I’D LIKE TO REGISTER A COMPLAINT
Trigger warning: this article contains information about sexual assault and/or violence that may be triggering to some readers. You can find a list of supportive services below.
We do a lap around the building, looking for the door. “Is this it?” I ask my friend, pointing at an official looking office door. She replies, doubtfully, “I don’t think so but we can ask them where to go.” We push open the door, and someone sitting at a computer looks up at us questionably. “Oh um, hello,” I ask them nervously, “we’re just looking for the complaints management unit, are we in the right place?” They reply confidently, “No, go out, turn right, then right again. There’s a sign, you can’t miss it.” We thank them and exit, eventually finding the door they have directed us to, ‘Complaints Management Unit’ emblazoned on the door.
There is a note under the sign which reads: “If you want to submit a complaint or organise a meeting with the Complaints Management Unit (CMU), please send an email to complaints@cdu.edu.au. Please include your full name, student number, and the nature of your query in the email, as this assists the CMU with responding appropriately. For more information, visit: www.cdu.edu.au/complaints.”
The website that the sign on the Complaints door directs you to encourages you, if you have been subjected to harassment, sexual or racial discrimination, bullying or unfair treatment, to contact the Complaints Management Unit for guidance. No physical directions are provided, no phone numbers are given, just an email address. I have emailed the generic complaints email before and an automated reply was immediately generated. One of those ‘your query is important to us’ type replies. While a swift reply was subsequently sent from a real human asking for more details of my complaint, there was no follow up when I did not respond.
I push on the door but it doesn’t budge and I realise it must be locked. I knock on the door but no one comes. It’s 2pm, not lunchtime, within work hours. We peer through the cracks in the sticker design on the door but no one is to be seen. A reception desk sits empty, doors to three offices open. No one replies to our knock. The person in counselling has directed us to register a complaint through a permanently locked door, at an eerily empty office.
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Recently, an ex-professor who worked at CDU was charged and plead guilty to maintaining an optical surveillance device to film a student who studied at CDU. The camera was installed in a bathroom at his house, where the student was renting a room. The crime did not occur on university premises but the university were aware of the rental arrangement, where staff and students would stay in his granny flat because rent in Darwin is high and it was a convenient arrangement for people who were in Darwin for short periods of time.
When he was charged, it was like a floodgate was opened. In the tea rooms, in the corridors, after hours, everyone talked about times when he had said things that were inappropriate, about his bullying behaviour, his uncomfortable questions, about how his behaviour was ‘weird’. It opened a conversation, among other things, about appropriate behaviour and the need for institutions to provide avenues for students to register complaints about staff in positions of power.
Since he was charged, the university has made a concerted effort to improve workplace culture. A network of Contact Officers is being established, and one has already been appointed in the School of Environment. Their role is to provide information as the first point of contact to staff and students on any issues relating to discrimination, sexual and racial harassment, bullying, or victimisation. The development of Contact Officers has emerged, in part, due to the need for students and staff to feel safe in talking through their complaints. Students are vulnerable and often in difficult positions where staff hold power over them. The network of Contact Officers is an important step in the right direction. It is the first step on a long road.
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Never has the issue of sexual harassment on university campuses been more important than now, as we see the release of the Respect. Now. Always campaign. According to the results of the recently released survey into sexual assault and sexual harassment on university campuses, 81 % of the CDU students who responded that they had been sexually harassed at university did not make a formal complaint, and for 11 % of those, it was because they did not know who they could make the complaint to. When specifically asked to respond to knowledge of where to go within CDU to make a complaint if they had been sexually harassed, one quarter (26 %) of students who responded to the survey knew nothing about this, and one fifth (21 %) knew very little about this. Similarly, one fifth (22.3 %) knew nothing about where to go within CDU to make a complaint about sexual assault, and one quarter knew very little about this (27.9 %).
Despite the small sample size, this could indicate that many students and staff at CDU have little knowledge about where to go to make a complaint or where to seek support in relation to sexual assault and harassment. Many students are not aware of the services, are not lodging complaints, and the Respect. Now. Always. campaign speaks to that.
During the court case, I spoke to senior staff members about the inadequacy of the complaints services. When pressed, I was told that the door to the Complaints Management Unit remains locked because staff in the office need to have an alternative exit, in case someone disturbed enters the area. The current office has no secondary exit, so the entrance must remain locked. Incredulous, I asked, “So you need to build a door?” and the answer was yes, indeed, they need to build a door.
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So this is me, registering a complaint. Build the exit. Unlock the door. Ensure that all students know where to register a complaint. Spend time making people feel safe and supported to do so. Even if it is hard, this should be a priority. The safety of students and staff should always be paramount.
Jennifer Macdonald is the Editor-in-Chief of Flycatcher.
CDU has a webpage for their Respect. Now. Always. campaign: http://www.cdu.edu.au/current-students/respect-now-always
To read CDU’s survey report see: https://www.cdu.edu.au/sites/default/files/cdu-report.pdf
If you need assistance while on campus, contact CDU Security on 08 8946 7777. In an emergency, call 000.
CDU offers Counselling in person and over the phone. Call 08 8946 6288 or email counselling@cdu.edu.au to make an appointment. There is an After Hours Crisis Line: 1300 933 393.
