‘Get naked’: Students reveal horror O-Week hazing at major Qld unis

Students have shared the vile hazing rituals and “challenges” forced upon first years during and after O-Week at Queensland’s major universities. WATCH THE VIDEO

Students have shared the vile hazing rituals and challenges forced upon first years during and after O-Week at Queensland’s major universities.

Being made to eat mouldy sandwiches, having alcohol bottles strapped to their hands and being forced to strip naked in front of large crowds are among the horrendous accounts of students from universities and in college campus residences.

A University of Queensland student who was a first year or “fresher” in 2024 said while O-Week had been a dry event following widespread attention last year, the binge-drinking and hazing began on the second week they were there.

The student, who spoke under the pseudonym Daisy, said she moved into a residential college at UQ in 2024.

“As soon as O-Week ended and we started getting into normal college life, on the second week we were there it just got way over the top,” she said.

“It would be 2am on a Tuesday night and there would be people running up and down the halls yelling and screaming and vomiting.”

Hazing is reportedly a common practice at O-Week.

Daisy said there was one instance where people in her hallway had been locked in the bathroom and forced to drink until they threw up.

“It’s honestly all peer pressure and the fear of being left out and being considered not cool,” she said.

Daisy said older students would “intimidate” first years into drinking, and there was sharing of “horrendous” and “inappropriate sexual photos”.

“We would be in the dining hall eating lunch just doing normal things and students would run in and choose a fresher and be like ‘get naked and on the floor’ and he would literally be stripped down naked and everyone would just have to watch,” she said.

About a month into living there, Daisy wanted to leave.

“It was affecting my mental health to the point where I was just staying in my room because I was too scared to go out and be approached by older boys,” she said.

UQ vice-chancellor Professor Deborah Terry said the uni had undertaken “significant work to ensure a safe and respectful university community” in recent years.

“There is zero tolerance for disrespectful behaviour including bullying, sexual misconduct, or any other forms of harmful or hurtful behaviour,” she said.

She said extensive safeguards against sexual misconduct had been implemented including mandatory training for undergraduates and staff, a trained First Responder Network, and reworking policies to ensure they are clearer.

A QUT student, who went by the pseudonym of Rachel and lived in Emmanuel College at UQ from 2023 to 2024 before leaving, said when she first moved in it was “a very anxiety-inducing experience”.

Angela Lynch from Queensland Sexual Assault Network

Rachel said she got sick of drinking every week and knew “quite a few people” who had experienced some form of sexual violence.

“There’s definitely certain people at the college that we were all aware of to kind of stay away from,” she said.

Rachel said they were warned of King’s College specifically.

“I had to basically prepare the freshers for going to events during that week to not go near any King’s boys,” she said.

King’s College CEO Greg Eddy said the college had a zero-tolerance policy for sexual violence, and condemned such behaviour.

“King’s College does not tolerate hazing, binge drinking or inappropriate behaviour of any kind and we take such matters very seriously.”

Queensland Sexual Assault Network executive officer Angela Lynch said women aged 18-24 were among the most at risk groups of experiencing sexual violence.

“What we know from the sexual violence services is that generally around O-Week, they do have more reports that do come in from university students around sexual violence,” Ms Lynch said.

She said there were often “inconsistencies” with how universities responded to sexual assault.

“When they don’t respond well, it can have some major repercussions for women’s education,” she said. “For some young women, they do actually leave university and don’t complete their education because those issues haven’t been taken seriously. We need consistency across all universities to understand their obligations around providing information and making sure that the education environment is safe for all students. And for them to take that seriously.”

A university party.

A UQ graduate from 2023 under the pseudonym of Sue, stayed in a residential college at UQ from 2020 to 2022 before she left in her final year and claimed her drink was spiked at one of the parties.

“I was spiked at an exchange between my college and (another) but the boys will cover each other no matter what,” she said. “Luckily my friends were with me and got me out because I could not stand up.”

Sue said sexual harassment was kept “under wraps” and she knew a girl who left the college after being groped by another resident.

She said there were various “challenges” that could happen on any given day.

“This particular challenge didn’t involve drinking but they’d pick random people and have different bad sandwiches made with spoiled food and so one was soaked in spoiled milk and another had a random guy’s pubes on it,” she said. “And they have to finish the sandwich and everyone watches.”

FOR SUPPORT OR HELP:

1300 395 775 National Student Ombudsman

131 444 Crime Stoppers.

13 HEALTH 13 43 25 84 Statewide

Statewide Sexual Assault Helpline 1800 010 120 Statewide

1800 RESPECT 1800 737 732 Statewide

DV Connect 1800 811 811 Statewide

Victim Assist Queensland 1300 546 587 Statewide

Women’s Legal Service Queensland 1800 957 957 Statewide

Lifeline 13 11 14 Statewide

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Originally published as ‘Get naked’: Students reveal horror O-Week hazing at major Qld unis