NZ broadcasting school confirms multiple bullying and harassment allegations

A harassment complaint was filed this year. Photo / File

A top broadcasting school has confirmed multiple official complaints of bullying and one of sexual harassment have been raised by students.

Last month the New Zealand Broadcasting School announced it would undertake an external investigation following claims of bullying, and a sexual assault allegation were raised by the Herald.

Now data released to The Herald under the Official Information Act (OIA) shows that the school received a formal allegation of sexual harassment from a student against a staff member this year.

In this case, the complainant was female and the staff member was a male.

The school confirmed last month that they were aware of an "incident" on campus between students, when asked about sexual assault allegations.

However, in the OIA response from the Christchurch organisation the school is part of, Ara, said no reports of this were made under the organisation's harassment prevention policy.

The Herald understands this alleged "incident" was sexual in nature and that it was raised with the school.

When asked why this alleged incident wasn't included in the OIA data, a spokesperson said the response included all formal complaints or notifications made to Ara from students under Ara's Raising Problems/Complaints Policy and or Harassment Prevention Policy.

As well as this, there were two formal complaints of bullying made by students against staff or fellow students.

Ara declined part of the Herald's OIA request for information on what action was taken following the complaints.

However, Ara did confirm no reports of sexual assault or harassment were received by the school from students at internships.

In a statement the school said they had announced a "comprehensive investigation" would be undertaken following Herald enquiries.

"This process will be transparent with current and previous staff and students invited to participate. Outcomes of the investigation will be made public."

One former student alleged they were told to change their foreign accent, others claimed bullying wasn't addressed, and two said to the Herald women weren't allowed to have natural hair on camera.

In October the school said, if accurate, the issues raised by the Herald were "completely unacceptable".

Until the investigation is underway the school said it would ensure both students and staff know how to access immediate support if required.

"We will not be making any further comment on this issue until the terms of reference of the investigation are confirmed."

CORRECTION: This story was updated on May 5. The independent report into New Zealand Broadcasting School by Richard Raymond, QC, and released on May 5 raised issues regarding previous Herald reporting. These included this story, originally published on October 14, 2021. It originally stated: "A top broadcasting school has confirmed multiple official complaints of bullying and one of sexual harassment have been raised by students against staff members in recent years." In fact, one staff member had been accused of bullying and one of sexual harassment. Upon becoming aware of this error, the Herald corrected the story.