Students say some survivors are being left under the same roof as their alleged attackers a year after a landmark report into sexual violence sparked reforms at universities across the country.
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At the Australian National University in Canberra, a student who reported her sexual assault six months ago said she still lives in the same residential hall as the alleged offender, walking the same path to class, even sharing a kitchen.
After two months of silence from the university administration regarding the outcome of her case, she said she now feels like an abandoned child.
"While I am struggling to think if I can afford fees for a psychologist my perpetrator is still at ANU," she told more than a hundred students gathered in protest outside Chancellery on Wednesday.
"It sounds like a joke."
The students, many of them survivors themselves, had gathered to mark the first anniversary of the 2017 Australian Human Rights Commission report into sexual harassment and assault on campus.
While the problem had long been known to students calling for action, the survey revealed its scale for the first time: one in ten female students reported being sexually assaulted in 2016 and more than half said they had been sexually harassed.
At the ANU, the rate of assault was double the national average, and the university reacted quickly, setting up a committee to design and implement reforms.
A year on, students say more attention has been paid to the appearance of change rather than change itself, but "surveys don't make us safer". Reporting remains difficult, progress unclear and the university is too reliant on student initiatives, such as the move to bring a Canberra Rape Crisis Centre staff member on campus full-time.
"It's terrifying that the ANU is actually one of the better universities at responding and so little has been done," one student said.
Students have praised the inclusion of sexual assault in the university's definition of misconduct, meaning incidents can now be investigated under the discipline rule.
But in practice survivors sharing their stories said the process remained vague, even tortuous, with cases dragging on for more than six months without any news, as safety concerns remained.
One student said her indecent assault case recently ended with a recommendation of counselling for the alleged offender. While he no longer lived in the same residential hall, she said the university required her to prove his presence at the college was a threat to her safety before they enforced a ban.
While the ANU was unable to provide further detail on Wednesday about its policies at residential halls, it is understood reports are handled on a case-by-case basis. In most instances, complainants and alleged offenders are separated.
As per a reccomendation of the commission's report, the university has brought in an independent consultant to audit its student halls, and surveys are now underway.
ANU's postgraduate student association has acknowledged the need for such audits but president Alyssa Shaw echoed the sentiment of many students in the crowd when she said: "A year ago, I really thought we'd be further ahead by now."
Survivor and student leader Amy Bryan pointed to the high rates of assault against women, people with disability, Indigenous Australians and LGBTQI people on campus, and called for more inclusion "at every step" in reforms.
Pro-vice-chancellor Richard Baker said cultural change was already happening around campus and in residental halls but acknowledged there was still more to do.
"We are working as fast, as effectively as we can," he said.
A new central management hub to coordinate the university's response to sexual violence, known as the 'Respectful Relationships Unit', would physically embody the ANU's committment to both preventing sexual violence and responding appropriately, he said.
Professor Baker was joined by vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt in listening to stories from survivors at the protest on Wednesday. More than a hundred candles were lit for the 116 ANU students who reported they were sexually assaulted in 2016.
The University of Canberra has also rolled out training and reforms on campus, ahead of the release of a review into its policies.
No one should be made to feel unsafe on campus, acting vice-chancellor Nick Klomp said.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or family violence, call the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525. Nationally, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732. In an emergency contact 000.
