• As a global company with local management, Yugo Global’s leadership is comprised of senior executives from a range of culturally diverse backgrounds. Diversity and inclusion are core values of the organisation and play a key role in its success in the student accommodation market.    

• Yugo Australia operates with a degree of autonomy from Yugo Global, and its footprint in Australia is smaller than other countries. This enables Yugo Australia to tailor operations in a more agile way than its counterparts.  

• Yugo Australia has a clear commitment to providing safe environments for residents, which is reflected in the practices and personal values of staff. Small teams of staff operate at each site, meaning a culture of equality and respect can be established and maintained quickly. Residence managers at each site play the most significant role in setting culture, and consultation showed all managers have a commitment to the safety and wellbeing of residents and colleagues.  

• Yugo Australia provides training for all staff on issues that may intersect with gender-based violence, such as identifying and responding to psychosocial hazards as well as mental health first aid training. Yugo also makes its EAP service available to residents following a critical incident.  

• Site staff work closely together and provide strong support to each other and residents. All site staff reported they would feel comfortable disclosing to a colleague and are confident they would receive a compassionate response.  

• Diversity and inclusion was identified by stakeholders as a priority of the organisation, but there was less visibility of the organisation’s commitment to gender equality.  

• Understanding of gender-based violence is inconsistent across the organisation. While some recognised sexual assault and sexual harassment as forms of gender-based violence, knowledge of other forms is limited.   

• Some stakeholders communicated that in their view, particular incidents of violence – including gender-based violence – have been minimised by leadership. While these stakeholders could not identify reasons for this response, it may be attributable to limited understanding of the effects of such violence.    

• The commitment of leadership to the safety and wellbeing of staff was described by some stakeholders as variable. While all commended the support provided after a recent critical incident, some commented that addressing the longstanding issue of poor security measures in building reception areas was not considered by leadership as a priority.   

• Over 95% of Yugo’s residents are international students, with some aged under 18. Some of these students have very limited knowledge of what constitutes gender-based violence in Australia and are unlikely to have received any respectful relationships education – or sex education – in their home country prior to arriving in Australia. Cultural taboos can make some residents hesitant to engage with the issue, and stakeholders reported those who do disclose often experience profound feelings of shame and become distressed at the thought of their family being notified.  Stakeholders highlighted that misinformation from external parties that disclosures might jeopardise visa status posed a significant barrier to residents’ willingness to come forward. This aligns with broader national evidence indicating that perpetrators frequently employ misinformation as a strategy to discourage migrant and refugee victim-survivors from seeking assistance. These issues were identified as significant considerations for the content and cadence of future prevention and response education and training.  

• While Yugo Global and Yugo Australia actively support diversity and inclusion through social events and campaigns, some stakeholders identified the focus of these events could be broadened beyond diversity of sexual orientation and gender identity to celebrate different cultural and religious identities. Racism was identified as a factor in some critical incidents. 

• Diversity and inclusion are core values of Yugo and one of the reasons why international students choose it as accommodation. Staff actively promote diversity and inclusion through events and education and tailor information provision to the preferences of residents.  

• Consultations showed that some incidents of gender-based violence have been viewed as solely race-based, with the role of gender overlooked. This suggests limited understanding of how racism and gender inequality intersect to drive such violence.   

• With a few exceptions, most staff of Yugo Australia perform several functions in their roles. They manage the physical environment (e.g. arranging building maintenance), promote Yugo to potential new residents by providing tours of the sites, run programs for residents and are also frontline first responders to any behavioural issues or concerns. Some stakeholders noted that performing all these functions well means their ability to immediately respond to critical incidents can be compromised, particularly if they are lone workers.   

• Yugo Australia employs some longer-term residents as ‘student ambassadors’. These ambassadors are typically aged between 18 and 22 and their casual role with Yugo is often  their first job in Australia. Ambassadors support induction of new residents, act as a contact point for residents seeking information or help, and manage the residence after hours, including weekends. This means they are immediate first responders to critical incidents after hours. Despite clear protocols that any safety-related incidents must be escalated to the on-call manager, some student ambassadors have used their discretion in deciding when to escalate. In some circumstances this has compromised their safety.  

• There were differences in the experiences of women versus men student ambassadors in relation to residents’ compliance with their directions. A woman ambassador noted some residents did not follow her directions because they saw her as ‘just another student’; in contrast, a male student ambassador noted that residents generally complied with his directions and were respectful of his authority. This suggests that some residents may perceive men as more authoritative or better qualified to make decisions.  

• Yugo Australia recognises the use of student ambassadors as after-hours staff presents a conflict-of-interest for the ambassador and provides challenges to the organisation’s ability to manage risks. 

Housing 

• Yugo’s residents access building lifts and their living quarters through use of a personalised FOB key. Yugo staff can electronically adjust resident access to spaces as required. With the exception of residents’ individual rooms/apartments, CCTV is installed throughout all common areas in the building. 

• Staff who work on-site alone are required to wear lone worker devices. 

• In situations involving a suspected safety threat or incident, staff can subject to availability temporarily relocate residents to a single room in the same or another building as part of immediate crisis management.  

Wellbeing program 

• In addition to housing, Yugo provides a ‘Live Your Best Life’ program for residents. The program aims to empower residents beyond the classroom and prepare them for their careers through three pillars: 

• YugoEco, focusing on creating environmentally friendly living spaces and educating students on sustainable practices 

• YuPro, which supports students' transition to and from student life by offering training, workshops and internships that enable social and economic mobility and opportunity 

• YuGrow, designed to help students thrive socially, emotionally, and professionally during their university journey. 

• Yugo Australia has the autonomy to create policies and procedures to specifically address the Australian context. Any policies created by Yugo Australia may also be adopted by Yugo Global if considered fit-for-purpose. Policies are reviewed by Yugo Australia on an annual basis.  

• As an organisation that operates across the world, Yugo Australia’s policy framework has the potential to generate a positive ripple effect beyond the Australian context. Because many students are international, they can carry values of safety, equality and respect back to their home countries when they leave the accommodation, extending the organisation’s influence globally. 

• As part of induction, all staff are provided with training on Yugo’s policies and procedures, including critical incident protocols.  

• All staff are required to lodge an incident report within 24 hours following an incident, with guidance provided to staff on how to categorise the nature and level of severity of the incident.  

• Yugo recently established a post-incident process to monitor the wellbeing of staff following an incident. Consultations showed this was welcomed by stakeholders.   

• Although Yugo Australia operates four buildings on behalf of Yugo Global, Yugo Australia’s senior management operates with a certain degree of autonomy from the broader organisation to ensure its operations reflect the local context.   

• Relationships between management and operational staff are broadly positive.  

• As noted earlier, operational staff fulfil a number of functions in their roles, from responding to building issues to managing critical incidents to being the ‘face’ of Yugo for prospective residents. While all staff indicated quick response times to critical incidents, some commented the nature of their roles can mean there is limited time available to actively prevent some safety or wellbeing issues from arising.  

• Evidence shows that young women are more likely to experience gender-based violence than other age groups of women. Evidence also shows international students are one of the most vulnerable populations in Australia and experience a high risk of social isolation, exploitation in employment, financial insecurity, racism, and discrimination. Although all staff showed deep awareness of these issues, it is unclear whether they are considered, and therefore addressed, as organisational risks by Yugo Australia and Yugo Global.   

• Unlike some of its international counterparts, Yugo Australia houses students aged under 18. To reflect this, in 2024 Yugo established a dedicated position to manage these students. While ‘guardianship’ of these students formally rests with the students’ universities, there is limited understanding among some staff of the organisation’s obligations under child safety legislation. It is unclear if there is an organisational framework to ensure Yugo is meeting these obligations.  

• Yugo Australia’s current operating model and staffing largely reflects the approach of Yugo Global.