The Honourable Professor Marcia Neave AO REVIEW OF TRINITY COLLEGE’S RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE CULTURE August 2019 CONTENTS Message from Marcia Neave 6 Recommendations 8 PART 1: BACKGROUND 13 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 14 1.1 The Review’s purpose and approach 14 1.1.1 What prompted this Review? 14 1.1.2 Establishment of the Review 17 1.2 How the Review was conducted 18 1.3 Acknowledgements 20 1.4 Outline of the Report 20 CHAPTER 2: LEADERSHIP THROUGH GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES, VALUES AND POLICIES 21 2.1 Governance structures 22 2.1.1 College Council 22 2.1.2 College Board 22 2.1.3 Officers of the College 22 2.2 College staff 22 2.2.1 The Residential College response to student wellbeing issues 23 2.2.2 Residential Tutors 24 2.2.3 Staff Code of Conduct 24 2.2.4 Other policies 25 2.2.5 Student feedback on relations with staff 25 2.2.6 The balance between safety and wellbeing and respect for student autonomy 26 2.2.7 Enhancing cooperation and trust between staff and students 27 CHAPTER 3: LEADERSHIP ROLE OF STUDENTS 29 3.1 Background of students 29 3.2 Student organisations and leadership opportunities 30 3.2.1 Trinity College Associated Clubs (TCAC) 30 3.2.2 The role of ‘Corridors’ 31 3.2.3 Student Co-ordinators 31 3.2.4 Student feedback on student leadership 31 3.2.5 Reinforcing the role of student leaders in bringing about cultural change 32 3.3 Student Code of Conduct 33 PART 2: THE RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE CULTURE 35 CHAPTER 4: OVERVIEW OF STRENGTHS AND CHALLENGES IN THE COLLEGE CULTURE 36 4.1 General comments on positive features of Trinity Culture 36 4.2 General comments on challenges and negative features of Trinity culture 38 CHAPTER 5: BUILDING A SAFE, RESPECTFUL AND INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY 40 5.1 Orientation Week 40 5.1.1 Student responses to Orientation Week 41 5.2 Bullying 44 5.3 Encouraging and supporting diversity 45 5.3.1 International students 46 5.3.2 Social advantage 47 5.3.3 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students 48 5.3.4 Students with a disability or medical condition 48 5.3.5 LGBTIQ+ students 49 5.3.6 Gender diversity 49 5.4 College policies relevant to diversity 49 5.4.1 Training 49 5.5 Creating a more diverse student community and ensuring respect for diversity 50. 5.5.1 Admission policies 50 5.5.2 Respecting diversity 52 CHAPTER 6: THE PLACE OF ALCOHOL AND DRUGS IN COLLEGE CULTURE 53 6.1 Alcohol consumption in Australia 53 6.2 When and where is alcohol consumed at Trinity? 54 6.2.1 Other student events 54 6.3 What I heard about use of alcohol and drugs at Trinity 55 6.3.1 Alcohol 55 6.3.2 Drugs 56 6.4 Policies designed to ensure responsible drinking 56 6.5 Training 57 6.5.1 Student views on the effectiveness of the Trinity policies and training on alcohol consumption 58 CONTENTS 6.6 What other Reports have recommended 59 CHAPTER 7: SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND SEXUAL ASSAULT 61 7.1 Sexual harassment and assault in the Australian community 61 7.1.1 The 2016 PSS 61 7.1.2 The AHRC Report 62 7.1.3 Broderick’s Cultural Renewal Report and St Paul’s College Report 62 7.1.4 University of Western Australia’s College Row Cultural Review 2018 73 7.2 What I heard about harassment and sexual assault at Trinity 63 7.3 College policies 66 7.3.1 Student Code of Conduct 66 7.4 Student comments on College response to sexual harassment and assault 68 7.4.1 Broderick Recommendations 69 7.5 What changes should be made at Trinity? 70 APPENDICES 75 Appendix A – Terms of Reference 76 Appendix B – Trinity College Student Wellbeing and Culture Questionnaire 79 Appendix C – Interview Framework for Student Interviews 109 Appendix D – Trinity College Student Code of Conduct – Residential College 110 Appendix E – Trinity College Staff Code of Conduct 122 Appendix F – Trinity College Values Statement 136 Appendix G – 2018 Trinity College Organisational Structure and 2018 Residential College Organisational Structure 138 Appendix H – Residential Student, Staff and Tutor Training (2018 and 2019) 140 Appendix I – Trinity College Alcohol Provision and Consumption Policy 150 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 157 Message from Marcia Neave This is a brief summary of the Report on the qualitative review of the strengths and challenges of the culture of residential life at Trinity College, the University of Melbourne. Its fndings and recommendations are based on an analysis of Trinity College policy documents, observations of student training, and group interviews with and submissions from students, parents and alumni. I have also drawn to some extent on a quantitative survey of frst, second, third and fourth year and above students living in Trinity in October 2018, which was undertaken by Dr Brendan Churchill, Research Fellow in Sociology at the University of Melbourne. Trinity College culture has many strengths. The majority of students who contributed to the review liked living at Trinity and believed it was a safe and welcoming environment. They spoke positively about their experience of belonging to a strong community, about the academic and other support provided by the College, the lasting friendships they had made, their participation in a broad range of social activities and their opportunities to make contacts with alumni networks which would not otherwise have been open to them. Students made very positive comments about the emotional help and practical support given by the Wellbeing Team and the Indigenous Support Ofcer. But the interviews and quantitative survey also identifed a number of challenges. Despite eforts to encourage applications from students from diverse backgrounds and the availability of scholarships, Trinity culture remains relatively homogenous. Some international students said they felt isolated at Trinity and spoke of the gap created by the cultural diferences between themselves and domestic students. Some students from lower socio-economic backgrounds felt that more socially privileged students tended to take their advantages for granted. While many women students felt safe and enjoyed their Trinity experience, some spoke of a ‘laddish’ or ‘hyper-masculine’ culture from which they felt excluded. The Report makes recommendations about the admission process which aim to increase the diversity of the student community. It also makes recommendations to ensure all students have an opportunity to contribute to college life and culture, regardless of the background from which they come. As explained in the Report, the standards of behaviour required of students are clearly set out in the Student Code of Conduct, which also sets out sanctions for breach and processes for making formal complaints when a breach occurs. Alcohol-related misconduct, bullying, discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault are condemned. The Wellbeing Team, Residential Tutors and other relevant staf receive training in handling complaints and supporting those who report sexual misconduct. I was impressed by the training sessions for frst year students which I attended, which encouraged student participation and discussion and were provided by experts in the areas covered. Sessions covered training on the Student Code of Conduct, the meaning of consent to sexual behaviour, responsible drinking and how to intervene as an efective bystander and the experiences of Indigenous students. I congratulate those involved in designing and arranging this training. The Report recommends continuation and expansion of expert training on these and other issues, with all students being required to attend refresher sessions on issues such as consent to sexual activity. It also recommends that the training programs in which both staf and students are required to participate are clearly documented and updated. Unfortunately, despite the Code of Conduct and the training program, a small number of students at Trinity have experienced bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault. Some misconduct is related to excessive drinking. The College has a policy on Alcohol Provision and Consumption and Guidelines for provision of alcohol at student-run events, but some students do not drink responsibly. The Report recommends some minor changes to policies on alcohol provision and consumption and alcohol-related misconducted. 6 | Review of Trinity College’s Residential College Culture A small number of students told us they had been sexually harassed or assaulted by other Trinity students, although it is difcult to ascertain how frequently this occurs. The rate of sexual assault experienced by Trinity students may be no higher than among young people in the general population. But such behaviour can have a lasting efect on a victim/survivor. It is vital that the College provides appropriate support to victim/survivors of sexual assault. There is also some evidence that a few senior male students have engaged in sexual activities with younger female students who felt pressured to consent when they were afected by alcohol. As the quantitative survey suggests, victims of sexual assault often tell their friends what has happened to them, but are not prepared to make a formal report to the College. In the general community sexual assault is also under-reported. Reluctance to report formally may be even greater within a college community because victims/survivors may wish to maintain their privacy. Some students also expressed concerns about College responses to complaints about sexual misconduct. Students who had experienced or observed such behaviour in the past and had reported it, felt that staf responses were sometimes inconsistent or too slow and that victim/survivors of assault did not always receive trauma-informed support. Some students also felt frustrated because they did not know what action the College had taken when it received a complaint about misconduct which the student had observed or heard about.