Speech - Universities Accord (National Student Ombudsman) Bill 2024

Mr Speaker, last year I sat down with a group of remarkable women here in this building.

And they spoke to me about their experiences on university campuses.

For most of us who have the chance to go to university it is a time of learning new skills and making friends.

An experience that changes our life for the better.

That sets us up for life.

But their stories weren’t like that.

These women were from the STOP campaign and from End Rape on Campus and from Fair Agenda.

And their stories were of what had happened to them and to people they knew at university.

People among the one in 20 who have reported being sexually assaulted since they started university.

The one in six who have reported being sexually harassed.

And the stories of a confused and inadequate response process within our universities.

Of inconsistent complaint processes.

Of a lack of materials on how to even make a complaint to begin with.

A lack of education on consent.

A lack of feedback when a complaint had been made.

A response process where one in two students felt like they weren’t being heard when they made a complaint.

In short, a protracted failure of the higher education sector, and of government, to do anything to properly address a situation summarised so poignantly - and so heartbreakingly - in the words of this student:

“I’m sick of my friends being assaulted,

I’m sick of begging to feel safe,

and I’m sick of feeling ignored.”

For the last 10 years, Sharna Bremner has been fighting for the rights of students like this.

That’s what her organisation, End Rape on Campus does.

She’s here in the Chamber today.

And she’s not alone.

Camille Schloeffel and the team at the STOP Campaign, Renee Carr from Fair Agenda, and Dr Allison Henry are here as well.

In truth, they have always been here.

Fighting for this day.

Alongside thousands of students and staff who want a better system.

Who want to be heard.

Who want to feel safe.

And who want action, not just more words.

Well today, we act.

This bill amends the Ombudsman Act 1976 to establish a National Student Ombudsman as a new statutory function of the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

This is a first.

A dedicated, national body to handle student complaints within our higher education system.

Across campuses. Across the country.

The National Student Ombudsman will have the powers:

•    to investigate complaints about a broad range of issues;

•    to bring parties together to resolve those issues, including offering restorative engagement processes and alternative dispute resolution where appropriate;

•    to make findings and recommendations on what actions universities should take; and

•    to monitor the implementation of those recommendations.

It will also have strong investigative powers, similar to those of a Royal Commission, including:

•    to require a person or university to provide information, documents or other records relevant to an investigation;

•    to enter the premises of a university as part of an investigation; and

•    to require a person to attend and answer questions before the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman is another recommendation of the Universities Accord which the Government is turning into a reality.

When I spoke to those students last year the Universities Accord panel was already looking at this issue.

After that meeting it was clear to me that this work needed a dedicated process.

And it was clear to the Universities Accord panel as well.

In their Interim Report released in July last year, they recommended as one of five priority actions to immediately engage with the state and territory governments on addressing this problem.

My Department convened a working group of Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments to make recommendations about how an ombudsman and other measures might be delivered.

That working group was supported by Patty Kinnersly, the Chief Executive Officer of Our Watch - a national leader in the primary prevention of violence against women and their children in Australia.

And they developed a draft Action Plan that I presented to the Meeting of Education Ministers last November.

From November 2023 to the end of January this year, we conducted a broad consultation on that draft Action Plan, and one of the things that students and victim-survivors in particular strongly supported was a National Student Ombudsman.

An ombudsman isn’t a new concept.

It’s something that advocates have been calling for, for many years – particularly after university student surveys in 2016 and again in 2021 that painted a shocking picture of safety on university campuses.

Those calls were ignored by the previous Government.

But not by this one.

In February this year, my fellow Education Ministers agreed to a final Action Plan Addressing Gender-based Violence in Higher Education and we got to work immediately on measures to implement it.

The measures in this bill have been designed with the benefit of the collective expertise and wisdom of that working group.

The National Student Ombudsman will provide a trauma-informed complaints mechanism accessible to higher education students.

This is particularly important in recognising the serious impacts these issues can have on students, and in making sure their concerns are handled with care and with respect.

The Ombudsman will be independent, impartial and will provide a vastly improved complaints mechanism.

And it will go further than addressing gender-based violence in universities.

It will be able to consider and address a broad range of complaints made by students about the actions of their university.

For example, complaints about a university’s handling of a student safety and welfare matter, where a student is subjected to homophobia, anti-semitism, Islamophobia or other forms of racism or discrimination on campus.

Or about whether a university is providing sufficient staffing to meet students’ educational and academic needs.

Or complaints about disciplinary processes and procedures.

Or whether a university is making reasonable adjustments for students with a disability.

The Ombudsman will have a wide jurisdiction.

And one that is truly national.

We have negotiated with the states and territories to ensure that matters that might have been reported to their state and territory ombudsmen are able to be referred to this dedicated national one.

It means a single Ombudsman can bring to bear a national perspective and experience of what is going on across our universities, and give students a consistent complaints process.

The Ombudsman will work proactively with the higher education sector to set up best practices in complaints handling and make sure that student welfare is at the centre.

And it will work with regulators to share information and identify systemic issues.

As an oversight body, the Ombudsman will work cooperatively with the TEQSA, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, and with my Department.

It will also work cooperatively with state and territory ombudsmen and other relevant bodies, such as human rights, anti-discrimination and equal opportunity bodies.

There will be annual reporting to Parliament on the numbers and types of complaints and the actions of universities.

The Ombudsman will also make an important contribution to the work to end gender-based violence in one generation, which is being led by the Minister for Social Services.

And it will be followed by other measures from the Action Plan agreed by education ministers.

As part of that I intend to introduce a second piece of legislation, which will further support the work of the Ombudsman by implementing a mandatory National Code for universities to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.

The National Code will set standards that higher education providers must meet to make our students and staff safer. 

It will be enforced and regulated by a new specialist unit at the Department of Education, that will regulate the standards and support universities to achieve better outcomes for students. 

The consultation for that Code is well underway. 

The National Code will set standards that providers must meet across seven key areas. 

They are summarised in this document, which sets out how the Code will work and gives some examples of the standards which will be set, which I table now for the House.

These are standards like ensuring that Vice-Chancellors and CEOs are held responsible for compliance with the National Code. 

Compelling providers to update their policies to specify that gender-based violence is unacceptable, and identifying the potential consequences for perpetrators.  

Specifying procedures that providers must follow to ensure that students consistently receive a swift response to their reports of gender-based violence. 

Requiring ongoing prevention and response education to staff and to students.  

Creating a national dataset to monitor providers’ performance. 

Setting strict requirements that university owned and/or operated student accommodation must meet to keep students safe in that setting. 

And – very importantly - requiring that universities implement the recommendations of the Ombudsman.

The Code and the Ombudsman will work together to improve responses to students and the accountability of all higher education providers. 

I will release more information on the National Code when I introduce the bill which will give it effect.

Mr Deputy Speaker, our reforms to higher education are deliberately and unapologetically focused on supporting Australian students.

That includes wiping $3 billion of student debt.

For the first time ever providing financial support for students when they do their practical placement.

And now this – another national first.

A National Student Ombudsman.

Mr Deputy Speaker, can I thank my friend and colleague the Attorney-General, and our respective Departments and offices, for their work in bringing this bill to the Parliament today.

I thank my colleagues in the Government for their support in bringing this legislation before the  Parliament.

Can also I thank members of the crossbench here and in the Senate for their support.

I also thank the Leader of the Opposition for his comments in the Chamber some months ago, pledging his support.

I want to thank you too Claudia. You demonstrate the power of journalism in this country to drive real reform that changes people’s lives and can change people’s lives for the better.

Most importantly, can I thank Sharna, and Renee, and Camille, and Allison and all of those who have fought for this, year after year after year.

They should get the last word here.

Shortly after we made the announcement, Sharna said: “After 50 years of student-led advocacy, we’ve finally gotten reform.”

It has taken too long, but that reform is now here. Because of Sharna and people like her.

I commend the bill to the House.