Zoe Daniel (Goldstein, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

In August last year I attended the IDeserveSafety campaign launch to discuss institutional failings in responding to sexual violence on campus. After listening to the student survivors and their advocates, I happened to be in a meeting with the Minister for Education. I asked him to meet these young women, to hear their stories of issues on university campuses and to prioritise the issue of student safety. To his credit, the minister agreed to a meeting that afternoon, and we now see a national student ombudsman being appointed. This is a great outcome.

Student survivors have been publicly bearing their wounds for 60 years. Damning evidence from the 2021 National Student Safety Survey revealed systemic institutional neglect and consistent failures in addressing complaints of gender based violence at Australian universities. Issues of safety on campus are regularly flagged by constituents in my electorate—particularly from within the Gen Zoe youth group, who share heartbreaking stories of systemic failures and institutional betrayal. Their grievances are not new or uncommon.

The 2021 survey found that one in three university students in Australia have experienced sexual assault. Fifty per cent did not know how to report sexual violence and 74.5 per cent of victims-survivors did not seek help from their universities. These statistics are indicative of the severe institutional failures in addressing sexual violence at Australian universities. The gross lack of transparency, accountability and effective reporting mechanisms puts the onus on students who have been subjected to abuse and harm to attempt to pursue justice.

However, this issue cannot be articulated and understood with just numbers. This is about young people's lives. In support of Fair Agenda, End Rape on Campus and the STOP Campaign, I, with others, have been pushing for an independent body to identify and respond to systemic issues and gender based violence on campus. This request aligns with calls from students with lived experience for a national student ombudsman to increase accountability and transparency.

The current complaints process is horrific and unacceptable. Right now, there is no functional complaints mechanism for students at a higher education provider regarding any aspect of their higher education. Right now, there is no compulsion for self-regulating universities to implement good practices and to safeguard students from gender based violence. There is no nationally consistent process at all. Self-regulating universities cherrypick policy recommendations and have markedly different processes, depending on the campus. They handle complaints filed by student survivors of sexual violence in lengthy, secretive and unsatisfactory processes that retraumatise students. In the heartbreaking words of one student, 'Features that were designed to protect us instead facilitated more harm.'

The institutional betrayal and resulting mistrust leaves students feeling disheartened, abandoned and retraumatised. This is best personified by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, TEQSA, the current national higher education regulator. TEQSA processes are in many ways convoluted and unintelligible. They reduce victims-survivors' traumatic experiences to mere concerns. They can take years to respond, and if they don't find any institutional failures they don't publicly report them. One student described the process as a 'kind of purgatory that destroys a person'. TEQSA, 871 days after the complaint, communicated an impersonal and deeply unsatisfying outcome in a joint conclusion with another case. The student said: 'The person I've become seems unrecognisable. I resent every single change that has happened to me. Any growth is tainted by the damage it exists with, and there is so much damage.'

According to the STOP Campaign, the experiences of LGBTQIA+ students and students with disability are appallingly overlooked and minimised. For example, post-assault services geared towards cisgender women meant a trans masculine-presenting person was denied access after being assaulted on campus. When they reported the assault, the university refused to cater to them and allow them to participate in the complaints process. They faced discrimination throughout the process and their report was dismissed, forcing the survivor to live with the perpetrator for a month following the assault.

According to End Rape on Campus, TEQSA has never made an adverse finding against any university despite uncovering many shortcomings. Consequently, this actively discourages students from taking action. This distressing level of neglect is shocking. These institutions are meant to protect people. Universities are meant to foster learning and growth, yet these stories paint a sinister picture of the reality of campus life and the untold trauma that too many students have suffered for decades. This bill, the Universities Accord (National Student Ombudsman) Bill 2024, is an attempt to change that.

It's hoped that establishing a national student ombudsman will be transformative for survivors and will finally hold universities responsible for the wellbeing and the safety of their students. It will address student complaints throughout our higher education system, spanning campuses nationwide, ensuring robust reporting provisions, transparency and genuine accountability. The ombudsman promises a vastly improved complaints mechanism, addressing not only gender based violence but all aspects of student welfare including discrimination, racism, varying academic needs and disability support. Universities will finally be penalised for ignoring their responsibilities. As End Rape on Campus says, 'Students will now have an independent body on their side. However, we cannot be complacent.

I acknowledge that the second piece of this legislation, the national code, is well underway. Its implementation will help ensure there are clear and nationally consistent standards for responding to gender based violence, empowering victims-survivors to call out institutional breaches of safety. The code will aim to determine the effectiveness of the ombudsman by specifying procedures for providers and offering clear guidelines for students to measure their satisfaction. However, any meaningful change will require urgency and a commitment to its swift implementation. I'll continue to pressure the parliament to ensure this remains a high priority. We must get this done.

We must also interrogate the staffing of the ombudsman's office and continue asking the right questions. For example, will the staff possess the necessary knowledge of higher education processes as well as adequate understanding of trauma informed care? How often will staff be expected to consult human rights, antidiscrimination and equal opportunity bodies, and experts in the gender based violence field? Will they accurately understand the sheer volume of complaints expected? Will student advocates be included in the complaints processes? The answers to these questions are integral to ensuring the intentions of this bill are realised.

There is absolutely no excuse for students to feel unsafe on campus. It is time for the government and universities to be held responsible for the wellbeing and safety of Australian students. This is long overdue. I will continue to advocate for increased integrity, accountability and transparency from higher education providers. We must continue with this momentum and pursue the implementation of the national code by the end of the year with urgency. I commend Sharna, Camille, Allison and Renee and the courageous student survivors for their tireless efforts to pressure this parliament to act. This is not just a higher education issue. This is an intergenerational problem of national concern, and we must recognise that. Gender based violence on campus reflects the pervasiveness of negative attitudes, which are plaguing our country at large, towards women and gender-diverse people. One in three women has experienced physical violence. One in five has experienced sexual violence. We need to get this right. We need to change future attitudes and behaviour if we hope to protect the next generation of prospective minds from violence on campus. This is preventable. This is just a first step. I commend this bill to the House.

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