National Student Safety Survey: Why your voice matters

The survey aims to improve safety for everyone across all of Australia's universities, so let your voice be heard.

Published on the 16 September 2026

What is the National Student Safety Survey?

The National Student Safety Survey (NSSS) is Australia's largest survey covering university students' experiences of safety, sexual violence or harm. The aim is to provide all university students with an opportunity for their voices to be heard. This includes women, gender-diverse students, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, students from LGBTQIA+ communities, students with disabilities, and students from culturally and racially marginalised backgrounds.

Since 2016, the NSSS has been conducted every five years across all Australian universities. For the 2026 edition of the NSSS, it will be run by Roy Morgan, an independent research organisation, on behalf of Universities Australia.

By sharing your experiences via the NSSS, you are not only helping to provide strong insights about your perceptions of safety during your time as a student, but your feedback will also help inform and shape how universities can better prevent and respond to sexual violence or harm, and gender-based violence (GBV).

This is an opportunity for you to share your knowledge, perspective and experience. Participation is voluntary, anonymous and highly encouraged. You can choose what information you provide.

Please note that UNSW will not have access to your individual responses. In the final report to universities, answers will be de-identified to maintain your privacy.

What is 'sexual violence' and 'gender-based violence'?

Sexual violence refers to sexual behaviours that occur when:

consent is not freely given, obtained or is withdrawn, and/or
a person is unable to consent due to their age or other factors, and/or
a person is forced, coerced or manipulated into any sexual activity.

This can be non-physical and include unwanted sexualised comments, intrusive sexualised questions or harassment of a sexual nature. Sexual violence or harm includes experiences that occurred in person, online and/or using technology.

Gender-based violence (GBV) refers to harm perpetrated against a person or group because of their sex, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity. Sexual harassment, gendered harassment, sexual assault, rape, relationship violence and coercive control are all gendered violence behaviours.

UNSW seeks to create an environment where people feel supported and included. If you would like to talk to someone about an experience of GBV or sexual violence, please get in contact with our specialist staff. It doesn’t matter if it happened outside of University. Our specialist staff can support your wellbeing, study, and work, and provide information about next steps.

What the NSSS will ask

The survey will contain direct questions about topics such as:

Education and information you have received on sex, relationships and consent
How you feel navigating sexual interactions
Your perceptions and attitudes towards sexual violence or harm, and GBV
Your experiences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and technology-facilitated sexual violence; and
Your awareness of support resources and reporting pathways at the University.

This survey will also include some open-ended questions, where you can share your experiences in your own words.

Not all sexual violence or harm involves sex, and it doesn’t always happen within relationships. Every experience is different. You can choose what information you share about your experiences.

What to expect from the NSSS

How the NSSS has created change at UNSW

UNSW has participated in the NSSS in 2016 and 2021. The findings from those previous surveys has helped inform several important initiatives at UNSW, including:

Annual SEXtember events are held on campus to educate students on the importance of consent, healthy relationships, safer sex and available support resources.
Incorporating sexual health and consent workshops in the orientation program of new under-18 international students, led by the Health Promotional Unit and the International Student Compliance team.
The creation of the Safer Communities team in 2024 to coordinate UNSW’s prevention of, and response to, gender-based violence.
A new mandatory gender-based violence education program was introduced for students and staff, including bystander training.
Launching the new Gender-based Violence (GBV) Prevention and Response Plan and Policy in 2026 to provide students and staff with safe, trauma-informed pathways to access support, report incidents and manage risks.