Bullying, Discrimination & Sexual Harassment

Bullying is repeated (there is a pattern, and it persists), unreasonable behaviour directed toward a staff member or student, or a group of staff or students by staff members or students that creates a risk to health and safety, including the physical or psychological health of staff or students. This could include:

• Physical or verbal abuse
• Spreading rumours
• Withholding information
• Publishing offensive material on social media

Direct discrimination is when someone is treated less favourably based on one or more of the following attributes:

• political beliefs and activities
• lawful sexual activity/sexual orientation
• religious beliefs or activities
• age
• sex
• race
• disability
• industrial activity
• parental or carer status
• pregnancy
• breastfeeding
• marital status
• personal association with someone who is identified by reference to any of the above attributes.

Indirect discrimination is when a rule, practice or policy appears to be neutral but in effect has a discriminatory impact on a particular group of people.

Discriminatory harassment is any behaviour that takes place based on the above attributes, which offends, humiliates or intimidates. It could include:

• Being denied access to the course
• Unfair treatment in assessment
• Harassment in classes, university activities or on university grounds.

Sexual harassment is unwelcome behaviour of a sexual nature. The behaviour can be physical, spoken or written, and can make you feel offended, humiliated or intimidated.

It can include unwanted behaviours like sexual comments, questions or jokes about:

• how someone looks
• their cultural or religious background
• their sex or gender identity
• their disability
• their age
• their sexual orientation

It can also look like:

• staring in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable
• following (stalking)
• inappropriate touching without permission
• unwanted calling, texting, or repeated requests to go on dates

Any type of sexual contact without consent can be sexual assault or an offence. A person cannot give their consent if they are unconscious or asleep, if they are frightened or threatened, affected by alcohol or drugs, or unable to say what they do or don’t want.

Sexual assault is considered a crime in Victoria, and you have a right to report this to police. There are support services available at the university and in the community which can help you navigate this process.

Both bullying and discrimination are considered unacceptable under the University’s Student Conduct Policy, Appropriate Workplace Behaviour Policy, and Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response Policy.

For bullying and discrimination, you can seek independent advice from:

• UMSU Legal Service – for a full range of legal advice about your options
• Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission
• Australian Human Rights Commission

For sexual harassment, you can also seek independent support and independent advice from:

• UMSU Sexual Harm Response coordinators
  The UMSU Sexual Harm Response Coordinators are staff who work with the UMSU Advocacy service. They provide confidential and independent support and advice to students about inappropriate behaviour, sexual harassment, and sexual assault.

To report bullying, discrimination, and sexual harassment, you can contact:

• Safer Community Program
  The SCP is the University's main point of contact for reporting inappropriate, concerning or threatening behaviour. This includes sexual misconduct, sexual harassment and sexual assault.
• The Speak Safely Portal
  This is an online portal that you can use to make anonymous complaints or to speak to a university about your complaint without being identified.
• The Inappropriate Workplace Behaviour Line
  This is an online portal that allows to you make a report about a staff member at the University of Melbourne.

Sexual assault is unacceptable at the University, but it is also a crime, meaning you have a right to report it to the police. Sexual assault can have a significant toll on your well-being, and you may want to seek support and advice whether you decide to report to the police.

You can seek support and advice from:

• UMSU Sexual Harm Response Coordinators
  Who may also refer you to the UMSU Legal Service – for a full range of legal advice about your options.
• Centre Against Sexual Assault (CASA)
  Offers 24/7 crisis support, ongoing counselling, and advice to victim survivors about contacting the police. Their service is free and confidential.

You can find a list of more support services on UMSU Sexual Harm Response Coordinator page.

You can report to:

• Victoria Police

  Sexual assault is a crime, and you have the right to report it to police. If you are not comfortable with reporting to your local police station within Victoria there are specialist police called Sexual Offenses and Child Abuse Investigation Teams (SOCITs). You can contact these specialist police instead.

  If you would like advice about contacting the police you can contact the Centre Against Sexual Assault (CASA).

• University of Melbourne

  We recommend you contact the UMSU Sexual Harm Response Coordinators to assist you and provide independent advice.

  To report to the university, you can either contact the Safer Community Program or you can report anonymously using The Speak Safely Portal.

UMSU is governed by its own sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying policies and procedures.

If you have experienced harm from someone affiliated with UMSU (for example, an UMSU student leader or an UMSU staff member), you have the option of making a formal complaint to UMSU.

To make a complaint, you can contact UMSU HR (hr@union.unimelb.edu.au), an UMSU Contact Officer), or the Sexual Harm Response Coordinators.

You can also make a complaint at the Complaint Resolution Centre here.