Concerns have risen regarding the inaction taken by security on RMIT’s City Campus to uphold their duty of care to RMIT students.
Hilary’s experience on campus last semester was “the first time [she’s] had any kind of incident where [she’s] had to call security”.
The third-year RMIT student was studying late at night on Level 13 of Building 10, when a man in a dark grey hoodie stopped just a few metres away from her and “started staring at [her]”.
Shortly after the man left, Hilary called RMIT security. They responded, telling her they would send a security guard up to her.
“I waited an hour for security to show up.”
Frustrated with this response, or rather the lack thereof, Hilary took to TikTok to voice her concerns.
“It took over half an hour and two phone calls…for them to send somebody up to check on the situation,” she said in the TikTok complaint.
Hilary recounts her experience in the video, where she felt “unsafe” and “uncomfortable” while the hooded figure continued to sit just a few metres away from her. Others echoed her sentiments in the TikTok comment section.
“An RMIT security guard was bragging about how he sleeps on the job,” one commenter said.
The Swanston Gazette reached out to RUSU for a comment. They have chosen not to comment on the topic.
RMIT University’s official TikTok account commented on Hilary’s video, saying that they were “concerned to hear about this experience” and have “shared [the issue] with [their] security team to follow up”.
RMIT further urged for Hilary to reach out if further assistance was needed. However, Hilary was one step ahead.
Hilary escalated the issue to RMIT security management, filing a formal complaint regarding the incident. She has not heard back from them since reaching out.
RMIT City Campus is situated in a bustling CBD, and buildings are open to the public. There is no certain perimeter surrounding the campus, making it accessible to just about anyone.
The turnstiles that were installed during the COVID days prevented non-RMIT students or staff from entering the campus without an RMIT ID. Now that there is no longer an official boundary such as this on campus, the safety of RMIT students faces an avoidable risk.
“RMIT really needs to reconsider the open campus situation if their security is unable to respond in an appropriate and timely manner,” Hilary said in an interview with The Swanston Gazette.
“It is a student’s right to study here…it’s what we pay those fees for.”
If RMIT security cannot provide the safety measures needed to protect students, they are forced to question the effectiveness of the university’s security.
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