ON CAMPUS campusreview . com . au
The current complaints process is not conducive to the student experience , so much so that many people don ’ t engage in it
Picture : Nina Funnell , supplied
‘ Minimum standards ’
Q & A : Camille Schloeffel from the STOP campaign joins working group
By Erin Nixon
Anti-violence organisations have joined the education minister ’ s working group to improve university governance on sexual violence on campus .
Camille Schloeffel , founder and director of The STOP Campaign , represented victim-survivor advocates at the meeting with Education Minister Jason Clare .
The STOP Campaign is a not-for-profit organisation addressing sexual violence in tertiary education settings .
A recipient of the 2020 Peter Mitchell Churchill Fellowship , Ms Schloeffel explored how activists and universities around the globe worked together to prevent sexual violence on campus .
Ms Schloeffel spoke to Campus Review about meeting the minister and her role in the proposed working group on university governance .
Did the STOP Campaign make a submission to the Accord interim report ? STOP didn ’ t make a submission for the interim report . However , we will make a submission to the final report and are excited to be involved in the process .
We ’ re keen to talk to the Accord panel about what the student experience is like at the moment . STOP is particularly passionate about platforming the voices of people that have been silenced .
The current complaints process is not conducive to the student experience , so much so that many people don ’ t engage in it .
We ’ re excited to see what we can do to pull together students ’ views and provide that to the Universities Accord process .
What were your initial thoughts when you read the Accord panel ’ s interim report ? It ’ s great that the Accord panel have included student wellbeing and safety on campus as a priority area of focus .
I was disappointed that residential halls or on-campus living arrangements were not mentioned .
Our submission to the final paper will include details on this and student suicide .
Suicide and mental health are highly interrelated with sexual assault and sexual harassment .
Recommendations for changing ratios , creating training programs , and other aspects of prevention and response to sexual violence in residential halls must be considered collectively — we can ’ t silo this all out .
We want the Accord panel ’ s final paper to include recommendations on the safety of students living in residential halls on campus .
There is a general perception that the whole university community experience is the same . But living on-campus in residential halls is so different to the experience of someone who goes home each night .
Do you think a consistent national approach to dealing with sexual violence on campus is achievable ? I hope we can achieve a more consistent approach to addressing sexual assault across university campuses .
However , each university is unique in its functions , cultural engagement and student experiences .
Is achieving an entirely consistent national approach practicable ? Probably not .
But I think it ’ s possible to establish national consistency in minimum standards and ensure those are upheld and enforced .
The standards should flex to the uniqueness of each campus while also establishing minimum standards that all universities must meet .
Rather than forcing universities into a cookie-cutter solution , a consistent approach , including acceptable minimum standards , could work effectively .
This can be achieved by developing accountability mechanisms that mandate regular and ongoing monitoring and reporting by universities .
Consistency in the evaluation of progress is also essential . Without this , it ’ s almost impossible to compare one jurisdiction to another .
STOP believes it ’ s the federal government ’ s responsibility to get states and territories to take this issue seriously and be a part of the solution . ■
22