Equal Opportunity and Sexual Harassment

The University is committed to equal opportunity and to maintaining a teaching and working environment free of any form of discrimination or sexual harassment.

If you have concerns in either of these areas please contact one of the following members of staff. Any conversations are treated with the strictest confidence.

Associate Professor Michael Griffith, Head of School
(arrange an appointment through his secretary Mrs J Peluso, Room N136)

Ms Diane Keable, Executive Officer, Room N154

Definition and Examples of Sexual Harassment

(from Sexual Harassment Policy & Procedures - Equal Opportunity Office)

Sexual harassment is an offensive form of social behaviour and is defined under the South Australian Equal Opportunity Act 1984 and the Federal Sex Discrimination Act 1984. These definitions are provided as an appendix to this policy.

In summary, under these Acts, sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual advances, unsolicited acts of physical intimacy, unwelcome requests for sexual favours or other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature. Unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature includes oral or written statements of a sexual nature to a person, or in a person's presence (whether or not the statement concerns that person). Sexual harassment is defined by law from the perspective of the recipient and it occurs if the recipient feels offended, humiliated, or intimated.

Behaviour which may constitute sexual harassment is impossible to describe exhaustively but includes any verbal or physical conduct of an explicitly or implicitly sexual nature which is unsolicited and unwelcome, and may include:

• leering, patting, pinching, touching, embracing, hugging, kissing
• repeated requests for dates or social activities, especially after prior refusal
• requests for sexual favours
• sexual comments or innuendo about a person's physical appearance
• sexual comments or innuendo about a person's sexual preferences
• sexually offensive written or electronic messages and offensive telephone calls, or smutty jokes or comments
• groups of people leering, wolf whistling or making sexual comments at a person or group of people
• offensive or humiliating displays of sexually graphic material including posters, pictures, cartoons and graffiti
• invasion of personal space
• persistent questions, of an implicitly sexual nature, about a person's private life

Some forms of behaviour with a sexual element to them are criminal matters, such as sexual violence and obscene communications.

Sexual harassment can occur in any aspect of University life. It is an exercise of power, most commonly exerted by men over women, and often occurs where there is an inequality of formal status between those involved.

Behaviour that is thought mild or trivial by some may constitute sexual harassment, where the recipient perceives it as offensive, humiliating or distressing.

Guidelines for Student Behaviour

1. All students in the School are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times when in the University or working elsewhere with staff or other students.
2. Students are expected to:
   1. show respect to staff and their fellow students
   2. not use crude or offensive language; and
   3. dress in a tidy and reasonable manner
3. The University has policies that oppose discrimination against staff or students on the grounds of race, gender, sexuality, disability, marital status, age or other grounds. The School fully supports these anti-discrimination policies.
4. The School fully supports the University's Policy on Sexual Harassment and undertakes to draw this policy to the attention of all students at the start of the year.