Bruce Lehrmann, the alleged parliament house rapist, was an official at the Australian National University (ANU) NCMUN annual conference in 2016 which was the year before new sexual assault and sexual harassment policies were introduced in 2017 for the NCMUN conference that seems to be related to what happened at the 2016 conference. 

NCMUN is or was Canberra’s premier Model United Nations conference, based at the Australian National University and based on their Facebook page finished in 2018. It was a conference for students over several days with seminars during the day and partying at night.

When the new policies were introduced it was announced on Facebook “We also want to ensure that people feel comfortable with not drinking, or with drinking less, at events – no one should feel pressured to do something they don’t want to.” and “sexual assault and harassment (SASH) of any kind will not be tolerated at NCMUN. This year, there is a section of the code of conduct dedicated to this.”

They said, “This year” which reading between the lines seems to suggest that they had allegations of sexual assault the previous year with women being pressured to get drunk and then they were assaulted.

The pressure to drink at NCMUN and the timing of the new sexual assault policies at the 2017 NCMUN annual conference seems to tie in with the allegations against Bruce Lehrmann.

Bruce Lehrmann is now accused of 3 sexual assaults. One in 2016 during the election campaign, the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins in March 2019 at parliament house and another alleged rape in 2020. All three are similar in that they claim that Bruce Lehrmann forced himself on them when they were drunk.

For the background on this story please read my last 3 articles on the matter. (Click here, here and here to read the articles)

Bruce Lehrmann was an official at the ANU NCMUN conference in 2016 as per the below picture and was still involved at least until February 2017 when they were looking for a new leadership team.

The below is from the NCMUN Facebook page on the 22nd of September 2017:

National Capital Model United Nations Conference

September 22, 2017

Day Five:

We want NCMUN to be a welcoming environment, where everyone feels they can express themselves and participate. To this end, we want to prevent discrimination in all its forms and make all events as inclusive as possible. You are likely familiar with the main things this involves: we won’t tolerate bullying, harassment, intimidation, or slurs. More than that, however, NCMUN will see pronoun introductions for all committees, which we trust delegates will respect and appreciate. We also want to ensure that people feel comfortable with not drinking, or with drinking less, at events – no one should feel pressured to do something they don’t want to. Finally, your Equity Officers will be floating around during Committees and events to make sure everyone is having a good time.

#ncmun17 (Click here to see on Facebook) (Click here to see a screenshot)

Bruce Lehrmann

The following day on the 23rd of September 2017 they posted the below on their Facebook page: 

National Capital Model United Nations Conference

September 23, 2017

Cw: sexual assault, sexual harassment

Day 6: Sexual Assault and Harassment

We are committed to ensuring a safe and respectful environment for delegates throughout the Conference weekend – and we’re sure that all attendees are equally as eager for this to occur. To this end, sexual assault and harassment (SASH) of any kind will not be tolerated at NCMUN. This year, there is a section of the code of conduct dedicated to this. While emphasising procedural fairness, we will be taking a zero tolerance and survivor-focussed approach to incidents of SASH. If you experience sexual assault or harassment at the Conference, we will have multiple people who know how to deal with disclosures. We promise you will be listened to, respected, and supported. We will also be making available an anonymous reporting form, if you are not comfortable talking to someone face to face.

#ncmun17 (Click here to see on Facebook) (Click here to see a screenshot)

Most Universities have problems with sexual assault so you would expect them to have policies to address it and the ANU would have had those policies for years. So why in 2017 did the NCMUN annual conference feel it was necessary to introduce a section of the code of conduct dedicated to sexual assault and harassment specifically for the annual conference? The only inference that I believe can be drawn is because there were sexual assaults and harassment at the NCMUN annual conference in 2016. If that is the case, then that was the same time Bruce Lehrmann was an official of the conference, and they also raised problems with people being pressured to drink which is very similar to the allegations against Bruce Lehrmann currently being reported in the media.

If Bruce Lehrmann is guilty of multiple sexual assaults as alleged then maybe he started the “get them drunk and rape them” routine at the NCMUN annual conference. Or maybe he learnt that from others at the NCMUN annual conference.

I sent some questions to a person involved with the 2017 National Capital Model United Nations Conference as per below:

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