End Rape on Campus Australia

It's been one heck of a ride, but we did what we set out to do. We changed the world. And now it's time to move on.

Thank you to every single person who supported us along the way. We couldn't have done without each and every one of you.

Thank you for always being one of our biggest cheerleaders!!

EROC Australia started after a Skype with my wonderful friend Annie Clark, who started End Rape on Campus in the US. It started as nothing more than an idea and a few hundred pages of higher education legislation printed out and spread out across my living room floor, all crumpled up because my dog kept walking across them. 9 years later, our little organisation has achieved more than I could have ever dreamed it would. And it's been the honour of a lifetime to have been the director of it. In solidarity, and with much love and gratitude, Sharna Bremner, End Rape on Campus Australia Founder & Director

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Our social media accounts and website will stay online, to preserve the resources we’ve created but our inboxes and comments will not be monitored after December 5th 2024. If you, or someone you know, has been impacted by sexual violence and needs support, please reach out to the national, state or territory services in our pinned post.

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The biggest thank you, however, must go to the hundreds of victim-survivors who trusted us, who shared their stories with us, who came into our lives and allowed us into theirs. Thank you for the many years of strength, tears, solidarity, laughter and friendship. It's been an incredible honour to get to know you all.

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A special thank you to someone who has worked on the issue of campus sexual violence tirelessly, often behind the scenes and often under challenging conditions. Renee Hamilton, you’re a legend and we’re so grateful to you. On a personal note, I want to thank the EROC crew - Anna, Cill, Merri, Ellie, and especially the incomparable Nina Funnell. Without Nina, I’m not sure that I’d have made it through the last 9 years. And special mention to Jeb and the lil Avo, for always understanding why we had so many marathon phone calls.

7/10

We're so thankful to every single person who supported us over the years - and there are too many to name. Thank you to our friends and families for understanding and supporting us to work on this issue whenever we had a spare moment. Thank you to those who shared our social media posts, made donations, signed petitions, sent us messages of support, raged with us, listened to us cry, wrote about our work, met with us to hear our stories, and - most importantly - who believed us and believed in us.

6/10

We didn't get paid for the work we did, and we squeezed it in around paid employment and studies. We worked at nights, on weekends, and even on holidays. Through illnesses, stressful jobs, weddings, graduations and babies. We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the people who built the foundations on which we were able to do our work. We were not the first to put in the hard yards to address sexual violence in education settings, and we won't be the last. The history of student advocacy and activism in the anti-sexual violence space is longer than most people realise. We truly do stand on the shoulders of giants.

5/10

We secured half a million dollars for a 1800 sexual assault hotline specifically for students to align with the release of the Australian Human Rights Commission's 2017 Change the Course report. Along with our phenomenal campaign partners, the amazing Dr Allison Henry, Camille Schloeffel from the STOP Campaign and Renee Carr from Fair Agenda, we helped to create and secure the national Action Plan Addressing Gender-based Violence in Higher Education - a $38 million achievement. And we did it all on a total budget of just over $31,000 in 9 years. That's a tiny $3400 a year.

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We participated in half a dozen government and non-government expert reference and advisory groups. We presented at who-knows-how-many conferences and worked alongside hundreds of student reps to provide education and training to other students on university and government complaints processes. We won the 2017 Edna Ryan Education Award, were finalists in the 2017 Human Rights Awards Community Organisation category & we won the Social Impact category at the HESTA Community Sector Awards in 2018.

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In the last 9 years, our little team has consisted of no more than 4 part-time volunteers at any one time - sometimes it was just 1, a lot of the time, there were 2 of us. But never more than 4. We've provided direct support to almost 300 students from 40 of Australia's 43 universities. We gave evidence at several Senate inquiries and made what felt like endless submissions to government processes. We filed 12 TEQSA complaints and 6 ombudsman complaints on behalf of students. We wrote reports that got global media coverage.

2/10

On a light grey background in blue text it says "It is with enormous pride that I am today announcing the permanent closure of End Rape on Campus Australia. From February 2025, students will finally have an independent, trauma-informed complaints body to go to in the new National Student Ombudsman. And soon, higher education providers across the country will be required to comply with the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence. Almost 9 years to the day since our founding, we have done the thing that all organisations like ours should be aiming to do - we've advocated ourselves out of business."

Thank you all. For everything - Sharna xx

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On a blue background in pink & white text it says "We’re eagerly awaiting a strong and enforecable National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence that will set requirements for robust management of reports and complaints, the provision of academic and non-academic support for victim-survivors, and evidence-based prevention education. Renee Carr - Fair Agenda Sharna Bremner - EROC Australia"

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This historic reform is the result of decades of advocacy by victim-survivors and student leaders. We’re proud to have led this work in recent years with our campaign partners, Dr Allison Henry, and Camille Schloeffel the STOP Campaign.

2/3

On a navy background in pink text it says "Huge News!". In white and teal text it says "The bill to establish the National Student Ombudsman has passed the Senate! From February 2025, student victim-survivors will finally have a functional complaints process if their higher education provider doesn’t respond appropriately to sexual violence."

Last night, something historic happened

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On a blue background it says "We owe badass advocates like Dianne an enormous debt of gratitude. They truly are the giants whose shoulders we stand on. But we still have work to do. No victim-survivor should ever fear that their counselling notes will be handed over to the person who harmed them. Join the #TakeTheStand campaign today. "

You can learn more about Dianne's story & the #TakeTheStand campaign here www.news.com.au/lifestyle/re...

On a blue background it says "This is Dianne Lucas. In 1995, she was arrested & jailed after she refused to violate the privacy of a rape survivor by handing over the woman’s counselling notes to the man charged with raping her". There is an image of Dianne Lucas, a smiling woman in green shirt with grey hair, below the text.

Dianne Lucas is a national treasure & we should all know her name. If you only read one thing today, make it Dianne's story.

#TakeTheStand

www.news.com.au/lifestyle/re...

Look after yourselves today, mates. And remember, when calling counselling lines, you can remain anonymous (turn off your caller ID, use a pseudonym etc) & you have a right to ask that they do not record the call

On a teal background in blue text it says: State & Territory Support Services Queensland - Sexual Assault Helpline: 1800 010 120 New South Wales - Sexual Violence Helpline: 1800 424 017 ACT - Canberra Rape Crisis Centre: (02) 6247 2525 Victoria - Sexual Assault Crisis Line: 1800 806 292 Tasmania - 1800MySupport: 1800 697 877 South Australia - Yarrow Place: 1800 817 421 Western Australia - Sexual Assault Resource Centre: 1800 199 888 Northern Territory - Sexual Assault Referral Centre: (08) 8922 6472 At the bottom of the tile is a square logo that says End Rape on Campus Australia

On a teal background in blue text it says: National Support Services 1800 Respect (national domestic & sexual violence support service, available 24/7) Phone: 1800 737 732 Web: 1800respect.org.au QLife (LGBTQI+ peer support, available 3pm - midnight, every day) Phone: 1800 184 527 Web: QLife.org.au Rainbow Sexual, Domestic & Family Violence Helpline (available 24/7) Phone: 1800 497 212 13Yarn (Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander crisis support, available 24/7) Phone: 13 92 76 Web: 13yarn.org.au At the bottom of the tile is a square logo that says End Rape on Campus Australia

There's a lot of coverage in the Australian media relating to sexual violence today & there's likely to be a lot of chatter about it online. Remember to log out & take breaks from engaging if you need to. If you, or someone you know, needs help, support is available 👇