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Legal overhaul recommended for university amid sexual harassment findings
The Honourable Bruce Lander QC has recommended an overhaul of legal procedures relating to external lawyers at the University of Adelaide amid reports the former vice-chancellor sexually harassed two women during a work function.
Naomi Neilson
The Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Mr Lander has found the University of Adelaide’s former vice-chancellor Professor Peter Rathjen engaged in inappropriate behaviour against two women and repeatedly lied about it.
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“The [university] accepted that if I found the conduct of the vice-chancellor was as I had found, that the conduct amounted to a clear breach of the University’s Code of Conduct and Behaviour and Conduct Policy and amounted to serious misconduct,” he said.
Mr Lander investigated the “entirely inappropriate” conduct and “egregious disrespect” towards the women, as well as the university’s response to the complaints. It includes an analysis of the university’s practice of employing external lawyers to provide advice on related matters and said lawyers’ response throughout the complaints process.
In one instance, the HR department sought advice from a private practice solicitor. He advised the department and later the chancellor that the matter should be handled by the chancellor confronting the vice-chancellor with the allegations for his reaction.
The solicitor’s advice was that the matter did not need to be referred to the university’s council or its constituent committees, which Mr Lander did not agree with.
Mr Rathjen later engaged a lawyer to act for him in relation to a separate investigation into historical claims of sexual harassment. Mr Rathjen said that he did not advise the chancellor of this investigation due to advice he received from his lawyer.
“I have specifically found that the lawyer did not give any advice to the vice-chancellor in respect to the question that had been posed of him by the chancellor. In my opinion, the vice-chancellor’s evidence he received advice from a lawyer to effectively mislead the chancellor was false,” Mr Lander found.
To ensure a complete and accurate record of the evidence and advice provided by an external lawyer, Mr Lander recommended that the University of Adelaide consider the introduction of a policy on the briefing of external lawyers.
The policy should require that the general counsel requires a copy of advice from the external lawyers through the Legal Advices Register and that the matters are included in the monthly reports to the general counsel.
Mr Lander has also recommended the university review procedures and guidelines on inappropriate behaviour with a view of introducing a policy that is understandable.
