A landmark survey had just revealed ANU had some of the most shocking rates of sexual violence and harassment on campus in the country - double the national average.

Professor Schmidt was the first university head to apologise that day, as long-standing warnings from students and advocates boiled over into a call for action nation-wide. And on Thursday, after two years of consultation, deliberation - and heartache - the ANU released what it's calling the first formal sexual violence prevention strategy at an Australian university.

Students, who have previously criticised both the university's pace of reform and handling of sexual violence incidents, claimed the strategy as a "big win". Many of their own ideas are now enshrined in the document, which includes a clear set of performance benchmarks such as the public reporting of de-identified case outcomes and an independent assessor who will cast their eye over ANU progress.

"But it will come down to how it's implemented practically," Eden Lim at the undergraduate student association said. "It's been a long road here, it does take a long time to change culture but students have been campaigning for [decades] for this."

Professor Schmidt said a new online disclosure portal had been delayed longer than he would have liked as the university's cyber experts gave it their "platinum" seal of approval in the wake of two significant hacks on the university in 2018.

But, as testing wrapped up across parts of the campus this year, he said it would be ready to go for orientation week in 2020 - and the university began work to rebuild the community's trust.

Facing up to "one of the worst scourges in Australia and on our campus" hadn't been easy, Professor Schmidt said, but the at-times strangled pace of reform hadn't been from lack of caring.

"It's always been at the forefront of my mind...I was even starting some work in 2016 before the survey," he said. "We have many students who live on campus here, it's part of my duty of care.

"But there was no way to do this fast enough. And there's consequences of that every day."

Millions of dollars had already been invested into reforms, Professor Schmidt said, including widespread consent, bystander and disclosure training and the creation of a dedicated five-person unit within the university to oversee change.

Sue Webeck, who heads up that 'Respectful Relationships Unit' also conceded there were still a lot of work to do next year but stressed students would remain closely involved in development.

On Thursday, Professor Schmidt again apologised to those "let down" by the university, both before 2017 and as it "pulled together" a response. At the ANU, he said there was a tendency to accept the "way things had always been done", to band-aid over problems.

Since 2016, responses "hadn't always worked" as planned he said, he expected change to speed up considerably from here on out. The strategy offered a chance for ANU to lead best practice on a problem the whole world seemed to be struggling with, he said.

Student associations have now urged the university to ramp up support alongside its roll-out as students themselves largely remained on the front line of both sexual violence disclosures and critical mental health incidents.

Professor Schmidt said that, when he had been told things weren't working, he had diverted resources to fix them - including a serious shortage of student leaders to offer pastoral care in ANU's residential halls.

"I was surprised to find out [that the ratios] weren't being met and we have fixed those numbers," he said. "I will give this the resources it needs...I will be as transparent as I can."

Staff support roles cut at a number of halls had also been restored following student outcry in recent months, though students said at least one was still without the position.

Some survivors also reported being left under the same roofs as their attackers as investigations dragged on.

"That question of what should be done, when should someone leave still hasn't really been answered," Bruce Hall president Callum Dargavel said.

"It's complicated, I think Sue has been doing some work on it but it really does need to be looked at. We're all so burnt out."

Women's officer at the ANU student association Jin Law agreed it was one of the key problems still unclear in university policy.

"Right now it's always the survivors who have to leave," she said.

Lara Woolley, who helps coordinate the Stop campaign for sexual violence prevention at ANU, said she had heard of students going up to six months without a proper safety plan in place.

"[The strategy]'s a bit bare bones, but we're hopeful," she said.

Professor Schmidt said each case was unique, as the university worked to uphold its duty to all students involved, but flagged a future rethink of resources and staff in halls.

Ms Webeck said a lot of work was about clarifying "expectations" of what the university could do under its obligations, though there were some circumstances already where accused students could be banned.

She also flagged improvements on the horizon for students taking up leadership roles in halls next year.

"We can underestimate the impact of [this] on the community," she said.

"We've seen a large uptake in students drawing on our unit's staff and resources...[There] will be more support when they arrive next year."

The ANU will also pilot a new restorative justice model in student halls in the coming year, amid a review of pastoral care models in the residencies

While some student campaigners are graduating in a few weeks, Jin said she was gearing up for another year of campaigning.

"It's been exhausting but I am optimistic now too. Students will always care about this."

ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner Heidi Yates also welcomed the strategy on Thursday as a "bold" first step forward.