Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

We are in an epidemic of sexual violence on university campuses. We know this because the last national student survey found that 275 students every week are assaulted on campus. That is a horrific number of young people who are not safe on campus. So when my fantastic colleague and acting Greens leader, Senator Faruqi, asked the minister representing today: 'Are you going to fund that student survey again so that we know what the rates of sexual violence are on campus when it's not COVID times and people are actually back on campus?' I was flabbergasted that the minister didn't answer. It's a really simple question. It's not an expensive survey. It's a desperately important survey. The minister representing could not even commit to do a survey about sexual violence on campus, let alone actually deliver the things that students are calling for, which include a task force to hold universities to account on safety measures. You can't even commit to a survey? What is wrong with you people?

We had a statement this morning in the other place by the Minister for Education. He's announced a working group on these matters. Where is the time frame for that working group? Where is the work program and what are the time frames? There is nothing about that. As far as we know, there are no time frames. You are kicking the can down the road, and you won't even commit to the most basic gathering of information, which is a survey about the number of rapes and assaults that happen on campus, let alone a decent oversight body that holds universities to account, let alone thinking about maybe making funding contingent on them keeping people safe on campus. It is an absolute bare minimum from this government, and I was floored that the minister representing would not even commit to redoing that survey, which happens once every three years and has given us these horrific results.

We heard from Universities Australia today at the National Press Club. They said some nice words about wanting to take action. What is stopping you? You had a report six years ago telling you what to do. You've done next to nothing. They didn't commit to doing the survey either, or to having a decent oversight body. Wake up, folks. It's time for the federal government to take responsibility and fix this epidemic of rape on campus. It is not okay.

Question agreed to.