7A
STUDENT SAFETY UPDATE - RESIDENCES
PURPOSE
To present the Committee with a confidential update on activities in the
Residential Experience Portfolio relating to Student Safety and Wellbeing
PREPARED BY
Director, Residential Experience Division
Executive Officer, Residential Experience Division
APPROVED BY
Chief Operating Officer
SPONSOR
Chief Operating Officer
RECOMMENDATION That the Committee
note the updates from the Residential Experience
Portfolio.
ACTION REQUIRED ☒ For discussion
☐ For Decision
☒ For Information
☐ For Feedback/Response
CONSULTATION
☐ Staff
☐ Students
☐ Alumni
☐ Government
☐ Other
☒ Not applicable
BACKGROUND
This paper has been prepared by the Residential Experience Division (RED) to provide an update on
the work being undertaken by the University in relation to student safety and wellbeing in ANU
Residences.
Updates on the priorities since the last SSWC meeting:
Cultural and behavioural expectation setting
The first meeting of the cultural and behavioural expectation setting working group was held in
December. This project is an important deliverable for RED for 2025 under the Student Safety and
Wel being Plan 2024-26 (action 2.3). Delivery of this project consolidates and progresses significant
RED contributions to many of the University’s other inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility
strategies.
A recurring theme in the group’s initial discussion was the perception from students that University
rules conflict with fun. Communication and terminology are therefore critical to aligning expectations
with a positive student experience. A central principle of the project, therefore, is ensuring students
have ownership and agency in the development of community norms.
The group also acknowledged that a long-term approach would be necessary. Cultural change takes
time. Any process the group develops must be flexible and include evaluation and
assessment/reassessment.
Follow-up meetings wil focus on refining frameworks, possible pilot programs, and engaging student
leaders in norm-setting processes. Implementation wil commence in Semester 2 2025.
The group’s next meeting wil be held on Thursday 27 March 2025.
Enlivening RRR
Enlivening RRR is a col aborative initiative to deliver consent and other respectful relationship content
peer to peer. The aim of the program is to build a respectful culture within the residences, led by
student leaders and supported by RED and Inclusive Communities staff.
The sessions were held on the weekend of arrival (Sunday 9 February 2025) and were attended by
over 1,200 new ANU students. Follow-up sessions wil be run by residential staff to ensure all new
residents can complete the training.
Training of residential student leaders
This year’s training for residential student leaders was well attended, with high levels of engagement.
Feedback from residential staff indicates that this new cohort of senior leaders is particularly strong –
an early positive indication of the new leadership model’s success.
Training focused on strengthening leadership, respectful relationships, safe and inclusive events and
community representation skil s. Notable improvements included enhanced practical scenarios for
problem-solving, collaboration with University staff, and a greater emphasis on inclusive leadership
strategies, such as running cultural y inclusive events.
Recommendations from the International Student Residential Engagement & Wellbeing working group
have already been incorporated into the training program. The first of which being to ensure that a
cultural y safe and inclusive lens was applied to al training modules.
RED strategy and business plan 2025
Across 2024, RED facilitated a division-wide planning process to develop a clear purpose and long-range
strategy, which would inform all future planning. RED’s purpose under this strategy is to provide an
exceptional and memorable on-campus living experience for our students; to build and nurture safe,
supportive residential communities, empowering our students to succeed at ANU – and into the future.
One of the primary objectives of the new strategy is student experience: to provide the support our
students need to thrive personally, socially and academically, from their first transition to on-campus living,
to their life and career beyond ANU.
The first business plan based on this newly articulated strategy has been finalised. A key goal in the 2025
plan is the delivery of RED actions under the Student Safety & Wel being Plan 2024-26. This includes
progressing a range of projects, including:
• consolidation of accommodation scholarships
• an enhanced peer educator program for delivery of RRR training
• behavioural and cultural expectation setting
• implementation of the International Student Residential Engagement & Wel being Action plan
• delivery of enhanced inclusive communities training and cross-cultural competency training
• development of a ‘student voice’ model.
Responsibility for delivery of these projects has been cascaded to specific individuals and teams.
The strategy includes several KPIs, measured annually, to track success. These include a range of
student wellbeing measures, including:
• % of residents who return to their residence in the following year (returners)
• % of residents nominating for residential leadership positions
• % positive response from residents to safety and belonging questions in the annual
Residential Life Survey.
Incident reporting 2024
Incidents reported between 1 January and 31 December 2024 using the residential incident reporting
tool are aggregated in the attached dashboard.
A comparison between incidents reported in 2023 and 2024 is shown below:
Incident category
2023
2024
Contact from parent or next of kin
52
64
Excessive alcohol consumption
136
169
Fire related
105
4
Food theft
-
145
General Incident
263
-
Harassing behaviour
18
101
Lost property
13
31
Major Injury
84
83
Mental health related
150
182
Minor Injury
106
288
Noise
166
355
Other
-
144
Possession of il egal substances
15
13
Resident dispute
37
19
Smoking / vaping
7
56
Theft* (in 2024 excluded food theft)
42
61
Unauthorised entry / security concern
92
141
Vandalism
12
14
Total
1,298
1,870
Contact from parent or next of kin
Excessive alcohol consumption
Fire related
Food theft
General Incident
Harassing behavior
Lost property
Major Injury
Mental health related
Minor Injury
Noise
Other
Possession of il egal substances
Resident dispute
Smoking / vaping
Theft
Unauthorised entry / security concern
Vandalism
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
2023
2024
Noise complaints remain one of the highest single incident categories. There was a significant increase in
reports for 2024. While ‘Wake up, Fenner’ activities and the encampment contributed to some of this
increase, the rise in reports under this category is reflective of an increase in reporting. More residents
made more calls reporting noise issues, suggesting a new level of comfort in reporting to Community
Support Of icers (CSOs) and the more accurate recording of noise complaints. This new level of comfort,
added to the proactivity of CSOs, is also a likely cause of increases in specific incident categories –
including harassing behaviour, minor injury, smoking/vaping, and some unauthorised entry/security
concerns – and across the board.
Mental health related incidents appear prominently in reporting for both years, which indicates an ongoing
concern. To address this, residents in 2024 were encouraged to participate in the campus-wide mental
health strategy. The Director, RED and project team met with residents from Toad Hall and Yukeembruk
Village to hear their feedback. These residences were chosen due to their diverse populations, which
include undergraduate and postgraduate and domestic and international students.
Excessive alcohol consumption continues to be one of the highest reported incident categories. Many of
relate to a one-off incident for an individual student who may be consuming alcohol for the first time and
are not aware of their limits. Heads and Deputy Heads of residences focus more closely on some
residents who are regularly identified as consuming excessive amounts of alcohol. Further support is
provided through the Student Safety & Wellbeing team and ACT resources are also offered. Underlying
conditions or reasons for excessive consumption are explored with affected residents and support is
offered. Where behaviour negatively impacts the community, students are placed on a RAP-SA
(Reasonable Adjustment Plan for Student Accommodation) to set clear expectations.
Food theft high was particularly high in 2024, predominantly at Wamburun Hal . Senior residential staff
worked with the community to develop various campaigns, including locks for fridges, additional sealed
storage, food security awareness (promotion of financial aid, food pantry, food vouchers), and general
increase in community consciousness.
This is the first year that food theft was distinguished with its own category, to reflect the increase in
incidents. While food theft remains an issue to be monitored at Wamburun and Yukeembruk, the
significant increase in reporting may also be attributable to comfort with CSOs. This (alongside the other
reporting increases) can only be confirmed once a full data set for 2025 has been gathered to compare
with 2024, when the 24/7 support model was implemented. Indications in the first few weeks of Semester
1 2025 are that mitigation measures are having a positive ef ect.
The frequency of unauthorised entry/security concerns remains steady in both 2023 and 2024. CSOs are
highly proactive in identifying non-residents and reporting relevant incidents. The increase in 2024 is likely
related to the theft and attempted theft of bikes from residences, and due to past under-reporting of these
activities. RED worked with UniSafe and ACT policing to provide incident data and CCTV to support the
request for increased patrols, resulting in several arrests.
Reporting of harassing behaviour incidents was also higher in 2024. This was significantly bolstered by
the encampment, concerns around racism, and ‘Wake up, Fenner’ activities. RED supported students
impacted by the Israel–Palestine conflict (as reported in previous updates). Incidents of racism were
addressed through a poster campaign, emails and newslet er items highlighting a zero-tolerance
approach. The residential Academic Fellow also organised a series of talks, open to al residents and well
received: ARISE (Anti-Racism, Intersectionality and Social Justice in Higher Education). ‘Wake up,
Fenner’ was addressed by increasing UniSafe presence, with UniSafe proactively patrolling the Kambri-
Fenner footpath. Heads of residences also worked closely with their communities to promote positive
active bystander behaviour and initiated swift disciplinary action for those students identified to be
participating in the activities.
The ‘general incident’ category was removed in 2024 in favour of a more meaningful way of tracking
incident categories and subcategories. The ‘other’ category was introduced in 2024 and continues to be
refined.
Student Critical Incidents
No student critical incidents have been recorded since the last update to this Committee.
ATTACHMENTS
i
January to December 2024 Resident Incident Data
COMMUNICATION
For public release ☐
For internal release ☐
Not for release ☒
Document Outline
