National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence Frequently Asked Questions

The Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Act 2025 and the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence (National Code) applies to Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) registered higher education providers. There are different commencement dates for Table A and Table B providers and other providers registered under the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011.

The basic principles of regulation under the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Act 2025 are the principle of regulatory necessity, and principle of proportionate regulation.

These principles will guide the Secretary of the Department of Education and the Higher Education Gender-based Violence Regulator in the exercise of their regulatory powers and functions.

The principle of regulatory necessity ensures that the Secretary’s exercise of the power does not burden the higher education provider any more than is reasonably necessary.

The principle of regulatory necessity means that the Secretary will only take action when it is needed to achieve the intended regulatory outcome. For example, if the Secretary decides that intervention is required, any action taken will be limited to what is necessary. Necessity is also considered alongside the principle of proportionality and fairness, taking into account all the facts and circumstances, including any burden placed on higher education providers. The principle of proportionate regulation ensures that the Secretary’s exercise of the power is in proportion to:

• Any non-compliance.
• Any risk of future non-compliance.

In line with the principle of proportionate regulation, the Secretary may consider the seriousness of any non-compliance by the provider, the actual or potential risk of harm to students and staff, the likelihood of harm happening or happening again, and the Secretary’s confidence in the provider’s commitment and capability to address the non-compliance and ensure the safety of staff and students in the future.

The National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence states that the higher education principal executive officer is accountable for compliance with the National Code. This role is usually filled by the Vice Chancellor or Chief Executive Officer. This person will be responsible for leading the development of a Whole-of-Organisation Prevention and Response Plan, which is to be submitted to the Secretary, implemented and published on the providers website.

A Higher Education Provider National Code Implementation Group was established by the GBV Regulator in August 2025 and meets regularly to inform and guide the implementation approach for the higher education sector, engaging with the GBV Regulator on key implementation areas to ensure provider readiness to comply with the National Code. This group includes representatives from higher education providers and peak organisations including Universities Australia, the Group of 8, Independent Higher Education Australia (IHEA), Independent Tertiary Education Council of Australia (ITECA), the Regional Universities Network (RUN) and Innovative Research Universities (IRU).

The GBV Regulator has met with providers throughout 2025 and continues to extend the invitation to providers to meet to discuss compliance with the National Code. 

The GBV Regulator has conducted a series of webinars on the National Code with the recordings, presentations and transcripts published to the GBV Regulator website.

The GBV Regulator has also released guidance to support compliance with the National Code including guidance and optional templates to support development of the Whole-of-Organisation Gender-based Violence Prevention and Response Plan.  
 

Standard 1 of the National Code makes it clear:

• The Principal Executive Officer is ultimately responsible for making sure the provider complies with the Code.
• They also need to lead the development, implementation, and publication of a Whole-of-Organisation Plan and Outcomes Framework.

Operational tasks may be supported by others, but accountability and leadership cannot be delegated. The National Code emphasises the importance of visible, sustained leadership, from the top to drive organisation-wide change.

Guidance and optional templates for the Whole-of-Organisation Gender-based Violence Prevention and Response Plan and Outcomes Framework are available in the resources page for the National Code.

Providers are required to submit the Endorsement template with the submission of their Whole of Organisation Plan.

Higher education providers that directly own, operate and/or manage student accommodation need to ensure that this accommodation is included in their Whole-of-Organisation Gender-based Violence Prevention and Response Plan. This means directly owned, operated and/or managed student accommodation needs to be considered and included in actions to comply with Standards 1 to 6, and policies and procedures need to address the specific context and risks associated with student accommodation as outlined in Standard 7. 

Under Standard 7.2, student accommodation that is otherwise under the control of or affiliated with a higher education provider, must develop their own Whole-of-Organisation Gender-based Violence Prevention and Response Plan.

The Higher Education Gender-based Violence Regulator has developed a guide and optional templates for higher education providers to prepare a Whole-of-Organisation Plan. These resources may be useful for otherwise controlled and affiliated student accommodation providers.

Many providers already have a Gender Equality Action Plans (GEAPs) in place. If these plans are current and meet the requirements of the National Code, they can be referenced in the Whole-of-Organisation Gender-based Violence Prevention and Response Plan (Plan).

These action plans often cover gender equality considerations for staff only, which is why our guidance makes clear that providers may choose to:

• Expand an existing GEAP to include actions for students and the broader provider community, or
• Integrate student-focused gender equality actions into their broader Plan.

Providers without an existing plan can follow these options also – focus the GEAP on staff and include student-focused gender equality actions into their broader Plan or develop a GEAP that covers staff and students across the whole of organisation.

The National Code defines Whole-of-Organisation as: an approach applied across all areas of a provider’s operations, including any student accommodation which it directly owns, operates and/or manages, or the operations of a student accommodation provider or affiliated student accommodation provider as the context requires it, and at all levels that is evidence-informed, uses multiple strategies and is subject to ongoing monitoring and evaluation, including in respect to:

• leadership, culture and environment;
• structures, norms and practices;
• systems and infrastructure;
• service delivery, such as curriculum, teaching and learning;
• policies and procedures;
• management and governance;
• community engagement;
• business;
• research; and
• partnerships.

The National Code applies only to Table A and Table B providers under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (Cth) from 1 January 2026, and to other providers registered under the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (Cth) (TEQSA Act) from 1 January 2027.

However, higher education providers are expected to apply the intent of the National Code in all their operations and consider the requirements of the National Code as part of their whole-of-organisation approach.

In the case where an organisation includes a combination of Table A/Table B providers, and other providers registered under the TEQSA Act, the whole-of-organisation approach may include all these entities from the outset, or expand over time to ensure compliance by 1 January 2027.

Whole-of-Organisation Gender-based Violence Prevention and Response Plans (Plans) and Outcomes Frameworks will vary across providers, reflecting different contexts and communities. The GBV Regulator will assess whether providers have met the requirements in Standards 1.4 and 1.8 of the Code.

Providers will need to demonstrate that they have engaged and collaborated with their community, including those with lived experience, to understand their specific context. The GBV Regulator will look for evidence that providers have tailored their Plan and Outcomes Framework to this context, identified relevant risks, enablers and barriers, and developed appropriate responses.

From 1 January 2026, Table A and B providers are required to be compliant with the National Code and commence data collection to support reporting against Standard 6.

To meet Standard 1.8 of the National Code, Table A and B higher education providers need to submit a Whole of Organisation Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response Plan and Outcomes Framework by Friday, 16 January 2026. This date gives practical effect to the 1 January 2026 requirement and recognises that providers have internal governance processes to navigate during the summer break. The Higher Education Gender-based Violence Regulator will advise the key National Code contact for each provider about specific submission details to ensure compliance requirements are met in January 2026.

The National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence requires providers to collect and report on the incidence of gender-based violence. These requirements are outlined in Standard 6 of the National Code.

The Higher Education Gender-based Violence Regulator is working to provide guidance as soon as possible to support consistent data collection by Table A and B providers.

The National Code contains detailed requirements regarding the data that must be collected for compliance and should be used to guide providers preparation to support data collection to meet the requirements of Standard 6. Providers should prioritise ensuring their systems can capture all items specified in the National Code.

Where system updates cannot be completed immediately, providers may need to implement temporary manual processes to ensure data collection from 1 January 2026.

The Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Act 2025 includes several information gathering provisions that are necessary for the performance of the Secretary’s functions and exercise of the Secretary’s powers under the National Code.

While the National Code enables the collection of personal information in particular circumstances, this collection will occur rarely and only where it is necessary to ensure the accountability of higher education providers in preventing and responding to gender-based violence.

Any personal information collected will be protected and managed in line with the Department of Education’s Privacy Policy and requirements of the Privacy Act.

No personal information will be made publicly available by the Department or any other government agency.

There are many resources available from reputable sources, including evidence, implementation and evaluation guides.

Evidence around gender-based violence, including ways to prevent and respond to it, is always evolving, and people with appropriate expertise should be able to identify, assess, adapt and implement quality evidence to match a provider’s unique contexts.

The Higher Education Gender-based Violence Regulator will be looking to the gender-based violence sector for leadership in what works – including education, training, and how to evaluate activities using evidence-informed approaches.

Resistance can be a common factor when addressing gender-based violence, and understanding and anticipating this resistance is important for effective education.

It is important for providers to have facilitators skilled in responding to this resistance, to ensure they are preparing for and appropriately working with resistance in a way that advances the learning outcomes identified in Standard 3.1.

There are multiple ways of reaching different audiences. Some providers are already doing work focussing on positive masculinity alongside work with shifting structures and cultures.

Some training, education and messaging may be appropriate for large numbers of people, while other training will require tailoring to specific groups – providers will need to consider what works best for their staff in different contexts.

The GBV Regulator will not prescribe specific training or qualifications. Standard 3 of the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence outlines the expertise and experience required for staff involved in risk assessments and responding to formal reports.

The National Code requires that training be developed through collaboration and engagement with experts in the prevention of gender-based violence (Standard 3.3(a)).  This expertise can exist within a higher education provider, especially if staff have relevant qualifications, experience, and ongoing professional development in gender-based violence prevention and response. Experts do not need to be external to the provider, however they may be.

The National Code does not prescribe specific qualifications. It refers to the requirement for ‘expertise’ which requires providers to exercise judgement based on their context.

There are a broad range of skills, competencies and experiences that may be relevant –including public health, health promotion, mental health, gender-based violence, sexual violence and family violence.

This requirement is about supporting oversight and strategic decision making related to a Provider’s plan in a way that is trauma-informed, and person centred.
 

Under the National Code, providers must take proportionate and safe actions to support students or staff who experience gender-based violence, regardless of where it occurs. For example, a student who experiences violence off campus may receive academic support or safety measures from their university. In another example, if someone who is not a member of the university community reported that a senior staff member had used gender-based violence, the university would need consider any potential risk to staff or students and take action to mitigate this.

Providers must also address the factors that drive and contribute to gender-based violence across their communities to prevent violence from happening in the first place.

Standard 4.4 requires providers to undertake a risk assessment in response to every disclosure or formal report of gender-based violence, and to manage and monitor any identified risks on an ongoing basis.

The purpose of risk assessment under the National Code is to manage risk and protect the safety of students, staff and others in the higher education community; and to inform proportionate, timely and effective responses.

Given the broad spectrum and types of gender-based violence that might be disclosed or reported to a higher education provider, a single risk assessment tool is unlikely to meet the diverse needs of students and staff who experience gender-based violence.

The GBV Regulator is not planning to develop a risk assessment tool. Providers should use evidence-based risk assessment tools or frameworks for relevant forms of gender-based violence, aligned with state, territory and national frameworks for best-practice risk assessment, monitoring and management.

Providers should select the most appropriate tool to conduct risk assessment considering:

• the form or type of gender-based violence being experienced (e.g.: workplace sexual harassment, sexual assault, family or domestic violence etc)
• what risk is being assessed - risk of violence happening again, escalation, or serious harm
• if the risk being assessed is risk to the individual, or to broader staff and students.

Risk assessment is part of a continuum of support, and needs to be updated on an ongoing basis, as Standard 5 requires.

Risk assessment is complex work that needs to be supported and overseen by staff with relevant expertise, as outlined in Standard 3 of the National Code.

A key component of managing investigations is the correct application of the civil burden of proof within internal processes.

Within the higher education sector, internal investigations into gender-based violence are not criminal proceedings. They are administrative or employment-based processes undertaken to determine whether institutional policies, codes of conduct, or behavioural standards have been breached.

The standard of proof in civil proceedings, also known as the balance of probabilities, requires decision makers to determine whether, based on the evidence, it is more likely than not that the alleged conduct occurred. This is distinct from the criminal standard of proof, which requires that allegations be proven beyond reasonable doubt.

Standard 5.12 of the National Code makes clear that providers must not require a discloser or respondent to provide physical evidence relating to an alleged incident of gender-based violence.

The National Higher-Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence requires that formal reports of gender-based violence incidents be finalised with 45 business days, and for appeals to be finalised within 20 business days. This ensures that the Discloser receives an outcome, without undue delay.

To comply with Standard 5 of the National Code, providers need to design procedures that:

• allow Formal Reports to be finalised within 45 business days, including finalisation of a disciplinary process; and
• allow appeals to be finalised within 20 business days.

Provider procedures and processes need to be set up to meet these timelines, but the National Code allows for discretion to be exercised as needed on a case-by-case basis, recognising that unintended delays can occur and sometimes these are in service of taking a genuine trauma informed and person-centred approach. Provider systems should be set up so that in most cases, these timelines can be met, and extensions should be the exception.

A provider must only permit extensions where required in a particular context and the Higher Education Principal Executive Officer must be satisfied extensions are only being permitted where required.

Where the timelines are exceeded, providers should keep detailed records of rationale and approvals to ensure this is justified. This documentation may be requested by the Higher Education Gender-based Violence Regulator, particularly where patterns of extensions are noted.

The National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence requires person-centred and trauma informed practice in responding to disclosures of gender-based violence. The National Code requires that the rights, agency and safety of people that share their experience of gender-based violence are at the centre of the provider’s response and that the people that they go to for help will have the skills to provide trauma informed support.

The National Code provides for support plans and access to support services for both the discloser and the respondent.

Evidence shows that individuals subject to allegations of gender-based violence often leave their roles before investigations are completed and may move on to other organisations without any record of the concern being addressed. This ‘institution hopping’ poses a risk to the safety of staff and students across the sector.

Under Standard 2 of the National Code, providers are required to ask prospective employees and governing body members to declare whether they’ve been investigated for or found to have engaged in gender-based violence.

By requesting a declaration, providers can make informed decisions about whether a candidate is suitable. This information is an important flag for risk assessment and vigilance in complementary recruitment processes, like reference checks and criminal history checks.

This requirement supports transparency and safety but does not automatically disqualify candidates. It allows providers to assess suitability in line with their policies and address any risks to ensure the safety of students and staff.

The National Code does not prescribe what decisions should be made following a declaration.

The requirement in Standard 2.1 around declaring prior allegations of gender-based violence is specific to prospective employees and members of the governing body. 

Providers need to determine how to reasonably apply the term ‘employee’ by referring to relevant legislation such as the definition under the Fair Work Act.

University is not just a place of learning—it’s also where many students live. Higher education providers have a duty of care under the National Code to ensure that any accommodation they own, operate or manage, otherwise control, or are affiliated with is safe for students.

The National Code applies to student accommodation that a higher education provider directly manages, owns and operates, otherwise controls or is affiliated with. The definitions section of the National Code defines what is meant by ‘affiliated student accommodation’.

If a Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) is controlled by or affiliated with a provider, they will need to comply with the requirements of the National Code.

Student accommodation that is controlled by, or affiliated with, a higher education provider must comply with Standards 7.2 to 7.8 of the National Code. These requirements include:

• Developing and publishing a Whole of Organisation Gender-based Violence Prevention and Response Plan.
• Implementing policies on preventing and responding to gender-based violence.
• Building knowledge and capability through training and prevention initiatives.
• Ensuring person-centred, trauma-informed practices in supporting those who experience gender-based violence.
• Sharing data on gender-based violence with the higher education provider to support annual reporting under Standard 6 of the National Code.

Under Standard 7.9, higher education providers must have a legally binding written agreement with any student accommodation provider they control or are affiliated with to require compliance with these requirements.

For student accommodation that is directly owned, operated or managed by a higher education provider, the higher education provider will be required to ensure the accommodation meets the requirements of the National Code or they could be subject to compliance actions.

If a student accommodation provider under the control of, or affiliated with a higher education provider, refuses to meet the relevant requirements of the National Code, they may lose the benefits of their affiliation. This may include promotion, use of the higher education’s intellectual property, referral and reserving or allocating spaces in that student accommodation providers facilities.

Higher education providers will also be required to provide the name of the student accommodation provider to the Secretary of the Department of Education, who may choose to publish this information.

Expertise is essential to ensure risk assessments and investigations are trauma-informed, fair, and focused on safety.

When someone discloses an experience of gender-based violence, they are often in a vulnerable position. The way risk is assessed, and investigations are handled, can have a huge impact on their safety, wellbeing, and trust in the process.

Having the required expertise to undertake these processes means they are more likely to be balanced, respectful, and procedurally fair, which is a requirement under the National Code.

If student accommodation providers do not have the necessary expertise in-house, arrangements should be made to ensure access to the right expertise.

It is paramount that residents and staff know that if something happens, the provider has access to the right expertise to respond appropriately. That builds trust in the system and reinforces the message that gender-based violence is taken seriously.

The National Code requires sufficient consideration be given to the safety of the discloser and all residents in accommodation when there has been a disclosure of gender-based violence.

If relocation of a respondent is needed to ensure safety, immediately or otherwise, the National Code enables providers to take steps to relocate a respondent and provide both parties with access to necessary support services.

Under the National Code, higher education providers are required to ensure procedural fairness for both the disclosers and respondents.

Gender-based violence is defined in the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence as “any form of physical or non-physical violence, harassment, abuse or threats based on gender, that result in, or is likely to result in harm, coercion, control, fear or deprivation of liberty or autonomy”.

Gender-based violence includes but is not limited to sexual violence, family and intimate partner violence, technology-facilitated abuse, visa abuse, dating violence, and sexual harassment. This is not an exhaustive list. Gender-based violence is predominantly experienced by women and gender-diverse or LGBTIQA+ people. Gender-based violence can also occur alongside other forms of discrimination, abuse or violence, such as racism or ableism.

The National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence uses the terms discloser and formal report.

• A disclosure is information shared about an experience of gender-based violence.  A disclosure may be formally or informally reported, made anonymously or shared with anyone – a colleague, supervisor, support staff member or peer.
• A formal report is a disclosure submitted through official reporting channels and may trigger investigations or disciplinary action.

Providers need to provide or facilitate access to support services to people who make either disclosures or formal reports.

For either a disclosure or a formal report, a provider will need to undertake a risk assessment based on the information available to them and this assessment may require them to intervene seriously.

Providers are required to investigate all formal reports involving students or staff. For disclosures, providers must seek and consider the discloser’s views before initiating an investigation.

A disclosure may become a formal report if the discloser decides to report the incident via formal channels.

If a disclosure progresses to a formal report it is a continuation of the support process - a discloser should not be required to retell their story, and any risk assessment or safety planning already undertaken will be relevant.

Please see the National Code definitions sections for full definitions.