Bao Phuc Cao, an international student, currently enrolled at the University of Melbourne in a Bachelor of Biomedicine, has a public record that tells a terrifying story: He is a registered sex offender in Victoria, after being caught filming women in bathrooms at public locations across the Melbourne CBD, including places near the University of Melbourne campus in Parkville.

Further information on Cao’s various charges and pleas can be found in Farrago Magazine’s articles, as well as publications from major Australian news outlets.

The University of Melbourne has not issued a public statement yet, and upon inquiry, has provided us with the following information:

We prioritise the welfare and wellbeing of all our students [...]. We have legally binding confidentiality and privacy obligations that prevent us from confirming any details regarding individual students.

We would like to provide reassurance that the University has support and processes in place to manage situations where a member of the University community may pose a health and safety risk to the wellbeing of students and staff.

[...] We remain steadfast in upholding our commitments to prevent and respond to sexual misconduct and gender-based violence.
We therefore have no additional updates regarding the student’s enrolment or his presence on campus.

We are calling on the University to be more transparent regarding their actions in fostering a safer and more welcoming campus for all students, and also be accountable for maintaining campus safety by taking positive actions towards deterring threats to that safety.

UMSU Women’s also supports all affected UniMelb students, should they choose to make anonymous complaints against Cao.

UMSU Women’s are currently in active conversation with UMSU to ensure the student body broadly, but specifically female students, feel safe on campus. We have initiated processes to strip Cao of his UMSU membership, further consequences of which can include disbarment from attending UMSU events, enforced through motions in Students’ Council.

As of September 2026, positive actions have been taken on this front:

• Cao will be served a notice of revocation of his membership in accordance with the grievance procedure in Section 3 of the UMSU Constitution.
• He will have the opportunity to submit a defence for his membership status to be maintained at the next Students’ Council meeting after notification.
• Should his defence be found unsatisfactory, he will be stripped of his UMSU membership.
• Through a Council motion, we can subsequently also ban him from attending UMSU events.

Watch the Women’s space for more information and updates on this case, including our website and social media.

In light of all this information, we at UMSU Women’s would like to acknowledge your frustrations, fear and apprehensions in attending campus — we are right there with you! Here are a few resources from us that can help campus feel a bit safer:

• Firstly, all students, especially women, can install the SafeZone App, which used to contact campus security to report an incident or seek a security escort
• Second, make use of the blue Campus Assistance Phone Booths located across all campuses, and activated by pressing the ‘emergency’ button
• Third, the Safer Community Program who are contactable on weekdays, during business hours, via phone, email or at Stop 1.
• Finally, you can always reach out to us at UMSU Women’s for support, information, and assistance with any issues, complaints, or recommendations.