About Safer Community

Safer Community is a free, confidential support service for students who experience concerning, threatening, inappropriate or uncomfortable behaviour.

What is unacceptable behaviour?

There is a range of behaviours that might be unwelcome or make you feel uncomfortable, including:

  • bullying
  • harassment
  • discrimination
  • sexual harm
  • family violence
  • stalking
  • threats
  • violence.

What can I report to Safer Community?

You can report anything that relates to unacceptable or concerning behaviour; whether you experience it, witness it or hear about it. This can include a range of issues, such as; sexual harm, bullying, aggression, violence including family/domestic violence, discrimination, stalking or threats.

If you’re a student you can contact us about things you’re concerned about in your personal life, not just things you experience in your university life.

When can I contact Safer Community?

If you or someone else witnesses or experiences concerning behaviour and want free and confidential advice.

You can also still contact us if your concern is off-campus. Even if the incident happened some time ago, but is still affecting you. You can remain anonymous when you get in touch with us.

What happens when I contact Safer Community?

We will assist and provide you with ongoing support, including connecting you with helpful services within or outside the university.

We will keep a confidential record of any information you provide. If we believe there is significant risk of harm to yourself or someone else, we may be obligated to disclose information and/or take appropriate actions to protect health and safety. If this happens, we will discuss it with you directly.

Can I seek advice or report something anonymously?

Yes you can. Using our online form, you can report something anonymously. However do so, we are limited in the action we can take and we cannot contact you back about your report. You could also remain anonymous if you call or meet us and choose not to provide your name. We encourage you to report in whichever way feels okay for you, we can still provide you with information, advice and referrals even if you to report anonymously.

If you choose not to provide your name, please include as much information as possible so we can keep a confidential record and consider any appropriate actions we can take.

What if it happened a long time ago?

We may still be able to provide you with information and referrals, such as academic assistance to succeed with your studies and personal emotional support and resources to assist you with coping. There is no time limit for reporting to us, although it may affect the outcome we are able to provide (due to limitations from other areas of the Uni or external services) but we will do our best to support you to achieve the outcome you are satisfied with.

What if I’m concerned about a friend or someone else?

You can come to Safer Community if your concern relates to someone else. We can listen to you and provide you with advice and information about supporting your friend yourself. Alternatively, you can report it to Safer Community, and we can check in with the person directly and offer them support.

What if it happened off-campus?

If the incident happened off-campus, you can still come to us. We will provide you with the same response although it may require providing you with advice, information and referrals about external processes and services, as well as internal services. If you feel uncomfortable about anything you’ve experienced, you can contact us, and we can support you or point you in the right direction to seek support.