Review finds harassment and bullying 'widespread' at Australian National University's College of Health and Medicine

Australia Broadcast Center

27-05-2025

Harassment and bullying, sexism and racial discrimination, nepotism, and an entrenched disrespectful culture have been laid bare in a damning review into the Australian National University's (ANU) College of Health and Medicine.
Professor Christine Nixon was tasked with investigating gender and cultural issues at the college and its constituent schools — the John Curtin School of Medical Research, the School of Medicine and Psychology, and the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health.
It was sparked by reports of harm from staff and students.
The independent review included meetings with 83 people and 67 written submissions.
"Staff and students told me about inflexible work practices, unfair workloads, bullying and discrimination," Professor Nixon said in a letter to the ANU.
The review outlined eight key findings and 17 recommendations.
Since the review was commissioned last year, ANU closed the College of Health and Medicine and created a combined College of Science and Medicine.
The review found harassment and bullying of both staff and students were "widespread practices", with little or no consequences.
"ANU has a remarkable tolerance for poor behaviour and bullying," the review found.
"For many staff and students, deciding how to respond to an experience of discrimination involves a careful calculation of the risks of speaking up and the likelihood of an unsatisfactory outcome."
At times, the reporting pathway for bullying or harassment was through a person with a longstanding connection to the perpetrator.
"ANU pretended to be asleep. You can wake up someone who's asleep, but you can't wake up someone who is pretending," one participant said.
The report also identified a "poor and disrespectful culture" that had existed for many years.
"Staff describe a deeply dysfunctional culture across the college and the broader university marked by bureaucracy, territorialism, bullying, entitlement and resistance to change," Professor Nixon said.
"At JCSMR [John Curtin School of Medical Research], basic professional civility is not enforced because there is a cultural acceptance of having strong views and shouting them at your colleagues in professional settings."
Students described a "very toxic work until you drop mentality", where supervisors expected them to routinely work 14 hours a day.
Nixon also highlighted how "some supervisors do not yet understand that it is inappropriate to form personal or sexual relationships with students under their supervisory authority".
The review found of the 18 academic staff at JCSMR with continuing positions, only three were women.
Of the 16 Level E Professors, only three were women — and none were tenured, unlike 12 of the 13 men.
"Gender imbalance at senior levels means women are making disproportionate contributions in service roles to ensure gender balance on committees, selection panels and working groups," the review said.
It found no effective steps had been taken to address gender bias, sexism and racial discrimination.
Aboriginal staff told the review they were relied on to provide "good-news media content", but leadership was less interested in making changes to accommodate the needs of Indigenous people.
Despite a substantial suite of recruitment policies at the ANU, the review found the system "doesn't follow its own rules" and featured a series of "captain's picks".
As a result, the "appointment and selection systems lack integrity and fair process and facilitate bias, nepotism, and abuse".
"This systemic disengagement from fair recruitment processes has had profound impacts within the college," the review said.
In a statement, ANU Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell said the report was sobering and the university was committed to addressing the concerns of staff and students.
"Every member of our community has the right and expectation that they will work and study in a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment," Professor Bell said .
"We will address every recommendation and ensure that our progress is externally monitored.
"To all of the students and staff who have been affected by these behaviours and this culture over many years, we at ANU say sorry."
National Tertiary Education Union ACT division secretary Dr Lachlan Clohesy said he welcomed the release of the Nixon Review.
"While the issues described may have been particularly acute in the schools reviewed, these are problems that exist across the entirety of the university.
"It is important that the university's words are now followed up with actions."