The 2026 National Student Safety Survey will run in the second half of 2026. The survey is Australia’s largest, sector-wide survey of university students’ experiences of safety, sexual violence or harm. It provides the robust, national evidence needed to strengthen prevention, improve support and drive coordinated action across the university sector.
The 2026 survey will be the third national survey of Australian university students assessing the occurrence and impacts of sexual violence or harm. The first survey was conducted in 2016 by Roy Morgan for the Australian Human Rights Commission, with the findings published in the Change the Course report in 2017. The second survey was conducted by the Social Research Centre in 2021, with the results published online in 2022. Visit the Resources page for more information on these studies.
The 2026 survey was commissioned by Universities Australia, which is leading and funding the project on behalf of its 38 member universities. Survey research company Roy Morgan is administering the survey, informed by the advice of expert adviser in gender-based violence Dr Kate Fitz-Gibbon. The Chief Investigator of the survey is Roy Morgan’s Dr Aida Ghalebeigi, supported by Dr Fitz-Gibbon.
A Stakeholder Forum representing diverse student groups and specialist support services and a Technical Working Group, made up of experts from a range of fields, have played a key role in shaping the survey’s scope and approach thus far.
These groups will continue to inform the survey’s delivery to ensure it reflects student experiences and meets the highest standards of quality and care.
Stakeholder Forum members:
- Asia Pacific Student Accommodation Association
- Children and Young People with Disability Australia
- connect2prevent
- Consent Labs
- Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations
- Council of Australian University Librarians
- Domestic and Family Violence Prevention LGBTQI+ Health Australia
- Equality Australia
- eSafety
- Full Stop Australia
- Headspace Schools & Communities
- National and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Postgraduate Association
- National Student Ombudsman
- National Union of Students
- Our Watch
- Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy
- STOP Campaign
- Student Experience Network
- Teach Us Consent
- University Colleges Australia
- Women with Disabilities Australia
*While End Rape on Campus is not a formal member of the Stakeholder Forum, they are also advising UA on the development of the 2026 NSSS.
Technical Working Group members:
- Chair, Professor Harlene Hayne, Vice Chancellor and President, Curtin University
- Larissa Siliezar Mendoza, Head, Inclusive Communities, Australian National University
- Dr James Brann, Pro Vice Chancellor, Student Equity and Success, University of Tasmania
- Anne-Marie Hodson, Safe Communities Program Manager, University of New England
- Ashley Hurrell, Executive Director, Integrity Unit, Adelaide University
- Dr Bianca Klettke, Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, Deakin University
- Heather Lovatt, Associate Professor and Director, Queensland Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research, CQ University
- Fiona Marshall, Senior Director, Community Support and Wellbeing, Monash University
- Professor Trish Mundy, Professor of Law, University of Wollongong
- Catharine Pruscino, Program Manager, Respect.Now.Always, program, University of Technology Sydney / Chair, NSW University Prevention Connection Network
- Megan Sharp, Gender-based Violence Specialist, Griffith University
- Penny Szybiak, Director Planning and Performance, Charles Darwin University
- Stephanie Taylor, Director Student Success and Wellbeing, Bond University / President, Australia and New Zealand Student Services Association (ANZSSA)
- Professor Jessica Vanderlelie, Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic, Deakin University
- Professor Braden Hill, Deputy Vice Chancellor Students, Equity and Indigenous, Edith Cowan University