A report into hazing at the University of New England (UNE) has found female students were pressured into sexual acts, "slapped on the arse" by a line of men before entering a party and told to lock their doors at night.
The hazing rituals were documented in an Australian Human Rights Commission report focused on the Armidale university's residential colleges, released yesterday.
The university approached the commission in the wake of its 2017 report on sexual assault in Australian universities, which found it had the highest rate of sexual assaults in the country.
The commission announced its investigation into the culture at UNE last year, with a focus including attitudes towards women, sexual harassment and sexual assault.
Students told the commission during its investigation their experiences on campus had "desensitised" them to sexual harassment.
One woman quoted in the report said that a man, described as "essentially a stranger", had entered her room as she slept, jumped on her and began kissing her.
The commission heard she reported the assault to a senior student, who worked at the college, and was told: "You probably should just lock your door when you're asleep."
Another student quoted in the report said her friend reported a sexual assault to her head of college and was chastised for being drunk and "putting herself in that position".
The report detailed initiation practices for new students called "fresher challenges" and strict student hierarchies.
One woman said a group of "excessively drunk" first-year female students were made to give lap dances to male students during a practice called the "ladies lounge" initiation.
Another said a group of senior male students one night found "the smallest girl" on the college floor and forced her to drink alcohol through a "beer bong" before putting other liquids down the tube.
"She was this little small girl on the floor and said 'please stop' then they laughed at her and left," the report said.
The university has accepted all 25 recommendations from the commission including consent training, more security cameras and college audits.
UNE vice chancellor Annabelle Duncan said work to implement 17 of the recommendations was already underway.
"We know we play an important role in helping to educate our students about respect and consent, while also giving them the tools and support needed if sexual assault," she said.
