Safety & wellbeing

General safety

All students have the right to a safe, supportive, and fair higher education learning environment.

The Sydney Institute of Higher Education works to ensure that the campus is safe and secure at all times through the following:

• Monitoring physical spaces to ensure that hazards to safety and wellbeing are identified as per the Work Health and Safety Policy. This includes ensuring that spaces are well-lit at all hours.
• The use of CCTV at the campus building entrances.
• Training staff in responding to injury, illness, and emergencies.
• Having clear emergency response procedures as per the Critical Incident Response Policy.
• Prominently displaying throughout campus details of emergency plans including evacuation and
• emergency contact numbers.
• All staff and students on campus taking part in periodic evacuation and emergency drills.
• On-campus security
• On-campus security is available to assist you at all times during business hours.

Emergencies

In an emergency, call Triple Zero (000) – Police, Ambulance and Fire Brigade.

For matters less than an emergency, call or contact the Provost.

An emergency includes:

• any suspected offence in progress, being witnessed or just committed
• any situation where life or injury is threatened
• motor vehicle accident where persons are injured
• air, rail or water accident
• any event which might cause danger to persons or property
• explosion or bomb incident/threat
• a disturbance or breach of the peace, for example, domestic violence incident or anti-social behaviour.

For 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Poisons Information Centre: Phone 13 11 26

Sydney Hospital and Sydney Eye Hospital: Phone +61 2 9382 7111; 8 Macquarie Street Sydney NSW 2000 https://www.seslhd.health.nsw.gov.au/sydney-eye-hospital

Online safety

The Sydney Institute of Higher Education actively promotes student online safety, security, and wellbeing, as per the IT Resources and Online Conduct Policy students are introduced to the protocol they can take to ensure their own safety online during the new student orientation program.

The Sydney Institute of Higher Education’s IT systems are designed to protect student safety and confidentiality.

The Sydney Institute of Higher Education’s strict online conduct rules ensure that the learning environment remains safe and secure for all students. As with the Student Code of Conduct, the responsible use of IT resources is a condition of your enrolment in higher education programs at the Sydney Institute of Higher Education.

The Sydney Institute of Higher Education has deemed the following to be inappropriate usage of the internet, and may impose disciplinary consequences upon those who commit the following whilst using the Sydney Institute of Higher Education’s internet:

• Gaining unauthorised access to accounts belonging to the Sydney Institute of Higher Education, or external organisations
• Sharing unique Sydney Institute of Higher Education login details with others
• Peer to peer file-sharing; use of file-sharing programs such as Bittorrent or U-Torrent
• Illegal activity; conducting activities that have been deemed illegal through legislation
• Activity that, in addition to contravening Australian law, goes against the Sydney Institute of Higher Education’s  values, codes of conduct, and policies
• Viewing and/or downloading pornography
• Playing games (unless the game is part of a student’s program progression).

For more information see the Sydney Institute of Higher Education IT Resources and Online Conduct Policy.

Sexual harassment and assault

The Sydney Institute of Higher Education acknowledges that the high prevalence of sexual harassment and assault in higher education settings in Australia needs to be proactively addressed in order to ensure the safety and wellbeing of staff and students. The Sydney Institute of Higher Education implements a range of measures to create conditions in which the likelihood of sexual harassment and assault occurring is reduced.

The Sydney Institute of Higher Education has a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment and assault by students or staff. No matter where an incident occurs, the Sydney Institute of Higher Education considers it a serious contravention of the Student Code of Conduct.

The following actions constitute harassment and sexual assault (crimes under Australian and New South Wales law) and will not be tolerated under any circumstances at the Sydney Institute of Higher Education:

Any unwanted or unwelcome sexual behaviour, which makes a person feel offended, humiliated or intimidated, including:

• staring or leering
• unnecessary familiarities, such as deliberately brushing up against you or unwelcome
• touching
• suggestive comments or jokes
• insults or taunts of a sexual nature
• intrusive questions or statements about your private life
• displaying posters, magazines or screen savers of a sexual nature
• sending sexually explicit emails or text messages
• inappropriate advances on social networking sites
• accessing sexually explicit internet sites
• requests for sex or repeated unwanted requests to go out on dates
• behaviour that may also be considered to be an offence under criminal law, such as
  • physical assault, indecent exposure, sexual assault, stalking or obscene communications.
• Forcing, coercing or tricking someone into sexual acts against their will or without their consent
• Exposing a child or young person under 18 to sexual activities.

For more information see the Sydney Institute of Higher Education Sexual Harassment and Assault Policy.