Last week the Federal Department of Education released an Issues Paper on a National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender‑based Violence, seeking feedback on the details of the proposed Standards for the Code and its regulatory framework by Friday, 28 June 2024.
The proposed Code is one of six actions identified in the Action Plan Addressing Gender-based Violence in Higher Education (the Action Plan) agreed by Australia’s Education Ministers in late February, prompted by evidence that “sexual violence continues to occur in university communities at significant rates”. The Issues Paper quotes data that shows that since starting their studies, one in 6 university students has been sexually harassed and one in 20 has been sexually assaulted
Action 3 in the Action Plan says, “The Australian Government will urgently strengthen provider accountability for systemic issues relating to gender-based violence by introducing a new National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence”.
The Issues Paper proposes seven possible standards:
- Accountable governance and leadership, ensures accountability at the highest level and reflects how addressing gender-based violence is core business.
- Effective organisational policies and practice, enables a positive, organisation-wide culture that addresses the drivers of gender-based violence and prioritises the safety of victim-survivors.
- Trauma-informed, safety-first procedures, ensures victim-survivors are safe and supported, and perpetrators are held to account.
- Evidence-based education and training, increases awareness and understanding of gender-based violence across the organisation to maximise the effectiveness of prevention and response efforts.
- Expert and timely support services, ensures all victim-survivors and perpetrators have access to expert-led support specific to their experiences.
- Transparent data and reporting, provides transparency to hold providers accountable for their performance.
- Safe student accommodation, ensures victim-survivor residents are safe and supported where they live.
The Issues Paper also addresses potential measures for ensuring compliance, including that a Unit will be established in the Department of Education to lead the establishment and ongoing administration of the National Code.
To this end, an Assistant Secretary, Gender-based Violence Reform, role has been advertised and closes on 16 June 2023. One of the responsibilities of the Assistant Secretary will be to oversee the “establishment of the new Unit and teams, ensuring that student and staff well-being and the lived experience of victim survivors are at the forefront of the work of the Unit and delivery of activities”.
To ensure compliance, the Issues Paper proposes that the Unit would be able to draw on a range of investigative tools to actively monitor for issues and actions, such as proactive audits, where issues of non-compliance emerge. It also proposes a range of regulatory tools to utilise if a provider is found to be non-compliant, and the seriousness of the non-compliance, ranging from warning letters to injunctions.
The National Code is proposed to commence from 1 January 2025, with compliance activities commencing from 1 January 2026.
The questions for consultation are:
- For the purposes of defining gender-based violence in the context of the National Code and as part of associated compliance activities, what are key considerations for the Department?
- How can the Department ensure the alignment of the National Code with other education regulations (e.g. Threshold Standards, ESOS National Code) and broader regulatory frameworks (e.g. privacy laws, positive duty)?
- Do the potential Standards cover all aspects of a ‘whole-of-organisation’ approach and what is necessary to protect and promote the safety of students and staff? Are there other standards to include? Please detail and why.
- What additional requirements should be included for each Standard? Please detail for each standard and why.
- How should standards account for providers’ size, student and staff profile and location/s (including regional, metropolitan and Australian and international campuses)?
- Recognising student accommodation settings are high-risk environments, are there additional considerations for these providers under the National Code?
- Beyond the National Code, what additional resources and materials would be required by providers to support implementation and ongoing compliance?
- What else needs to be considered in the Department’s approach to regulating the National Code?
- How often should the National Code be reviewed and updated?
- What are examples of good practice that can be drawn on to inform the design and implementation of the National Code?
The full Issues Paper is here and the Response Template for the Issues Paper is available here.
