We want Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland to be a place where students and staff can flourish. This means having a culture where people feel safe and supported.

As part of the continuous improvement of our policies and practices, the University has commissioned an independent review about how it handles sexual harassment concerns raised by students or staff in relation to the conduct of University staff.

Our goal is a safe, inclusive environment where sexual harassment and other inappropriate behaviour are not tolerated.

The review will look closely at how our policies and processes work in practice, including the experiences of those involved, and if there are opportunities to do better. We want our community to trust that concerns will be handled respectfully, fairly and consistently.

There are very few cases of sexual harassment reported at the University, however, we have also asked the reviewers to consider whether there are barriers to reporting.

The review will be led by lawyer Fiona McMillan, a partner at Lane Neave who specialises in employment law and is a certified workplace investigator. She will work alongside Professor Annamarie Jagose, Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost at the University of Sydney, who brings extensive experience of complaint and misconduct processes in universities, including cases involving bullying, sexual harassment and sexual harm.

Their work will begin shortly, with the review expected to take three to six months.

Note: Publication of this notice follows an email sent to all staff and students about this review.

The reviewers will consider the University’s approach to preventing, reporting, investigating and responding to sexual harassment, including how it compares with best practice. They will make recommendations about where it can be strengthened to help ensure the University is a safe and respectful place to study and work.

An important part of the review will be hearing from people about their experiences.

If you have something relevant to the review that you would like to share, you can do so directly and confidentially with the independent reviewers.

Personal information shared as part of the review will remain confidential to the reviewers, and the final report will not identify individuals or include information that could identify them.

More information on how to participate will be shared here shortly.

Once the review is complete, the report and its recommendations will be provided to the Vice-Chancellor, then shared with the University community and published on this website.

• Staff can access, free confidential support and counselling through the Habit Health Employee Assistance Programme [Staff intranet]
  • Staff may also talk to their manager or HR Advisory team member [Staff intranet]
• Students can contact Te Papa Manaaki Campus Care

The review is separate from the University's existing reporting processes. Anyone wanting to raise a concern should continue to use the appropriate University reporting channels. There are a number of different options for dealing with complaints of bullying, harassment and discrimination at the University.

For further information refer to the Student Complaint Process Flowchart [PDF] or Staff Complaint Process Flowchart [PDF], as well as the Addressing Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination Policy and Procedures and associated guidelines.

The Staff Risk Intervention Team (SRIT) supports staff who experience threats and/or harassment from an external or unknown source. This can take the form of unwanted phone calls, emails or threats to personal safety. For information about SRIT, refer to the Staff Risk Intervention Team page [Staff intranet].

A whistleblower hotline is also an option to report suspected unethical misconduct, including harassment, bullying or discrimination. For more information, refer to the Whistleblower hotline page.