AUT management unable to act on past bullying accusations, says senior leadership By Justin Wong The senior leadership team at AUT said some recommendations from a university-wide review on bullying are being implemented, but it cannot look into past allegations and did not say whether it will probe harassment within students. This comes during an online Q&A session last week between staff, Vice Chancellor Derek McCormack, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Kathryn McPherson discussing the findings of Kate Davenport QC’s external review, which was launched last June after former academic Dr Marisa Paterson alleged then-Pro Vice Chancellor Max Abbott of sexual stalking and harassment. Released in early February, Davenport said that out of almost 400 people interviewed, 273 claimed that they had been the subject of bullying.
There were also sexual harassment accusations against 8 staff members that had since left the university. Davenport concluded that while AUT does not have an ongoing problem with sexual harassment, the university has a problem with bullying, and its processes to resolve and handle complaints were inadequate, as staff complaints were often overlooked or not properly addressed. She recommended that AUT should establish standalone policies on sexual harassment explicitly stating that any action of that kind will not be tolerated. The report also said the university should set up a new threetiered procedure and an independent body to handle complaints, as well as undertaking intensive training for everyone on harassment and people management.
