Which university is safest? This is how every Australian uni performed in a survey about sexual violence and harassment

The Australian National University has the second-highest rate of sexual assault among uni students, after Bond University. (ABC News: Jordan Hayne)

Bond University in Queensland has the highest reported prevalence of sexual assault among students since they started studying, according to a safety survey of Australia's 39 major universities. 

Of the Bond University students who participated in the National Student Safety Survey (NSSS), 13.2 per cent said they had been sexually assaulted since they started university, which is almost three times the national average (4.5 per cent). 

Bond University is the smallest university included in the survey, and was one of the few institutions to offer the survey to every student aged 18 and older. Other universities offered the survey to a sample of students.

Results from the Australian National University (ANU) were almost on par, with 12.3 per cent of students surveyed saying they had been sexually assaulted since they started university. 

Sexual assault was defined in the survey as unconsensual sexual contact or acts including rape, fondling of sexual body parts, sexual kissing or sexual penetration.

Hack has collated results from each of the 39 participating universities in the survey, ranked from highest to lowest below. 

Prevalence of sexual assault

Rank	University	Prevalence among students since they started university
1	Bond University	13.2%
2	The Australian National University	12.3%
3	James Cook University	9.5%
4	The University of New England	7.6%
5	Charles Sturt University	7.4%
6	The University of Western Australia	6.9%
7	The University of Sydney	6.7%
8	The University of Newcastle	6.0%
8	University of Wollongong	6.0%
10	University of Tasmania	5.7%
11	The University of Melbourne	5.5%
12	Monash University	5.1%
13	Macquarie University	5.0%
13	The University of Notre Dame	5.0%
13	The University of Queensland	5.0%
16	University of Canberra	4.9%
17	La Trobe University	4.7%
18	Griffith University	4.6%
19	Queensland University of Technology	4.3%
20	Curtin University	4.2%
20	Flinders University	4.2%
22	Southern Cross University	4.1%
23	The University of Adelaide	4.0%
23	University of Technology Sydney	4.0%
25	Charles Darwin University	3.8%
26	Deakin University	3.7%
27	University of the Sunshine Coast	3.4%
28	Swinburne University of Technology	3.3%
29	UNSW Sydney	3.2%
30	Murdoch University	2.9%
30	University of Southern Queensland	2.9%
32	RMIT University	2.8%
33	Western Sydney University	2.6%
34	Australian Catholic University	2.5%
34	Victoria University	2.5%
36	University of South Australia	2.1%
37	CQUniversity Australia	2.0%
37	Edith Cowan University	2.0%
39	Federation University Australia	1.9%

Bond University Vice Chancellor and President, Professor Tim Brailsford, said he was "shocked" by the results from the NSSS and found them "deeply troubling". 

In light of the results, he said Bond University would "establish a task force to oversee an inquiry, review and reform" the prevalence of sexual violence at the university. 

Bond University has also promised to review information around support and reporting processes for students who experience sexual violence, and to provide specialised training to residential college staff, security officers, and frontline staff. 

The rate of sexual assault reported among Bond University students is almost three times the average of other Australian universities. (Supplied: Bond University)

Hack also collated the independent survey's results on the reported prevalence of sexual harassment among students since they started university. 

ANU, Bond University and James Cook University recorded the highest levels of sexual harassment among the 39 participating institutions. 

Sexual harassment includes unwanted sexual touching, staring, following, sexually explicit communications, as well as nude or sexual images taken or shared without permission. 

Prevalence of sexual harassment

Rank	University	Prevalence among students since they started university
1	The Australian National University	26.1%
2	Bond University	25.0%
3	James Cook University	22.2%
4	The University of Western Australia	21.4%
5	Queensland University of Technology	20.4%
6	Griffith University	20.2%
7	The University of Adelaide	19.3%
7	The University of Queensland	19.3%
9	The University of Notre Dame	19.2%
10	La Trobe University	18.9%
11	Macquarie University	18.6%
12	Murdoch University	18.5%
13	The University of Melbourne	18.5%
13	The University of Sydney	18.5%
13	University of Wollongong	18.5%
16	The University of Newcastle	17.9%
17	University of Canberra	17.5%
18	Flinders University	17.3%
19	University of Tasmania	16.9%
20	University of the Sunshine Coast	16.8%
21	Charles Sturt University	16.0%
22	Curtin University	15.6%
23	Monash University	15.3%
23	The University of New England	15.3%
25	Edith Cowan University	15.0%
26	University of Technology Sydney	14.3%
27	Western Sydney University	13.8%
28	UNSW Sydney	13.5%
29	Swinburne University of Technology	12.9%
30	Southern Cross University	12.6%
31	Charles Darwin University	12.4%
32	University of South Australia	12.3%
33	Deakin University	12.1%
34	Australian Catholic University	11.9%
35	Victoria University	11.0%
36	RMIT University	10.5%
37	Federation University Australia	10.2%
38	University of Southern Queensland	10.1%
39	CQUniversity Australia	9.1%

'Unacceptable' levels of sexual violence at Australian universities

The individual results from universities follows the release of the National Student Safety Survey on Wednesday, which was labelled "distressing, disappointing and confronting" by Universities Australia Chair John Dewar. 

The independent survey was conducted in 2021 by The Social Research Centre.

Catriona Jackson, the CEO of Universities Australia, said the results from the survey were higher than she had hoped. 

Ms Jackson said reforming responses to sexual harassment and assault in universities was a difficult challenge for the sector. 

"If it was easy to fix anything in this regard, we would have fixed it already.

"We know we still have a job of working to earn and maintain [students'] trust. But why would we be doing this if we didn't want to make a change?"

Georgie Beatty, President of the National Union of Students, called for transparent and accessible "survivor-centric" responses to sexual harassment and sexual assault at universities. 

"I think we want [universities] to really stop announcing 'consent modules'. I think we've seen that they don't work."