| Australian National University Students' Association | |
| Institution: | Australian National University |
| Location: | Level 2, Di Riddell Student Centre, University Avenue, ANU, Acton Canberra, 2601 |
| Members: | c. 24,000 |
Australian National University Students' Association is the students' union of the Australian National University (ANU). It is better known by its acronym, ANUSA. ANUSA acts as a representative body for the undergraduate, postgraduate and research students of the Australian National University, while also providing a number of goods and services to those students.
Not to be confused with ANU Union, a not-for-profit association that once managed retail operations in the former ANU Union Building.
Until June 2023, the Postgraduate and Research Students' Association acted in an equal capacity to ANUSA at the Australian National University as a representative body for postgraduate students. Since July 2023, ANUSA has been the sole representative body for all students at ANU.[1]
The objectives of the Australian National University Student Association are:
As a recipient of a student services and amenities fee, the ANU utilizes ANUSA under its formal process of student consultation as required by the Student Services, Amenities, Representation and Advocacy Guidelines (Representation Guidelines).[3]
The 1996 ANUSA elections saw the losing "Rage" ticket embroiled in scandal. 146 votes for the "Rage" presidential candidate Daniel Jenkins were excluded by the Returning Officer after allegations of ballot stuffing.[4] The fraud was discovered when a student sitting in a cafe saw a voter attempt to stuff a wad of ballots into the ballot box. When the Returning Officer opened the ballot box, five wads of ballots were found, all of which gave their first preference to Jenkins.
The scandal was dubbed "Wadgate" by the student newspaper Woroni and was subsequently reported on the front page of the Canberra Times (5 February 1997) and elsewhere. It was also raised at least three times in the Australian Senate by Sen. Eric Abetz (Senate Hansard: 30/10/96, pp. 4747–4750; 05/02/97, pp. 125–127; and 23/06/97, pp. 4929–31).
The winning presidential candidate, Matt Tinning from the "Counter Attack" ticket, secured enough votes to win even if fraudulent votes had not been excluded.
ANUSA moved into premises in the Concessions Building in Union Court in 1999, following a major refurbishment. The Brian Kenyon Student Space was opened in 2011, named after Brian Kenyon, who drove ANU's late night bus for 26 years until 2014.[5]
As part of the Union Court redevelopment, the Concessions Building was demolished in 2017. ANUSA and the Brian Kenyon Student Space are now located in the Di Riddell Student Centre.
In 2011, ANUSA was incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act 1991 (ACT). The ANU Student Newspaper, Woroni, was previously published by ANUSA, however, the successful 2009 Stand Up! ticket ran on a platform to deliver an independent student newspaper, similar to student publications at North American universities. As a result, ANU Student Media was formed in 2010 as an independent association, and became incorporated in 2012.
2012 saw the introduction of the Student Services and Amenities Fee by the Gillard Government, leading to a doubling of the ANUSA budget. This was a catalyst for a new phase of growth for the Association, most apparent in the significant increase in staffing that has occurred.
Key campaigns in recent years have included 'Save the School of Music' in 2012, an attempt to prevent structural changes to ANU School of Music proposed by the university. The campaign attracted national media attention, and was featured on the ABC's 7:30 Report. A petition was signed by over 24,000 people. In 2014, an anti-fee deregulation campaign was spearheaded by Education Officer Laura Wey, also achieving national media coverage. One of the protest marches was comically featured on Channel 9's The Footy Show. In 2017, the 'Month of Strength and Solidarity' campaign was conducted in order to advocate for the changes regarding sexual assault and harassment on campus.
In April 2024, following Israel–Hamas war protests on university campuses in the United States, ANUSA and a number of other societies and clubs staged their own pro-palestine encampment on Kambri lawns. Rallies by members of the encampment as well as counter-protests by Jewish students occurred in the following days, attracting local and national media attention, as well as a notable police and security presence similar to other universities in Australia.[6]
The following students served as President of the ANU Students' Association[7]
ANUSA is an association of ANU's more than 24,000 students. There is only a single class of membership. An ANU student is a member of ANUSA provided that they have not written to the General Secretary of the Association specifically stating that they do not wish to be a member of the Association.The provision to opt out of membership is rarely exercised.[2]
ANUSA is financed by a block grant from the university, using revenue collected from the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF). In 2016 ANUSA was allocated $1,681,535 by the university, or 32.6% of the total SSAF revenue collected.[11]
ANUSA is led by a 56-member Student Representative Council, which includes a 7-member Executive, 7 Department Officers, 28 College Representatives (two undergraduate, one postgraduate coursework and one HDR student per academic college) and 14 General Representatives. Also elected are the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Members of ANU Council and 6 delegates to the National Union of Students Conference. The day-to-day operations of the Association are managed by paid staff members.
The ANUSA Constitution establishes and funds seven autonomous departments to represent and advocate for students from marginalised groups in the community. These include:
The ANUSA Constitution establishes a number of committees with various purposes:
The Student Assistance Team provides support, advice and assistance to students in a range of areas, including: Centrelink payments; welfare; support for victims of sexual assault; bursaries and scholarships and academic appeals. They also assist with referrals. The Student Assistance Team is staffed by 2 Student Assistance Advisors.
The Team also administers several grants schemes, which provide meals, grants and grocery vouchers to students facing financial difficulty.
The ANUSA lawyer offers free and confidential legal advice.
ANUSA's Social Committee coordinates a lively programme of social events throughout the year, including Orientation Week, Bush Week, Sex & Consent Week and Universal Lunch Hour each Thursday. Each year, ANUSA hosts an open air concert on the final day of Orientation Week, which has attracted acts including The Presets, Kimbra, Miami Horror, Rüfüs Du Sol, Bluejuice and British India.
ANUSA represents ANU students on a number of high-level University committees, including:
The ANUSA President meets regularly with the University Executive to discuss issues pertaining to the welfare of undergraduate students.
ANUSA is somewhat unusual among Australian student unions in that its Executive has remained independent of any political party since 2011.
Whilst ANUSA is affiliated with the National Union of Students (NUS), it did not pay accreditation fees in 2016 due to concerns about the efficacy of NUS and issues relating to student wellbeing at the NUS National Conference. This resulted in its voting rights being suspended at the NUS National Conference that year. In 2017, the body reaccredited to the NUS,[12] however failed to accredit in 2018 again after the NUS did not meet a number of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) passed by the ANUSA SRC.