A landmark report from the Australian Human Rights Commission has found that 51 percent of all university students were sexually harassed at least once in 2016.

Additionally, a quarter of the students said this harassment occurred in a university setting, which includes not just the campus but also travelling to or from, and any off-campus site hosting a uni endorsed or organized event.  The survey also found almost seven percent of students were sexually assaulted on at least one occasion in 2015 or 2016.

The commission surveyed more than 30,000 students to come up with the information detailed in its new report called "Change the Course" (.pdf link). 

The perpetrators were overwhelmingly male, and apparently felt nothing was holding them back:  Horror stories include men exposing themselves or groping women in the middle of classes, an instructor who repeatedly harassed a student on their public transportation commute, a college party that led to a rape. 

The statistics from Australian National University (ANU) were twice as bad as the national average.  It showed that 3.5 percent of ANU respondents were sexually assaulted on campus last year, compared to the national average of 1.6 percent in 2015 or 2016.

"On behalf of the university I want to start by saying sorry," said ANU Vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt.  "The stories told by survivors are shocking.  The results are shocking.  We should all be shocked," he continued, "Our first priority right now must be to support survivors and all those affected by sexual harassment or sexual assault.  The shock must be met with action."