The head of one of Canberra's most notorious residential colleges has acknowledged he's expelled more students than other hall leaders in the past two years because of sexual assault or harassment.
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John XXIII College head Geoff Johnston said the Australian National University-affiliated residency welcomed an upcoming review "because we can always learn".
The ANU announced on Tuesday it would review the dozen residencies associated with the university after a landmark study was released showing widespread issues of sexual assault and harassment among students. The ANU recorded 116 sexual assaults in the past two years, 52 of which were on campus.
Mr Johnston said John XXIII had already spent several months rewriting its sexual assault policy with the document now under review from students and the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre.
"[Incidents are] going to happen all the time," Mr Johnston.
"I'm not saying that there's going to be one a week or anything - that's not the reality. There's a few, and the report is clearly showing it."
John XXIII has been home to several high-profile incidents in recent years. The college made national headlines in March after students were suspended for participating in derogatory chants.
Mr Johnston recalled about seven expulsions in the past two years, including five men who took photos of women's breasts and rated them on Facebook. Suspensions were more common, he said.
Mr Johnston said he had worked hard to foster an academic culture among students since taking leadership, though acknowledged some traditions lived on that left him uncomfortable. He said it was a matter of working with students, particularly senior students, when effecting change.
"If I don't then they'll go off campus and do it somewhere else where I don't know about it," he said.
"If I can work with leaders and convince the leaders of what we're doing is the right thing then ... they don't organise some of those events."
Mr Johnston said the results from the Human Rights Commission were informative and important but "you've also got to be careful that you don't get too carried away with it".
"It is telling us what a sample have been through - which is horrendous - but that sample is only 2.9 per cent of all students in Australia, and it wasn't a random sample," he said.
"You ask yourself who is likely to do the survey: it is people who have got an interest in it, have been involved in it or had friends involved in it.
"There's a lot of good things happening in universities that we're involved in and this place is still relatively safe, it's not going beserk. People are not getting raped everywhere. It's just not happening."
Other residencies contacted by The Canberra Times - including the UniLodge head office and Burgmann College - directed questions to ANU media.
A spokeswoman said: "We will be making a detailed announcement on an independent and external review of all ANU residential colleges will be released in coming weeks.
"College heads have notified of our intention. We will be seeking input from our student leaders on the terms of reference.
"We expect that all colleges, including affiliated colleges, will participate in the review."
