Report inappropriate behaviour

• Blackmail – the action of demanding payment or another benefit from someone in return for not revealing compromising or damaging information about them.
• Extortion – is a form of blackmail using intimidation to obtain money, property or valuable items through the use of actual or threatened force, violence or fear
• Fraud means dishonest activity causing actual or potential financial loss to any individual or entity (including the theft of moneys or other property) in circumstances where the individual undertaking that activity has used deception immediately before, at the time of, or immediately following, that activity

• Aggression: Any incident where a person is abused threatened or assaulted. The behaviour can include physical, verbal or written behaviour that causes harm or causes someone to fear harm.
• Bullying means the repeated, unacceptable and unreasonable conduct directed at an individual or a group of individuals.
• Harassment means conduct towards an individual or group of individuals that offends, humiliates and/or derogatory comments or taunts. Bullying and harassment can be in person or online.

Discrimination means behaviour that treats an individual or group of individuals less favourably on the basis of certain personal characteristics such as sex, gender, age etc.

Domestic and family violence can involve behaviour that makes you feel scared, involve threats to you, your children or pets, and denies you choice. Domestic and family violence almost always involves an ongoing repeated pattern of behaviour of control. This is known as coercive control, which can include both physical and non-physical abuse.

Hazing is behaviour directed towards students or staff and involves pressure and/or force to participate in humiliating, negative, or distressing activities in order to be accepted as part of a group, club or workplace.

Sexual misconduct means an incident(s) where an individual engages in unwanted and unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature. It can include assault, harassment and/or exploitation.

Reports enable UWA to identify patterns (in behaviours or in areas of the University) and monitor progress towards eliminating inappropriate behaviour, such as sexual harassment and sexual assault. If the identity and contact details of the person subjected to harm are provided in the report, information provision and support to that person can be facilitated.

UWA will act in line with the wishes of the person who has experienced or is experiencing inappropriate behaviour, if that person has been identified (see 'who sees the report for exceptional circumstances’ where UWA may be required to act otherwise). In all cases, the Report will be confidentially recorded and stored, with de-identified information being shared to minimise future harm to our community.

The report will be received and assessed by the Integrity and Standards Unit. As part of the assessment process for named reports, the ISU will make contact to find out what support services the person impacted would like information on or perhaps a referral to; and if the incident(s) are to be investigated., then what that process involves.

Where an investigation is needed to put allegations to a student, the ISU will manage that process. Where it requires that allegations be put to a staff member, the case will be referred to Human Resources.

Reports will be confidentially managed, stored and archived in accordance with UWA’s Record Management Policy. Reports are kept strictly confidential except where the Report needs to be sent to a different section such as Human Resources for an investigation, or in other exceptional circumstances, for example, where there is an immediate and serious risk to others. In such circumstances, UWA may either have to commence an investigation or may have to notify third parties, such as the Police or child protection authorities.

The use of the terms ‘report’ and ‘complaint’ can be quite confusing at times. What the terms have in common is that they both let UWA know that something has happened that we should know about. Making a named report as the person who experienced or is experiencing inappropriate behaviour is the same as making a complaint – you are concerned about something that happened/is happening and have an expectation that UWA will take steps to support you and to look into those incidents (s).

Third parties making a Report – such as DEI Contact Officers, are doing to so to provide de-identified reports that UWA can still consider in order to address basic issues such as lighting and building access, or to inform our development of training, etc. to change culture.

You are able to make an anonymous report but the actions that are possible in response to anonymous reports are limited. We will only be able to act upon anonymous reports on very rare occasions. Anonymous reports can assist the University to track emerging concerns and target areas for prevention initiatives.

UWA encourages those impacted by conduct/behaviour that may also be a criminal offence to report to WA Police. It is always up to the person who has been subjected to the harm to decide if they wish to report to Police (Note: there are exceptional and very limited circumstances when UWA may make a report directly to Police, for example, if there is an immediate and serious risk to others).

In some cases, if the person who is the victim/survivor is under 16 years of age and at risk of harm, UWA has legal mandatory reporting obligation to notify Police.

You can report criminal matters to WA Police at any time. It is possible to make an anonymous report to Police.