November 23, 2023
Group of Eight (Go8) universities are committed to providing a safe environment for our 450,000 students and 50,000 staff.
The Go8 comprises Australia’s leading research-intensive universities and are united in ensuring all students and staff feel safe and supported. Student safety is a core component, absolutely non-negotiable in ensuring every one of our students has the best university experience possible.
Today the Go8 Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment (SASH) working group met in one of a series of regular workshops and received a briefing from Chief Executive of violence prevention organisation Our Watch, Patty Kinnersly, on the Draft action plan to address gender-based violence in higher education released this week.
The Go8 members are committed to further engagement on the draft action plan and in particular on the development of the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence.
The Go8 SASH working group – which was formed in 2021 to provide a forum for sharing best practice and developing solutions to common challenges with SASH – also discussed collaborative approaches to developing SASH policies and education programs with students and other stakeholders, and also moving towards annual public reporting by institutions to increase transparency regarding efforts to address and prevent incidents of SASH.
The Go8 welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Draft Action Plan and will continue to work with Government and stakeholders to achieve the best possible outcome and provide a safe environment for students and staff.