The Commission says one in five students experiences sexual harassment in a university setting, and just under two per cent have been sexually assaulted, while women are three times as likely as men to experience sexual assault.
The Human Rights Commission report came from a survey of sexual assaults at Australian universities, and was commissioned by Universities Australia.
The Commission surveyed more than 30,000 students attending 39 institutions around Australia.
It found 26 per cent of students were sexually harassed in a university setting in 2016, and 1.6 per cent reported being sexually assaulted.
The report says these events took place in the everyday lives of students on campus or while socialising with other students and staff.
Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins says students have been traumatised by their experiences.
"We received numerous accounts of women being sexually assaulted by people they described as 'close friends who they trusted'. The impacts of being assaulted by a friend from university were often severe. In submissions, people described feeling anxious about being on campus because they were afraid of seeing the perpetrator. In some cases, the fear was so great they dropped out of university altogether."
The report includes a ten-point plan for national initiatives to combat assaults and harassment and many individual universities have also launched their own measures.
It recommends developing a respectful relationships education program nationally, and providing specialist training to academic and student residence staff about how to respond effectively and compassionately when someone reports an incident.
The Commission's incoming president, Rosalind Croucher, says such training can help minimise the impact of sexual harassment and assault and bring about a cultural change.
"I think the extent to which bystanders support and intervene and support someone who is the target of such conduct is a measure of the effectiveness of that cultural change and it's fundamentally about a shift in peer dynamics. It has a long horizon but that, to me, is the target of success."
Ms Croucher says this report is also significant because it received the support and input of the university sector itself, students and university management.
Australian National University Vice Chancellor Brian Schmidt says the stories featured in the report will provide guidance for universities to offer the right kinds of support.
Describing the report as shocking, Mr Schmidt says the ANU accepts and will implement all the recommendations of the Human Right Commission's report.
"The level of sexual harassment and sexual assault is not acceptable in our universities, in our work places, in our city or anywhere in our society. And this shock must be met with action. Action here at ANU, action across universities, and action across our entire community. And it is not something we should just do today and not do tomorrow. It is something to be done forever into the future.
Other recommendations made in the report include a 24-hour national support phone line operated by Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia.
The universities say they will commission a follow-up survey to see whether they're making progress in combating the problem.
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