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Intent:

Christian Heritage College (CHC) is committed to developing and maintaining an environment that is free of discrimination and harassment and promotes respect for persons, integrity, equitable treatment and natural justice. CHC is committed to the Biblical principle that every person is created in the image of God and is of great value and worth.

CHC has a zero-tolerance policy towards harassment (including sexual harassment), vilification, victimisation, bullying, discrimination and other wrongful, unlawful and inappropriate conduct. This type of behaviour is unacceptable and for staff can result in summary dismissal and for students is reason for exclusion and may be unlawful under State or Commonwealth law.

Scope:

All staff, current students, applicants, volunteers and visitors of CHC.

This policy relates to, but is not limited by the following types of communication:

• Verbal communication including either over the telephone or in person at CHC, and outside of it.
• Written communication including letters, notes, minutes of meetings etc.
• Internal and external electronic communication including:
  • Moodle forums and posts.
  • Instant messaging services.
  • Social media and networking forums including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other forms of social media.
  • Communication via text message.

Objectives:

1. To promote an environment which is free from harassment (including sexual harassment), vilification, victimisation bullying and assault (including sexual assault) where all persons are treated fairly, with respect, dignity and courtesy.
2. To ensure that all persons are aware of this policy and their rights and obligations to a safe study, work and teaching environment.
3. To promote appropriate standards of conduct at all times.[1]
4. To express CHC’s commitment to provide accessible, transparent and equitable processes through which all persons can seek resolution of reported incidences of alleged bullying, harassment and sexual harassment or assault.
5. To provide opportunity for all persons to resolve issues in a fair, timely and confidential manner.
6. To encourage the reporting of behaviour that is perceived as inappropriate which breaches this policy and to protect complainants from reprisals when making a complaint.
7. To ensure CHC complies with its legal responsibilities.

Policy Provisions:
Harassment, bullying and/or unlawful discrimination will not be tolerated in any form or under any circumstances at CHC, including but not limited to: phone calls, emails, classroom, work related functions, study excursions, internship or practicum placements.

1. Definitions
   • What constitutes bullying at work is defined by the Fair Work Act 2009. Harassment and/or discrimination occurs when a person is harassed or discriminated against in the workplace and in certain areas of public life:
     • Because of their race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, as defined under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.
     • Or because of their sex, marital status, pregnancy as defined under the Sexual Discrimination Act 1984.
     • Or because of a disability as defined under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.
     • Or because of age as defined under the Age Discrimination Act 2004.
   • Harassment/Bullying is defined as behaviour, other than sexual harassment, that is directed towards a person or group of persons that is repeated and systematic and that a reasonable person having regard to all the circumstances would expect to victimise, humiliate, undermine or threaten the persons or group of persons to whom the behaviour is directed. It is persistently disturbing, unwelcome and unsolicited, is considered to be offensive, intimidating, humiliating, threatening, bothering, pestering or persecuting another person, or which creates a risk to health and safety. Detailed below are examples of behaviours that may be regarded as workplace harassment, if the behaviour is repeated or occurs as part of a pattern of behaviour. Harassment and bullying may occur online or face to face or indirectly through others. This is not an exhaustive list – however, it does outline some of the more common types of harassing behaviours. Examples include:
     • Abusing a person loudly, usually when others are present.
     • Repeated threats of dismissal or other severe punishment for no apparent reason.
     • Constant ridicule and being put down.
     • Practical jokes or initiation.
     • Leaving offensive messages on email or the telephone.
     • Sabotaging a person’s work, for example, by deliberately withholding or supplying incorrect information or not passing on messages.
     • Maliciously excluding and isolating a person from workplace activities.
     • Persistent and unjustified criticisms, often about petty, irrelevant or insignificant matters.
     • Humiliating a person through gestures, sarcasm, criticism and insults, often in front of students, management or other employees.
     • Spreading gossip or false, malicious rumours about a person with an intent to cause the person harm.
   • Sexual harassment is defined as any unwanted or unwelcome sexual behaviour which makes a person feel offended, humiliated, or intimidated.
   • Sexual Misconduct is a broad term encompassing any unwelcome behaviour of a sexual nature without consent. It includes behaviour that could amount to a sexual offence including harassment, assault or sexual violence. When this document refers to sexual misconduct, this is the definition that it is referring to.
   • Workplace harassment does not include reasonable management action taken in a reasonable way by the person’s direct manager or other member of management in connection with the person’s employment.
     • Legitimate and reasonable management actions and business processes, such as, actions taken to transfer, demote, discipline, redeploy, retrench or dismiss an employee are not considered to be workplace harassment, provided these actions are conducted in a reasonable way.

2. General

2.1 CHC will take the following actions to prevent and control exposure to the risk of bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct:

• CHC will provide employees with information and training related to workplace bullying and harassment and sexual harassment and assault prevention (including inappropriate online behaviour).
• CHC will provide a system for making and resolving complaints (refer to the Student and Staff Codes of Conduct and SASH reporting flowchart).
• CHC will moderate its social media and online learning management platforms to monitor for inappropriate and unwanted behaviour to remove items that are considered to be in contravention of its policies.
• The Vice President has oversight of this issue and may seek to resolve the issue through a mediation process as a first step in the process depending on the nature of the complaint/grievance.
• Where a complaint is made against the Vice President, the President will resolve the matter as per this policy.
• Where a complaint is made against the President, the CHC Council has the discretion to resolve the matter itself or it may decide to appoint an external reviewer to make recommendations to the Council.
• All investigations will be investigated promptly, fairly and impartially.
• CHC requires all employees to behave responsibly by complying with this policy, to not tolerate unacceptable behaviour, to maintain privacy during investigations and to immediately report incidents of workplace harassment to management or a member of the Executive.
• Managers must also ensure that employees are not exposed to workplace harassment. CHC Executive is required to personally demonstrate appropriate behaviour, promote the workplace harassment prevention policy, treat complaints seriously and ensure where a person lodges or is witness to a complaint, that this person is not victimised (i.e. treated less favourably).
• The procedures set out in this document do not replace or modify procedures or any other responsibilities which may arise under other higher education provider policies or under statute or any other law. Nothing in this policy prevents a complaint of sexual harassment or assault from being dealt with by an appropriate authority including but not limited to the police or the Ombudsman.
• The parties to a discrimination and/or harassment complaint are required at all stages of this policy and procedure, to maintain confidentiality in relation to the concern or complaint and to deal with it in a timely manner.
• The parties must not disclose, by any form of communication, either the fact or the substance of the matter to anyone other than, as relevant, the staff representative, or an Australian qualified counsellor or relevant medical practitioner or law enforcement such as police.
• A person must not victimise or otherwise subject another person to detrimental action as consequence of that person raising, providing information about, or otherwise being involved in the resolution of a complaint.
• Any persons found to have breached any of the laws regarding discrimination, bullying or harassment may have the case referred to the police.
• Disciplinary action may be taken against a person who harasses an employee/student or who victimises a person who has made or is a witness to a complaint. Complaints of alleged harassment found to be malicious, frivolous or vexatious may make the complainant liable for disciplinary action. Disciplinary action can include termination of employment or termination of study.

• Workplace harassment/bullying/ Harassment or bullying of students/Sexual Misconduct may be committed by:
  • An employer.
  • Co-employee.
  • Group of co-employees.
  • Group of students.
  • Client or customer.
  • A member of the public
• Confidentiality and Privacy

Any issue, resolved or unresolved including harassment, bullying or sexual misconduct will be treated as confidential. If a person makes a complaint, it will be dealt with confidentially. Staff and student’s confidential and personal information will only be released with the consent of the person involved, or where it may be necessary to protect the health and wellbeing of others.

• Support

CHC will make available a range of support options for the victim, witnesses, perpetrator/s and/or First Responder, including, but not limited to:

• Counselling via the CHC Counselling and Support Centre
• Referrals to external support organisations

Dedicated and trained support staff

3. Workplace Harassment/Bullying
   • Workplace harassment/bullying covers a wide range of behaviors’ ranging from subtle intimidation to more obvious aggressive tactics, including:
     • Abusing a person loudly, usually when others are present.
     • Repeated threats of dismissal or other severe punishment for no reason.
     • Constant ridicule and being put down.
     • Leaving offensive messages online, on email or the telephone.
     • Sabotaging a person’s work, for example, by deliberately withholding or supplying incorrect information, hiding documents or equipment, not passing on messages and getting a person into trouble in other ways.
     • Maliciously excluding and isolating a person from workplace activities.
     • Persistent and unjustified criticisms, often about petty, irrelevant or insignificant matters.
     • Humiliating a person through gestures, sarcasm, criticism and insults, often in front of customers, management or other workers.
     • Spreading gossip or false, malicious rumours about a person with an intent to cause the person harm.
   • Action may be considered as workplace harassment and bullying where it is used:
     • Primarily to offend, intimidate, humiliate or threaten workers; or
     • To create an environment where workplace harassment is more likely to occur.
   • Workplace harassment and bullying does not include:
     • Reasonable action taken in a reasonable manner, by an employer to transfer, discipline, counsel, retrench or dismiss and employee.
     • A decision by an employer, based on reasonable grounds not to award or provide a promotion or benefit in connection with an employee’s employment.
     • Reasonable administrative action taken in a reasonable manner by CHC in connection with an employee’s employment.
     • Reasonable action taken in a reasonable manner in accordance with legislation affecting an employee.
     • A single incident of harassing type behaviour.
     • Reasonable management action taken in a reasonable way.

4. Harassment/Bullying of Students
   • Student harassment may include a student harassing a fellow student, a student harassing a CHC employee, or a CHC employee harassing a student.
   • Harassment/bullying covers a wide range of behaviors’ ranging from subtle intimidation to more obvious aggressive tactics, including:
     • Abusing a person loudly, usually when others are present.
     • Repeated threats for no reason.
     • Constant ridicule and being put down.
     • Leaving offensive messages online, on email or the telephone.
     • Sabotaging a person’s work, for example, by deliberately withholding or supplying incorrect information, hiding documents or equipment, not passing on messages and getting a person into trouble in other ways.
     • Maliciously excluding and isolating a student from activities.
     • Persistent and unjustified criticisms, often about petty, irrelevant or insignificant matters.
     • Humiliating a person through gestures, sarcasm, criticism and insults, often in front of others.
     • Spreading gossip or false, malicious rumours about a person with an intent to cause the person harm.
   • Action may be considered as harassment/bullying where it is used:
     • Primarily to offend, intimidate, humiliate or threaten a person; or
     • To create an environment where harassment is more likely to occur.
   • Harassment and bullying does not include:
     • Reasonable action taken in a reasonable manner and in accordance with CHC policies, by a CHC employee to discipline, counsel or exclude a student.
     • A decision by a CHC staff member, based on reasonable grounds and in accordance with CHC policies not to:
       • Approve an application for admission.
       • Approve an application for a deferral.
       • Approve an application to transfer course.
       • Approve an application for transfer of credit.
       • Approve an application for a leave of absence.
       • Approve an application for graduation.
       • Approve an application for an extension of an assessment date.
       • Approve an application for an extension of a resource loan.
       • Release results.
     • Reasonable administrative action taken in a reasonable manner by CHC in connection with a student’s enrolment.
     • Reasonable action taken in a reasonable manner in accordance with legislation affecting a student.
     • A single incident of harassing type behaviour.
     • Reasonable management action taken in a reasonable way.

5. Sexual Misconduct
   • Sexual misconduct particularly is an affront to the dignity of the individual and as such is not tolerated at CHC.
   • Sexual Harassment
     • Sexual harassment is not interaction, flirtation or friendship which is mutual or consensual.
     • Sexual harassment is a type of sex discrimination.
     • The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) makes sexual harassment unlawful in some circumstances.
     • According to the Australian Human Rights Commission, sexual harassment may include:
       • Staring or leering.
       • Unnecessary familiarity, 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, text messages or other online communication.
       • 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.
     • Sexual Assault or Sexual Violence

Sexual Assault or Sexual Violence is a particular type of sexual harassment that includes non-consensual sexual contact, non-consensual sexual intercourse, rape or physical sexual acts perpetrated against a person’s will or where a person is incapable of giving consent. Specific examples of sexual assault or sexual violence includes but is not limited to physical assaults of a sexual nature, such as:

• Sexual assault.
• Sexual battery.
• Domestic violence.
• Dating violence.
• Stalking; or
• Attempts to commit these acts.

• Other unacceptable behaviours may include:

Force refers to the use of physical violence and/or imposing on someone to gain sexual access. Specific examples include but are not limited to:

• Intimidation (implied threats).
• Coercion that overcomes resistance or produce consent.
• Indecent Exposure refers to the unwanted exposure of the private or intimate parts of the body in a lewd manner in public, private or online.

• Consent is considered to be mandatory. It can only be freely given by a person with the cognitive capacity to do so. Consent is the voluntary agreement to do the act or the acts in question and to continue to engage in the act or acts. Voluntary agreement to engage in the activity or to continue to engage in the activity must be communicated through words or conduct.

[1] CHC recognises that harassment (including sexual harassment), bullying and unlawful discrimination may involve comments and behaviours that offend some people and not others. CHC accepts that individuals may react differently to comments and behavior. That is why a minimum standard of behavior is required of students, staff, and volunteers.