Informant Interview

Key Takeaways
Incidents can be hard to judge
It’s hard to know when an incident is severe or regular enough to warrant reporting
It’s better to “wait and see” what happens, rather than escalating too early
Would want to try and fix the situation before getting other people involved
Unsure of the level of protection he has. Will the school protect/favour students or teachers?

Feature Idea
Allow informants to open a case in their inbox that only they can see and is not shared with
HR

Provides a “digital paper trail” for informants to log incidents so that they have a backlog of
evidence if they do decide to escalate the situation

Allows the informant to judge on their own time whether or not they are ready to report an
incident

Allows the user to feel as though they are backed by evidence

Future Interviews
Sebastian as agreed to keep me updated on the situation as it is actively unfolding

Suggested I interview his girlfriend who works for the Department of Persecution
Still at university, has a lecturer who has been physically inappropriate
Teacher in a position of power
Hasn’t reported because she is unsure who to speak to, potential repercussions, impact on
her studies
Informant Interview
Demographic Questions
Name
Age:
Gender:
Place of Work (incident occured)
Role
Time at Role
Current Role
Research Questions - Did Not Report
Describe your role at the
workplace the incident occured
Tell me about the team structure
(how many in the team, who you
report to, who reports to you)
Tell me about the incident that
you experienced (only as much
detail as they are comfortable
with)
Sebsatian Stefani
23
M
USYD
Student
2 years
PHD student @ USYD
Philosophy and Neuroscience
Basic research in science
Looking at how to improve balance regulation in the
brain through electrical stimulation
Testing on mice in particular brain regions
Apply stim to those cells and see how those normal
properties change, i.e sensitivity, communication,
electrical properties
Working on his own,
Working in lab with 5 but doing different projects
Reports to supervisor/head of the lab. This person
oversees projects, go to person for help etc
Mentor type, not really a “boss”
Occurred with lab manager/building manager (mid
30s)
First incident:
BM was taking someone on a tour of the
building/building induction
Said they have “handsome men” pointing to
Sebastian
Informant Interview

Next day came into office (friday arvo), visited his

desk and invited him for a “cheeky whisky”.
- Only invited him and no other lab members
- Invitation felt uncomfortable
- Declined invite

After the first incident:

Interactions with the BM after that felt uncomfortable
But he was not sure if enough to be reportable

Similar incidents happened multiple times and invite

where always declined

BM became avoidant, he feels implies guilt

Approx one month late, BM is doing another

induction,
Again says, “We have 2 types, handsome and very
handsome” again pointing to Sebastian on the latter

The manager is relatively new to the lab, so they are

not on familiar terms, and doesn’t warrant such
unprofessional behaviour

He feels there is a possible sexual connotation to his

invites
As a male, it feels unusual to be the subject of that
type of thing

As a student he isn’t sure how much protection he

has if he did decide to either confront the BM or
report to his supervisor
Will the school protect their students or staff?

Sebastian has tried to play off as a joke, but it’s

uncomfortable regardless

He is generally unsure of the BMs intentions, unsure

if its misconduct or just social awkwardness, and
doesn’t want to cause a scene over something that
might be nothing

Why did you decide not to report He waited to see if it would keep happening
the incident
Informant Interview
Did you feel like you knew the
best person to report the
incident to
If you did report the incident,
who would you have gone to
What do you think would have
made you more comfortable to
make a report
Would you have been more
likely to make a report if you
could remain anon
Looking back, do you regret not
reporting the incident
Do you feel there where any
positive or negative
repercussions as a result of not
reporting the incident
What was the hardest part about
the experience
BM is now on holiday, coming back in a few weeks
Event is still actively happening,
He is waiting to see if the situation continues or
escalates
Unsure who he would report to
Would most likely have reported to supervisor or
post grad liaison
Wants to wait and see, wants to give BM the benefit
of the doubt
Would be more comfortable knowing how and who to
report to, currently unsure of available means.
Not sure if its a grey area and if it can be resolved
Would want to know how far the uni would go to
protect students
No
Likes to deal with issues himself
Doesn’t like ambiguity
In his case, he can’t be fired, offender has no power
He is a student and isn’t technically “hired”
no
Sebastian feels like he’s waiting for the next incident
Constantly wondering “is it going to happen again”
General uncomfortableness and anxiety of next
possible encounter
Paper/Digital trail to log incidents so its ready for the
future,
Holds up in court if it escalates to that point
Informant Interview

Feels like you will backed by evidence,

If it’s being logged through whispli the logs can be
considered legit.

Anonymity -

Katie (gf)
Department of prosecution DPP
Lecuturer was inappropriate
Teacher = position of power
Hugged her
Didn’t know who to speak to or the repercussions