University complaints services for victims of sexual assault and harassment are a failure, students and advocates are warning.

The University of New England (UNE) in north western New South Wales has the highest rate of sexual assault and harassment in the country, according to a Human Rights Commission Report released last year.

But students have told Hack the institution's complaints process doesn't support victims and they've been turned away or told to wait for months for counselling.

"I remember being in the room alone with him and doing things I didn't want to do... I kept thinking to myself this can't be happening this is my second year of college it's supposed to be my best year and I'm having to go through this," former UNE student, Annabelle told Hack.

She says she was raped at her residential college on campus in 2016 by a student she thought she could trust after a drunk night out.

Have you complained about sexual assault or harassment to your university? We want to hear from you. Send us a message on Facebook or email Hack@abc.net.au

Annabelle told her resident fellow - the person who helps younger students if they've got any concerns - and the complaint got moved up the chain.

But then it was down to the university's administration to decide what action could be taken.

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Whatsapp The university has encouraged concerned students to come forward through appropriate channels.

"[The university said] if it's really putting me in such distress they can remove him from the college and put him into isolation but I also have to go into isolation... so he's removed from the uni grounds and he has to go live in town for an amount of time but I also had to as well," she says.

"I felt pretty vulnerable... I felt pretty useless that in order for him to leave the college, to feel comfortable, I had to leave as well."

Annabelle says she made police reports but that still wasn't enough for the uni.

"The outcome was that because there was no witness in my room they couldn't go further... my instant reaction was anger," she says.

"Because there was no witness in the room watching it happen they couldn't do anything well I said 'if there was a normal human being witness a rape without stopping it... would someone just watch it and just be like oh I can't wait to report this?'"

What happened to Annabelle apparently isn't uncommon at the University of New England.

UNE former college advisor calls for sex assault specific counselling

Bryce Wilson was a residential advisor at a UNE college last year which meant people would go to him if they had complaints.

He says at the moment the process isn't great but it's being reviewed and he is hopeful.

"There's been this culture of what were you wearing, did you lead this person on and there was that kind of culture... I believe it wasn't adequate enough given that it wasn't that transparent it didn't really include the victim," he told Hack.

"The uni loves in my opinion to be seen to do things so 2018 will be interesting to see how they deal with this... and how they change their attitudes and processes.

"The issue that needs to be addressed is counselling and ongoing support... there's a need to keep following up to make sure that person is being supported... there's a lack in using the right kind of counselling."

In a statement to Hack, the UNE says its sexual assault investigations process is being reviewed.

"The current process of investigation under these rules and guidelines are being reviewed to ensure rapid resolution of complaints and transparency,” a UNE spokesman told Hack.

"The safety of the alleged victim is imperative and all steps are taken to ensure the wellbeing of the alleged victim.

"If a student accused but not yet found guilty of sexual assault were to be excluded from a residential college, this would be determined on a case by case basis, according to the specifics of the allegation and governed by the principles of natural justice."

Complaint failures a national problem, advocates say

Nina Funnell from End Rape on Campus says faulty complaints and counselling processes aren't unique to UNE.

"This is absolutely a national problem we are yet to see a university that has a good reporting mechanism," she told Hack.

"In many cases there's long drawn out processes, victims don't hear back, they don't learn the outcome of their case, they're told they're not allowed to discuss the case with any of their networks so that cuts them off from their support networks.

"We have several survivors who have ended up saying to us that the reporting process was as bad or in some cases even worse than the initial assault."

Nina says End Rape on Campus has spoken to several survivors of sexual assault and harassment who have had similar experiences dealing with complaints.

"We recently did an FOI request and we found in the last five years there've been 575 official complaints of sexual misconduct complaints," Nina says.

"But they've resulted in just six expulsions... there's a lot that universities could be doing to fix this but firstly they need to engage with sex assault experts who can give really clear input in how to make reporting processes trauma informed."

Newcastle university departments contradicted each other, victim says

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Whatsapp Jacinta Mortell says she spent six months chasing up her sexual assault complaint to the University of Newcastle

Jacinta Mortell, 23, was a student at the University of Newcastle and she told Hack she was sexually assaulted by another student in 2016.

She spent nearly eight months after she first complained chasing different departments at the university and getting contradicting responses.

"I was constantly chasing up the uni, constantly chasing up campus care, the counselling service, the dean of students and the deputy vice chancellor academic trying to make a report," she says.

"Time and time again I was given very vague information that didn't actually give me any of the info I needed to submit a report... I was often given conflicting information or wrong information."

Jacinta says when she eventually was given a space to report her assault through a new online reporting system she was only given 500 characters to detail what happened... that's the equivalent of two tweets.

Hack has seen the correspondence between Jacinta and the different Newcastle University departments and they confirm everything she says.

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Whatsapp The University of Newcastle's online reporting system only allows victims to explain what happened in 500 characters

A University of Newcastle spokeswoman has told Hack it can’t comment on individual cases.

"Any incident where a member of our community is being subjected to unacceptable behaviour is one incident too many," she says.

"Importantly, if members of the University community have experienced or witnessed unacceptable behaviour, we encourage them to reach out through a range of support services accessible on the UON Talking to Someone webpage.

"The University has worked hard to improve our support processes over recent years. We will continue to work with staff, student groups and support organisations to ensure that a range of support and reporting options are available for our students."