks after it dropped a $1.5m campaign on consent.

It said, instead, it would hold a sector-wide “Respect at Uni” week.

Asked if he could say if it would go ahead next year, Mr Lloyd said it was being considered by university leaders on Wednesday.

“We meet after this so the vice chancellors will be having that discussion later on,” he said at the Press Club in Canberra.

Originally published as Fury over rates of sexual violence at unis as peak body unable to commit to fresh survey