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National Student Safety Survey
Research Areas
Attitudes +
Values
Education +
Knowledge
Equity +
Justice
Health +
Wellbeing
Identity +
Belonging
Project Status
The 2021 National Student Safety Survey (NSSS) was funded by Universities Australia (UA) through its Respect. Now. Always. initiative – a sector-wide program that aims to prevent sexual violence in university communities and support those who have been affected. It builds on an important legacy of previous research and advocacy.
The main aim of the research was to measure perceptions of safety, opinions and experiences relating to sexual harassment and sexual assault among students studying at Australian universities.
Caution to the reader
Please note that this project and associated reports contain descriptions of sexual harassment and sexual assault, as well as mentions of self-harm, drug use and suicide ideation. If you feel you would like to speak to someone for support or information in relation to these issues, you can contact these free support services:
- 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732 or 1800RESPECT.org.au)
- Lifeline (13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au)
- QLife (1800 184 527 or qlife.org.au)
- Relationships Australia (1300 364 277 or relationships.org.au)
- Mensline Australia (1300 789 978 or mensline.org.au)
Partner
Universities Australia
Aims + Outcomes
The main objective of the NSSS was to establish the current prevalence of sexual harassment and sexual assault experiences among university students at Australian universities. More specifically, the objectives included:
- determining the current prevalence of sexual harassment and sexual assault among students at Australian universities
- exploring the context within which sexual harassment and sexual assault occurs, including the setting, connection to the perpetrator and pattern of abusive behaviour
- examining awareness and behaviours towards help seeking and reporting in relation to sexual harassment and sexual assault, and
- identifying key socio-demographic correlates of sexual harassment and sexual assault, as well as help seeking and reporting.
Ultimately, the findings from the NSSS sought to help to contextualise how these behaviours occur, understand help-seeking and reporting behaviours, and inform universities’ services student safety and wellbeing.
Methods
The National Student Safety Survey was conducted between 6 September 2021 and 3 October 2021. The survey was conducted entirely online with a representative sample of university students from UA member institutions.
A total of 43,819 students took part in the.
Accompanying the survey was a qualitative research component called ‘Your Study’, which enabled victims/survivors to disclose their experiences of sexual violence in their own words and make their own suggestions for change.
1,835 students shared their experiences.
All aspects of the research were reviewed and approved by a human research ethics committee.
Further information about the survey, methodology and results can be found at nsss.edu.au nsss.edu.au
All related enquiries, including request for the SRC, should be made to Universities Australia:
Insight
16%
of students have experienced sexual harassment in a university context since starting university.
4.5%
of students have experienced sexual assault in a university context since starting university.
43.5%
of students knew nothing or very little about the formal reporting process for sexual harassment or assault.
Impact
ABC
Who is hiring for those with disabilities?
ABC
Who is hiring for those with disabilities?
ABC
Who is hiring for those with disabilities?
Have you been contacted to participate?
Who participates?
Master project template 2: who participates. Over 13,000 interviews will be undertaken across New South Wales in the coming months.
What are the benefits?
Master project template 2: benefits. Your experience is valuable to us. Your response to the survey will contribute to the improvement of…
How does it work?
Master project template 2: how it works. You may have received a text message from 0481075514, or a phone call from 0290608424 or 0290608425 regarding this study.
Resources
Full Analysis Report (Population Health Test)
Full Analysis Report (Population Health Test)
How do we ensure privacy is protected?
Testing 2. The Social Research Centre complies with the Australian Privacy Principles. All personal contact information such as name, email and phone number is removed from the final data. Your responses will be de-identified, held in the strictest confidence and will not be disclosed to other organisations for marketing or research purposes. The responses of everyone who participates in this survey will be combined for analysis. Please see the SRC’s Privacy Policy.
Get in touch
Contact
Support Services
Discussions around sexual harassment and sexual assault can be distressing for many in our community. If you would like to speak to someone for support, there are national counselling and referral services available to you:
- 1800RESPECT: National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence counselling www.1800respect.org.au or 1800 737 732
- MensLine Australia: 1300 78 99 78, or mensline.org.au
- QLife, referral service for LGBTQ people: call 1800 184 527 or qlife.org.au
- Australia wide university support and safety services (listed through Universities Australia): www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/our-universities/student-safety
- Beyond Blue: www.beyondblue.org.au or 1300 22 4636
- Lifeline: www.lifeline.org.au or 13 11 14
Support services are also available at each university for its community: www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/our-universities/student-safety/
FAQs
How will the information be used?
Participation is always voluntary, but your participation is important.
Why? Because it ensures representativeness and that results can be projected to the population.
How long will the survey take to complete?
Our staff may have contacted you as part of a research survey. We are a social research company, exempt from the Australian Do Not Call Register, meaning we may call telephone numbers listed on the Do Not Call Register to conduct opinion polling and standard questionnaire-based research. We are not telemarketers, we are not selling a product and we do not provide your name or contact information to any other parties.
The phone numbers we dial are either:
- Randomly generated by computer, using known telephone exchange prefixes
- Randomly selected from available telephone directories
- Provided to us by our clients.
Master template test 2
Sample text goes here.
Master template test 2
Sample text goes here.
General FAQs