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campusreview.com.au
‘Extreme, biased, inequitable’
Australia and America at odds on
campus sexual assault policy.
A
s Australia inches towards
a less legalistic, more accuser-
centric mode of dealing with
university sexual assault, America is ebbing
away from it.
In September 2017, US education
secretary Betsy DeVos announced interim
measures that allowed cross-examination
of sexual assault accusers and mediation
without prior investigation, removed
the right for an accuser to appeal a
university’s decision, and made a lower
standard of proof in these cases optional
(under Barack Obama, a higher standard
was mandatory).
Many, the Trump administration included,
argue that this represents a win for due
process. Yet detractors say it discriminates
against accusers and will deter them from
reporting assaults.
SurvJustice, Equal Rights Advocates,
and Victim Rights Law Center believe this
so vehemently they have filed lawsuits
against the government. They are alleging
it has breached Title IX – a clause of the
US Constitution.
Passed in 1972, Title IX is a federal civil
rights law that prohibits discrimination on
the basis of sex in educational institutions
that receive federal funding. It was initially
used to ensure women could participate
A
TAFE numbers
still in decline
TDA chief says qualifications on
offer need to be reviewed.
6
re industry-defined qualifications no
longer attractive to students?
That’s the question TAFE Directors
Australia chief executive Craig Robertson
said the industry needs to ask itself,
following recently released data showing
government-funded training is down
year on year.
The National Centre for Vocational
Education Research (NCVER) report, which
summarises data related to students,
programs, subjects and training providers,
showed the number of students enrolled
decreased by 5.9 per cent to 1.2 million
in 2017 when compared with the
previous year.
Everyone should be concerned that
the decline in participation among
government-funded students is continuing,
Robertson said, adding it has been
happening for years.
While Robertson said the source
of the decline in student enrolments
is multifactorial – with VET FEE-HELP
restrictions meaning students find it hard
to enrol, providers closing down some
courses, and the sector seeing a long-term
drift of students to university – he added
that there needs to be a fundamental
equally in sports; however, more recently
it has been applied to sexual assault and
harassment cases.
In California for a recent court appearance,
a representative for the plaintiffs made a
bold assertion. “Whether it’s immigrant
children or survivors of sexual violence,
this administration will always blame the
vulnerable and protect the powerful,” said
Jesse Hahnel, executive director of the
National Center for Youth Law.
“The Department of Education’s rollback
of protections for student survivors is
extreme, biased and inequitable,” added
another representative, Stacy Malone,
executive director of the Victim Rights
Law Center.
In June, the government (unsuccessfully)
attempted to have the case dismissed,
arguing that its revised sexual assault policy
is in fact beneficial to the litigants, as it
allows them to pursue their anti-sexual
discrimination agendas.
The lawsuit comes amid other
controversial Trump administration
education policies, like its plan to remove
affirmative action-type considerations from
college admissions processes. ■
look at the heart of the system around
its qualifications.
“There are centrally defined qualifications
that are supposedly meeting the needs
of industry but either a) students are
not wanting to take them up, or b)
when students are trained against those
qualifications, employers are saying they’re
not the skills that they require,” he explained.
Robertson applauded the assistant
minister for vocational education and skills,
Karen Andrews, for wanting to promote the
status of VET courses, but added: “In a
climate where there are really depressed
wage outcomes, you don’t blame people
for saying, ‘Well, I don’t know why I’d go
and train in the VET sector if it’s not going
to give a wage dividend’.”
To attract workers, Robertson said
industry and employers need to look at
how they should be increasing salaries.
There is an opportunity now for
employers and industry to work together
to consider the qualifications that are
attractive and to look at likely wage
outcomes for skilled workers out of the VET
sector, he added.
“Inaction today gives rise to skill shortages
tomorrow.” ■