Updated November 23, 2017 16:55:37

Photo: Some universities in the US already ban sex between academics and undergraduates (ABC News: Giulio Saggin, file photo)

Academics at RMIT University in Melbourne are calling for Australian universities to institute a blanket ban on sex between faculty members and students.

Professor Denise Cuthbert, associate deputy vice chancellor for Research, Training and Development at RMIT, said it was time to review policies that govern how professors, lecturers and tutors interact with students.

She said the current situation within universities was too unclear.

"Some universities have moved to make additional comment to the effect that 'these relationships are strongly discouraged', but nonetheless the universities acknowledge they will arise," she said.

"The intervention I'm seeking to make is that it's probably time for organisations to review this, in light of what we now know about the distorting effect that power structures can have on interpersonal relations.

"I don't think a ban in perpetuity is appropriate, but my recommendation would be for a prohibition in place [on sex], that would terminate on graduation."

Professor Cuthbert said the academic board at RMIT considered her proposal on Monday, and had given the greenlight to investigating it further.

She said her goal would be for a ruling for academics that was consistent with policies already in place for workers in other professions, like lawyers, doctors and psychologists.

"For example, for psychologists the prohibition on intimate sexual relations with clients or patients endures for the length of the professional association and for a period of two years afterwards," she said.

"And health professionals in general have very clearly articulated, via the concept of professional boundaries, prohibited relationships.

"So health professionals are simply not free to choose sexual partners from amongst their patients."

'He took advantage of the power imbalance'

University of Western Australia zoology PHD student Peter Derbyshire said he had seen his fair share of personal relationships between academics and students.

He said since becoming president of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations, it had become clear that there was another side to sex between tutors and their students.

"The problem exists because you'll have a student who is working very closely with a supervisor — usually in a very niche research area — and that supervisor is usually an expert in the field," he said.

"So if the student and the supervisor relationship breaks down, occasionally it can happen that where that supervisor can then really upset the future of that student's career."

For a year James Connolly was unable to process the experience of being sexually assaulted, but he's decided it's time to speak out and let others know they're not alone.

He added that the findings of a report conducted by the Australian Human Rights Commission that sexual harassment of students by their tutors was common added weight to calls for a ban.

That study, released earlier this year, estimated 10 per cent of all postgraduate students in Australia had been sexually harassed by a tutor or lecturer, and 6 per cent of undergraduate students.

One anonymous reports of harassment written by a students said they believed that they were sexually harassed by their supervisor "as he took advantage of the power imbalance".

"And saw my situation as a new mother, and me being a young naive woman who looked up to him, as an advantage or a vulnerability," the student said.

"Perhaps lecturers at universities feel that they are in position of power with their students and some take advantage of this.

"I didn't know what to do, I didn't want to be rude because he was a professor."

Another anonymous student said they did not report the incident because "the industry is very tight-knit".

"And causing a fuss or making trouble with a fellow student who could one day become a colleague in the industry could really ruin opportunities for me in the future," the student said.

"It happens a lot within the industry and so too within the course environment."

'Australia could take global lead'

Professor Cuthbert said Yale University in the United States has already banned sex between academics and undergraduates.

She said Australian universities could go even further by extending the ban to postgraduate students too.

Professor Cuthbert said a blanket prohibition on sex between faculty members and students might also help attract more women to male-dominated field like science and maths.

And she added it could also make Australia an even more attractive study destination for students from overseas.

"For our very significant number of international students who arrive in Australia, the customs and conventions of interpersonal and sexual relationships are not known," she said.

"This would provide a degree of clarity."

Topics: university-and-further-education, teachers, community-and-society, australia

First posted November 23, 2017 13:53:44