Evaluation of the CaRE Program, Sexual Assault Support Service

Background

The CaRE program is being evaluated as part of the Partners in Prevention of Sexual Violence Project, which is funding nine community organisation and their prevention of sexual violence programs. Sexual Assault Support Service has developed the program, which has then gone through a 6-month development process with the research team at La Trobe University, which has included developing a rigorous evaluation plan. The Tertiary CaRE program is designed for university students living in residential accommodation. SASS has partnered with the University of Tasmania to deliver CaRE, working towards safer and more respectful residential communities.

Aim

CaRE is a multi-session, gender transformative intervention tailored for students living in university residential settings. The program aims to prevent sexual harm by addressing its underlying drivers, including power dynamics, privilege, and harmful social norms. CaRE builds students’ awareness of the prevalence of sexual harm, deepens their understanding of consent laws and bodily rights, and encourages reflection on personal and societal values. Students are supported to develop respectful, prosocial behaviours through practical skill-building.

The program includes communication practice for real-world scenarios involving intimacy and consent, strategies for navigating situations of non-consent, and bystander intervention skills.

Methods

The evaluation will involve a longitudinal, mixed-methods approach to document the program's effectiveness and will be assessed within a parallel three-arm cluster randomized-controlled trial (RCT).

The design includes:
>Interviews and focus groups
>Pre- and post-surveys
>Fidelity sheets

Significance

The CaRE intervention represents a critical step toward addressing persistent gaps in sexual violence prevention in Australian university settings. Designed and implemented in partnership with a community-based sexual assault service, the program challenges the long-standing disconnect between evidence, policy, and practice in higher education institutions. If effective, CaRE has the potential to shift both institutional culture and policy by demonstrating how community-led, gender-transformative programs can be embedded within university accommodation environments to produce measurable improvements in knowledge, attitudes, and prevention-related behaviours. This evaluation will provide empirical data for governments, community organizations, and practitioners seeking scalable and context-responsive solutions to sexual violence in tertiary education settings. By capturing implementation and impact outcomes across diverse residential colleges, the study can inform equitable, system-wide prevention strategies that reflect the complexity of student populations. Beyond practical implementation, CaRE’s mixed-methods evaluation, combining quasi-experimental and realist approaches, contributes to a growing evidence base for ethically and methodologically sound prevention research in higher education. The project is also positioned to influence the operationalization of national reform efforts, including the operationalisation of Australia’s (presently forthcoming) National Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence in Higher Education.

Funding Body

La Trobe University and Department of Social Services

Project start date

May 2025

Expected completion date

December 2025