Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Safe @ Uni, Safe @ Home

Safe @ Uni, Safe @ Home

A 12-week student-led campaign focused on raising awareness across campuses regarding student safety, inclusion and accessibility.

Across twelve themed weeks, the campaign explores the systems and cultures that shape student safety, such as reporting pathways and support services, gender-based violence, sexism, ableism, racism, and queerphobia.

From safety tips to wellbeing resources, the aim is to equip students with practical ways to stay safe and ensure the University is providing adequate support for ALL students.

You deserve to feel safe@uni and safe@home.

📢✊🏽 Week 5: READ THE RACISM REPORT
📱 Use the SafeZone app for alerts
📞 Save Campus Security Number: 1800 246 066
💡 Familiarize yourself with reporting pathways
Get Support
Access UMSU support services
Safe@Home
All Safe@Home resources
Safer Communities
Explore supports
Campaign Progress: Week 5 of 12
1
Safety 2
GBV 3
Sexism 4
Ableism 5
Racism 6
? 7
? 8
? 9
? 10
? 11
? 12
?
Week 1: Safety

Definition: The state of being protected from harm or other danger.

Learn about Safer Communities

  • Free confidential support and advice
  • Access to free counselling
  • Place to report all concerning behaviours (even anonymously)

Know where to find Blue Phones on Campus

  • Blue emergency telephones give direct intercom access to Security and are monitored by video
  • Press the Emergency button to activate

Download the SafeZone App

  • Share your location with security in an emergency
  • Check in when alone and trigger alerts when needed
  • Get safety alerts, crisis support, and report issues
Week 2: Gender-Based Violence (GBV)

Definition: Any form of physical or non-physical violence, harassment, abuse or threat, based on someone‘s gender. This can result in harm, coercion, control or fear.

Need support?

Forms of GBV can include:

  • Sexual violence
  • Sexual harassment
  • Online abuse
  • Stalking
  • Physical violence
  • Relationship violence
  • Family/Domestic violence

New National Code: A new law requires UniMelb to actively prevent gender-based violence, and respond appropriately wherever it happens. This promotes safer campuses, safer homes, and ensures greater accountability. Learn more.

Week 3: Sexism

Definition: Prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination based on a person's sex or gender.

Watch: Everyday sexism explained

Sexism can look like sexist jokes, disrespectful comments and sexual harassment. These moments happen every day — at home, in the classroom, in sports, and in leadership.

Interactive: Is this sexism?

Click each scenario to reveal the answer.

💬 “You’re really good at this lab for a girl.”
Yes. This reinforces stereotypes suggesting women are less capable in certain fields.
📚 A woman keeps getting interrupted during a tutorial discussion.
This can be a form of gendered behaviour where voices are dismissed or talked over.
📝 In a group project, the woman is expected to organise tasks.
This reflects common gender stereotypes about roles in teams.
🏟️ The women’s basketball game is scheduled early in the day, with the men’s game as the main event later.
Yes. This is sexism — it devalues women’s sports and reinforces the idea that men’s competitions are more important.

What YOU can do:

  • If you've witnessed or experienced sexism, visit the Safer Communities page or contact them: safer-community@unimelb.edu.au
  • Attend collectives run by the Women’s Department (if you identify as a woman or non-binary)
  • Call out everyday sexism.
  • Support our women sports teams by attending their games!
  • Connect with @umsuwomens
Week 4: Ableism

Definition: Systemic, institutional, and interpersonal discrimination, prejudice, and devaluation of people with physical, intellectual, or psychiatric disabilities.

👀 What ableism can look like

What ableism can look like:

  • It can be intentional and unintentional
  • Assuming someone can’t do something because of their disability
  • Making jokes or comments about disability
  • Ignoring accessibility needs in events or spaces
  • Designing systems that exclude people with disabilities
⚠️ Why calling it out matters

Why it matters:

Disabled students deserve to feel safe, respected and included at University. Ableism can affect:

  • Access to education
  • Participation in campus life
  • Physical and mental wellbeing
  • A sense of belonging in the university community
💥 What YOU can do

What YOU can do:

  • Listen to and respect disabled people’s experiences
  • Avoid making assumptions about someone’s abilities
  • Advocate for accessible events and spaces
  • Challenge ableist language or behaviour
  • Support inclusive policies and practices
🤝 Support & Community

Support & Community:

  • Visit the Safer Communities page to learn about available support services
  • Connect with UMSU Disabilities

🧠 Interactive: Is this ableism?

Click each scenario to reveal the answer.

🎤 “We didn’t include captions because most people don’t need them.”
Yes. This excludes students who rely on captions and assumes a “default” user.
🏫 An event is held in a building without lift access.
Yes. This creates a physical barrier that prevents equal participation.
💬 “Let me do that for you, it might be too hard.”
This can be ableist if it assumes incapability without asking.

📸 Accessibility Photo Challenge

Take a photo of a place on campus that is inaccessible or difficult to navigate and share it to help highlight barriers disabled students face.

This could include:

  • Stairs without ramps
  • Buildings without lifts
  • Narrow doorways
  • Lack of accessible seating
  • Poor signage or wayfinding

Submit your photo via Instagram (@umsu_president) or email.

Week 5: Racism

Racism: Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against people based on their race, ethnicity, or nationality.

Racism can be experienced in many ways — from overt acts of hostility to subtle microaggressions, institutional policies, or cultural norms that disadvantage certain racial or ethnic groups. These forms of racism can also target people based on their religion or culture, highlighting the ways oppression can intersect.

Antisemitism: Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Physical and rhetorical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

Islamophobia: Hostility, prejudice, or discrimination against Muslims, often based on religion, culture, or perceived association with Islam. This is an example of how racism can take specific, targeted forms.

UMSU holds a strong stance against racism, antisemitism and islamophobia and we encourage you to reach out if you have experienced any form of discrimination, harassment, or exclusion.

🏛️ The campus you study in has a history

Click each space to learn more:

John Medley Building
Named after a Vice-Chancellor involved in the Eugenics Society, which justified the White Australia Policy and Aboriginal child removal.
Baldwin Spencer Building
Named after an anthropologist tied to colonial extraction and the dehumanisation of Aboriginal people.
Sutherland Theatre
Named after Alexander Sutherland, whose work promoted racial hierarchy and Anglo-Saxon superiority.
Rivett Theatre
Named after David Rivett, associated with the Eugenics Society and the White Australia Policy.
Agar Theatre
Named after Wilfred Eade Agar, president of the Eugenics Society.

These histories still shape who feels safe and welcome on campus today.

📊 What students are experiencing
  • Over 1 in 3 students have experienced or witnessed racism
  • 46% experience casual racism (microaggressions)
  • 21% experience overt racism
👀 Racism isn’t always obvious
  • Eurocentric curriculum
  • Silencing of non-white voices
  • International students treated like “cash cows”
  • Racist jokes, stereotypes & microaggressions

🧠 Interactive: Is this racism?

Click each scenario to reveal the answer.

💬 “Where are you really from?”
Yes. This can other and exclude people, implying they don’t belong.
📚 A course only teaches Western perspectives
Yes. This reinforces Eurocentrism and erases diverse knowledge systems.
😂 “It’s just a joke, don’t be so sensitive.”
Dismissing racism as humour is a common way harm is minimised.
💥 What YOU can do
  • Call it out in class, accommodation and leadership spaces
  • Challenge “jokes”, silence and exclusion
  • Demand accountability from the University
  • Support students of colour — believe them

📄 Read the Racism Report

Album cover - President