From campus to Code: UTS leads the way on respect and safety

UTS welcomes this long-awaited reform driven by decades of advocacy from students, university staff, sector experts and community organisations.

For the first time, all universities and student accommodation providers will be legally required to not only respond to gender-based violence, but to actively prevent it.

The Code sets clear standards for leadership, education and accountability, with a focus on ensuring campuses are safe and respectful spaces for everyone.

For UTS, this moment is more than policy – it's recognition of the existing work the university has already been doing around prevention since 2017.

The award-winning Respect.Now.Always. (RNA) Program represents a whole-of-community initiative designed to shift culture, empower students and staff, and prevent gender-based violence in all its forms.

“We welcome the National Code as a unified and powerful step forward,” said RNA Program Manager, Catharine Pruscino. “But for us, this work is about more than compliance – our approach has always been about doing what’s right, not just the bare minimum.”

The RNA program has achieved significant success since its inception eight years ago, with over 160,000 students and staff completing the Consent Matters module – a cornerstone of UTS’s online education efforts to encourage respectful behaviour and positive intervention on campus and beyond.

To complement this, the Program regularly engages with 16,000 community members each year, via its signature ‘Wanna Spoon? Ask First!’ activations to approach complex topics about gender-based violence in a way that is approachable and engaging.

Co-designed with students and staff, these activations have sparked thousands of conversations across Orientation Days and other key university events about consent, boundaries and healthy relationships.

A key strength of the RNA program is its deep collaboration across UTS – from ActivateUTS and the Library to Housing, the People Unit, and the Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion.

“By working together, we meet students where they are and build a culture of respect from the onset,” said Ms Pruscino. 

The passing of the National Code follows the Action Plan Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Higher Education, released in February 2024, which laid the groundwork for stronger governance, training and victim-survivor support across the sector.

As universities nationwide prepare to implement the Code, UTS stands committed – with a proven track record of leadership, innovation, and community-driven change.

To learn more about the Respect.Now.Always program or to get involved, visit the RNA website.