Harassment and Discrimination

Harassment and discrimination are not tolerated at the University of Sydney. The University is committed to providing a workplace and study environment free from harassment and discrimination on all its campuses. This commitment is set out in its Harassment Prevention Policy and Discrimination Prevention Policy.

All managers, supervisors and academic employees are actively responsible for intervening to prevent harassment or discrimination.

All employees, students and external contractors have a responsibility to ensure that they do not promote or engage in harassment or discrimination.

All students and employees (including part-time, casual and honorary employees) have the right to use the University's Harassment and Discrimination Prevention Procedure if they feel they have been subjected to harassment or discrimination.

Harassment is any type of behaviour that:

• the other person does not want AND
• offends embarrasses or scares them AND
• is sexual OR targets them because of their race, sex, pregnancy, marital status, transgender, sexual preference or orientation, disability or long term illness, age, family or carer's responsibility, social origin, political belief or lack of political belief, religious belief or lack of religious belief AND
• in the circumstances a reasonable person should have expected would offend, embarrass or scare.

It is also harassment to:

• bully or intimidate someone in a way that offends, embarrasses, humiliates or offends them AND
• endangers that person's health or safety AND
• in the circumstances a reasonable person should have expected would offend, embarrass, humiliate or offend them.

Some commonly asked questions about harassment.

Discrimination is:

• Any practice that makes a distinction between individuals or groups so as to disadvantage some people and advantage others.
• Discrimination can be 'direct' or 'indirect'.
• 'Direct' discrimination is where a person is treated less favourably because of their race, sex, pregnancy, marital status, transgender, sexual preference or orientation, disability or long term illness, age, family or carer's responsibility, social origin, political belief or lack of political belief, religious belief or lack of religious belief THAN a person without that characteristic IN the same or similar circumstances.
• 'Indirect' discrimination results when a requirement, rule, policy or practice that appears to treat everyone the same, has a disproportionately unfair impact on particular people or groups of people when it is applied, and is unreasonable.

Some commonly asked questions about discrimination.

You have a number of options. You can:

• approach the person directly, point out to that person that you feel he or she is harassing or discriminating against you, and ask that person to stop
• report the harassment or discrimination to your supervisor or manager and ask him or her to take action to stop the harassment or discrimination
• talk to one of the University's Harassment and Discrimination Support Officers on a confidential basis about what is happening and the options available to you to deal with it
• seek advice or guidance from your staff union or student association, the University's Counselling Service, Student Services, the International Student Services Unit and/or the Staff Support and Development Unit.
• contact the University's independent . You can take a friend, Harassment and Discrimination Support Officer or a union or student association representative with you. The Manager can advise you about how you can go about making a complaint about the harassment or discrimination, seek resolution of the problem through mediation if that is appropriate, or other ways of resolving the problem. The complaints process and resolution options are described in detail in the Harassment and Discrimination Resolution Procedure.

Tanja Walker
Case Coordinator, Harassment & Discrimination Resolution
Ph: 9351 7122
Fax: 9351 3195
Email:

Jannine Cradick / Julie Barton
Assistant to Case Coordinator, Harassment and Discrimination Resolution
Ph: 9351 2212
Fax: 9351 3195
Email:

If the Manager, Harassment and Discrimination Resolution or the Assistant to the Manager, Harassment and Discrimination Resolution is not available, please contact the University case manager on 9351 8713

• Harassment and Discrimination Support Officers
• NTEU - National Tertiary Education Union
• CPSU - Community & Public Sector Union
• SRC - Students' Representative Council
• SUPRA - Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association
• University Security Services