Australian National University has "broken promises" and dragged its feet on addressing sexual assault and harassment, student representatives say.
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Four years since the Australian Human Rights Commission's survey revealed the extent of sexual assault in university communities, ANU Students' Association women's officer Avan Daruwalla said little progress had been made on many of the ANU's commitments.
"I just think that the ANU seems to constantly be in a state of consulting and listening to students," Ms Daruwalla said.
"If you're listening to us then do something."
Hundreds of students attended a rally on the issue on Monday as vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt unveiled the university's 2025 strategic plan.
A report published by the ANU Women's Department claims the university has failed to release de-identified data relating to sexual assault and harassment disclosures, reports and disciplinary outcomes as promised.
Ms Daruwalla said the respectful relationships unit has been touted as the main hub for sexual violence issues, but the unit has been hampered by a high turnover of staff. She said the unit currently had two staff members and it outsourced case management to Relationships Australia.
"When students go there they're referred on and it's just really problematic to have students constantly disclosing... because at a certain point they don't have the resilience to keep going."
Ms Daruwalla sits on the respectful relationships working group but she doesn't feel it's making progress.
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An ANU spokesman said things weren't perfect but clear progress had been made.
"We have launched an online disclosure tool for the community, which also advises on how to report instances of sexual misconduct and access support options," he said.
"Since 2019, thousands of ANU students and staff have participated in new training on sexual assault and harassment, including around awareness raising and responding to disclosures."
The spokesman would not confirm the number of staff in the respectful relationships unit, but said the university was "actively recruiting more staff".
He said the university was working to publish data in a way that respected people's privacy and summaries from the working group meetings would be included in this data "in the near future".
"Changing systems takes time and we continue to work on this," the spokesman said.
"In the meantime, we will continue to support our students. We will keep supporting them. We will keep listening to them."
Ms Daruwalla has received about 40 disclosures from students this year with a spike in disclosures at the start of semesters and during protests.
"People very much accept that it's a part of the culture because they feel like if it were escalated or if they did report something, they wouldn't receive support."
- If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or family violence, call the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525. Nationally, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732. In an emergency contact 000.
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