Confidentiality of information disclosed under the sexual harassment response policy

Information provided to the University will be managed in accordance with the Sexual Harassment Response Policy and Procedure.

Disclosures and complaints (as described in the Sexual Harassment Response Policy) will be retained securely by the University. The information will be accessible only to a limited number of staff and is restricted to those who need to have access and use the information to give effect to the Policy and Procedure, any other relevant policy documents, and any relevant laws or statutory obligations.

Information in disclosures will not be shared or disclosed without your knowledge and consent except in limited circumstances. For example, we may need to obtain advice (including specialist legal advice) on what actions are required to be taken in response to the information we have received. In such cases, measures will be taken to protect the confidentiality of the information supplied.

In addition, de-identified information about disclosures or complaints made under the Sexual Harassment Response Policy pdf272KB and Procedure pdf210KB are reported to Te Hiwa, the University's senior leadership team.

If there are concerns about a serious and imminent threat of harm to any individual, we may be required to communicate or seek advice with external specialists or external stakeholders, or take other actions to protect you or others. Wherever possible this will be done in a collaborative manner and in consultation with you.

To protect the safety and rights of everyone involved, and to ensure the integrity of any investigation (should one occur), we expect that you will also respect the confidentiality and privacy rights of others involved (including those of the person whose behaviour you are complaining about).

If a complaint is made and information needs to be provided to the subject of the complaint so they can have an opportunity to respond to it (whether or not as part of an investigation into the complaint), this will occur after consultation with the person who made the complaint (or the person who experienced the behaviour that has been complained about, if they themselves are not the complainant). If information is provided to the person who is the subject of a complaint (whether that is under a student conduct process or a staff conduct process), they will be required to keep the information confidential to the extent that they are able to, other than for the purposes of obtaining support or advice on the complaint and how they wish to respond to it.

The University is committed to maintaining a safe environment and people involved in making disclosures or complaints are encouraged to obtain support and advice in accordance with their needs.

Please be mindful that other than support people, whānau, representatives and any relevant agencies, the Sexual Harassment Response Policy and Procedures require all the parties involved in a complaint or disclosure process to keep it confidential.