From 1 January 2026, universities will need to show how they detect, escalate and report gender-based violence (GBV) risks across all parts of student life, including online.
The National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence sets out what is expected. It covers leadership, culture, process and data, and expects universities to offer online reporting options and to respond to GBV disclosures regardless of whether they are made in person, online or through a third party. In practice, that means paying attention to the digital spaces where students actually talk, not only formal reporting channels.
Burrow’s 24/7 Sydney-based command centre already supports this work every day by helping universities see what is happening online, act early and keep clear records.
The seven Standards in brief
The Code is organised into seven Standards. In simple terms, providers are expected to:
Standard 1 – Accountable leadership and governance
Standard 5 – Safe processes
Standard 2 – Safe environments and systems
Standard 6 – Data, evidence and impact
Standard 3 – Knowledge and capability
Standard 7 – Safe student accommodation
Standard 4 – Safety and support
Burrow can touch several of these areas, but our strongest contribution is in Standards 4, 5 and 6, where universities need practical help with digital vigilance, triage and data.
Standard 4 – Safety and support
What the Code expects
Responses, practices and support services that are safe, person-centred and consistent with a trauma-informed approach and best practice.
How Burrow helps
Burrow provides a trained, person-centred response layer that sits in front of your existing teams. Our community managers work every day with sensitive issues across multiple campuses, including student distress, harassment and GBV-related content online.
When something concerning appears on a monitored channel, we:
- recognise the risk and treat it with sensitivity
- avoid language that might cause further harm or shame
- notify the right contacts at the university through agreed pathways, so specialist staff can take over
The result is a response that is faster and more consistent, and that respects the dignity and privacy of the student while supporting your internal support services.
Standard 5 – Safe processes
What the Code expects
Processes that are safe and timely, and multiple reporting channels, including anonymous online options.
How Burrow helps
In reality, many students do not go straight to a formal reporting channel. They talk in the places that feel safer or more anonymous to them, such as:
- Reddit and other forums
- semi-closed social groups
- comment sections and replies
Burrow monitors these spaces (24 hours a day) so universities can see early warning signs they would otherwise miss. This is particularly important for GBV-related risks and disclosures that:
- start as anonymous posts or threads
- are shared between students before a staff member is ever tagged
- relate to incidents in accommodation or on campus that have not yet reached a formal report
We feed into your formal reporting by helping you connect to the real digital environments your students use.
Standard 6 – Data, evidence and impact
What the Code expects
Universities are expected to:
- establish systems and processes to collect de-identified data on GBV incidents and other key data sets
- use data to inform the Prevention and Response Plan and the whole-of-organisation approach, including training
- ensure data is collected in a safe, trauma-informed and person-centred way
- handle data securely and in line with privacy law
- have governance controls that safeguard against re-identification
How Burrow helps
Burrow already operates a secure, person-centred and tech-assisted system for capturing and organising online incident data. For GBV-related risks, this can include:
- screenshots and timestamps of relevant content
- high-level summaries of what occurred and how it was escalated
- categorisation of incidents so trends can be tracked over time
This supports universities to:
- understand how GBV-related issues are showing up in digital spaces
- feed de-identified insights into their Prevention and Response Plan
- design more targeted training and communication
- show progress over time and identify where further work is needed
We are deliberate about how this information is handled. Burrow is a safe partner, with:
- a secure command centre in Sydney
- multi-factor authentication and controlled access for staff
- trained personnel who are familiar with GBV and wellbeing issues
- real community managers, not only automated systems, to keep decisions person-centered
- clear escalation pathways for different types of risk, with agreed channels such as Teams, WhatsApp or phone
Our aim is to give universities useful evidence without sacrificing student safety, privacy or trust.
Final thought
The 2026 GBV Code is more than a compliance exercise. It is a shift toward earlier, more compassionate and more transparent responses to harm.
Two practical ways universities can work with burrow
Different institutions are at different stages of readiness. In practice, we see two common starting points:
Always-on Digital Vigilance
24/7 monitoring across agreed channels, with GBV readiness built in, real-time alerts, triage support and regular reporting.
Focused GBV Readiness Layer
Targeted monitoring for GBV-related risk signals plus a periodic GBV digital risk report aligned to the Code, with room to expand to full monitoring later.
Both models aim to give universities more visibility, more consistent responses and better data, without adding unnecessary complexity to internal teams.
