University of Western Australia Student Guild explained

UWA Student Guild
Legislature:111th Guild Council
House Type:Council
New Session:1 December 2023
Affiliations:National Union of Students
Leader1:Indi Creed
Leader1 Type:President
Party1:Spark
Election1:1 December 2023
Leader2:James Hodgman
Leader2 Type:Vice-President
Party2:Spark
Election2:1 December 2023
Leader3:Nikhita Talluri
Leader3 Type:General Secretary
Party3:Spark
Election3:1 December 2023
Leader4:Jelena Kovacevic
Leader4 Type:Chair of Guild Council
Party4:Spark
Election4:1 December 2023
Political Groups1:
Term Length:1 year
Next Election1:Begins 16th September 2024
Seats1 Title:Voting Members
Seats1:21

The UWA Student Guild is the official student representative body at the University of Western Australia, representing the interests of students to the university, government and the wider community, as well as providing services to students. As of 2021, the Guild is affiliated with the National Union of Students, the peak representative body for Australian tertiary students.[1] In 2021, 96% of the 21,265 UWA students were members of the Guild.

Guild Council is the overall governing body of the Guild and consists of voting and non-voting members democratically elected at the annual Guild elections or at department annual general meetings.[2]

Governance

Annual Elections

Student representatives are elected to their positions by students in annual elections held in September. Elections are conducted by the Western Australian Electoral Commission. Elected office bearers take office as of 1 December in the year they are elected.

Guild Executive

The Guild Executive consists of the Guild President, the Guild Vice-President, the Guild General Secretary, and the Chair of Guild Council. Both the Guild Vice-President and the Chair of Guild Council are elected by and from Guild Council at the first meeting for the Guild Year.

Guild Council

The Guild is administered by a council of student representatives elected for one-year terms, beginning on December 1st and ending on the 30th of November in the following year. There are twenty-one voting members of council, and several more non-voting members. Members may hold a voting and a non-voting role concurrently. Unlike some other student unions, there is no financial compensation for student representatives, with the exception of the President and Postgraduate Representative who work at the Guild full-time and part-time respectively during their term.

Members of Guild Council are:

Standing Invitees are not members of Guild Council but have the same rights and privileges. Standing invitees are:

Services provided

The Guild runs a number of activities including Orientation Day (O-Day), the Weekly Tav Quiz and welfare events. Guild Departments and Subsidiary Councils run other events, such as Club Carnival run by the Societies Council.

The Guild supports and assists a network of more than 140 affiliated clubs and societies on campus through the Societies Council, catering to a very wide range of interests (religious, theatrical, cultural etc.). The Guild runs the majority of catering outlets on campus, including the Tavern, and a volunteering centre.

The Guild's Student Assist provides one-on-one academic advocacy, financial counselling, a food pantry, and interest-free loans.[27]

Student media

See main article: Pelican (magazine) and Prosh (University of Western Australia).

The Publications Committee oversees print publications from student departments. This includes publications such as Pelican, Damsel Magazine (Women's Department), and Lighthouse Magazine (International Students' Department).

Pelican was established in 1930, making it one of the oldest student publications in Australia.[28]

PROSH is a Guild initiative that began in 1931 and is the oldest and most successful single-day charity event in the country run entirely by students.[29] [30] The tradition sees UWA students dress up in costumes and sell the satirical newspaper to raise money for charity.

History

Foundation

The first meeting of Guild Council was held on Friday the 11th of April in 1913 with Sir John Winthrop Hackett serving as the first Guild President. Due to tuition being free at UWA at the time, there were limited resources for social and sporting activities, this resulted in the Guild taking these activities on and charging a membership fee of a half-crown, two shillings and a sixpence.

Cruickshank-Routley Memorial Prize

In 1955, following the deaths of two final year law students - Ian Cruickshank and George Routley - the Cruickshank-Routley Memorial Prize was established by the Guild.[31] In July of 1983, an inaugural Cruickshank-Routley Memorial Prize Dinner was held which has now become the annual Guild Ball, held in October. The Cruickshank-Routley Memorial Prize is awarded to the student who has made the greatest contribution to student life at UWA.[32] In 2023, the prize was $500.

'New' Guild Building

In 2021, the UWA Student Guild held a Guild Alumni event to celebrate fifty years since the opening of the New Guild Building. The event was attended by former Guild President, Kim Beazley as well as former Guild Councillor the Hon. Robert French AC.

Controversies

Racism controversy

The 2013 edition of annual charity newspaper Prosh caused significant controversy when a racist article, "dream-time horoscopes" lead to a public relations disaster for the Guild, with the Indigenous Communities Education & Awareness Foundation (ICEA) withdrawing support from the paper.[33] [34] [35] SBS News reported that the horoscopes read "don't get stuck in a rut, shake up your daily routine and grab yourself a block of V-B instead of export". The Guild President at the time, Cameron Barnes, apologised for the article and committing to conducting an independent review of the newspaper's editorial processes.

Missing money

In May 2014, the Guild hired audit and tax firm BDO to investigate financial irregularities in the Guild's 2013 accounts which identified between $800,000 and $900,000 in financial irregularities.[36] [37] Following the investigation, a staff member was dismissed as confirmed by the then Guild President, Tom Henderson.[38] In 2018, a former financial officer of the Guild confessed to stealing more than $500,000 from the organisation.[39] The financial officer was ordered to pay back $560,000 to the Guild's insurer as well as sentenced to four years in jail.

Past Guild Presidents

YearNameRef.
1913Sir John Winthrop Hackett[40]
1914Mr JJ Fitzgerald
1915Mr JG Robertson
1916Mr HS Thompson
1917Mr J Shearer
1918Mr HT Stables
1919Mr AF Backhouse
1920Mr E Grace
1921Mr EW Gillett
1922Mr HPD Lyon
1923Mr F Maw
1923+Mr TA Hartrey
1924Mr SG Demasson
1925Mr W Southern
1926Mr GL Throssell
1927Mr KL Cooper
1928Mr RG Wright
1929Mr AM Stewart
1930Mr RV Nevile
1931Mr HC Coombs
1932Mr C Sanders
1933Mr TG Wilsmore
1934Mr TH Roberts
1935Mr PWE Curtin
1936Mr GP Paterson
1937Mr NG Traylen
1938Mr H Giese
1939Mr S Johnson
1940Mr AJ Williams
1941Mr GB Hill
1942Mr FM Bennett
1943Mr JM Thomson
1944Mr AL Arcus
1945Mr FH Hibberd
1946Mr GE Ross
1947Mr DD Dunn
1948Mr PD Durack
1949Mr SB Rosier
1950Mr DE Hutchison
1951Mr JO Stone
1952Mr RJ Hawke
1953Mr BH Lochtenberg
1953+Mr LG Wilson
1954Mr JH McConnell
1955Mr JFM Gillett
1956Mr EN Maslen
1957Mr JK Walsh
1958Mr KB Paterson
1959Mr RD Nicholson
1960Mr EM Palandri
1961Mr GG Harvey
1962Mr RSW Lugg
1963Mr AH Fels
1964Mr DR Williams
1965Mr SG Errington
1966Mr RB Alexander
1967Mr PG Edwards
1968Mr D MacKinlay
1969Ms SJD Boyd
1970Mr KC Beazley
1971Mr RJ Perry
1972Mr JA McGinty
1973Mr RB Porter
1974Mr PM Alexander
1975Mr DC Parker
1976Mr NG Roberts
1977Mr AD Fitzgerald
1978Mr WR Grace
1979Mr KW Strahan
1980Mr DN Anderson
1981Mr ERJ Dermer
1982Mr MW Rennie
1983Mr MJ Huston
1984Miss DE Willmont
1985Mr DJ Kelly
1986Mr MT Schaper
1987Miss JA Quinlivan
1988Mr AC Tomlinson
1989Mr MZ Sumich
1990Mr TL Smith
1991Bruce Baskerville
1992Justin Kennedy
1993Luke Forsyth
1994Sarah Haynes
1995Natalie Curling
1996Simon Freitag
1997James Fogarty
1998Rosie Dawkins
1999Emmanuel Hondros
2000Tim Huggins
2001Kristy Duckham
2002Ryan Batchelor
2003Myra Robinson
2004Susie Byers
2005Natalie Hepburn
2006Mathew Chuk
2007Dave de Hoog
2008Nik Barron
2009Dominic Rose
2010Emma Greeney
2011Tom Antoniazzi
2012Matthew Mckenzie
2013Cameron Barnes
2014Thomas Henderson
2015Lizzy O’Shea
2016Maddie Mulholland
2017Nevin Jayawardena
2018Megan Lee
2019Conrad Hogg
2020Bre Shanahan[41]
2021Emma Mezger[42]
2022Amitabh Jeganathan[43]
2023Geemal Jayawickrama[44]
2024Indi Creed

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Annual Report: 2021 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230507181231/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/assets/downloads/annual-report-2021-low-res.pdf . 2023-05-07 . 2024-07-21 . The UWA Student Guild.
  2. Web site: 2024-07-04 . UWA Student Guild Regulations (2021) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240704114429/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/assets/downloads/regulations/student-guild-regulations-(pdf-converted)---clean---2024-04-30.pdf . 2024-07-04 . 2024-07-04 . UWA Student Guild.
  3. Web site: 2024-07-21 . President . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721081908/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/departments/president . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild . en.
  4. Web site: 2024-07-20 . University of Western Australia 2023 . live . 2024-07-20 . Western Australian Electoral Commission.
  5. Web site: 2024-07-21 . Vice President . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721113653/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/departments/vice-president . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  6. Web site: 2024-07-21 . Chair of Council . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721113923/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/departments/chair-of-council . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  7. Web site: 2024-07-21 . General Secretary . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721082319/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/departments/general-secretary . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild . en.
  8. Web site: 2024-07-21 . Education Council . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721083040/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/departments/education-council . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild . en.
  9. Web site: Talluri . Nikhita . 2024-07-21 . Guild Council Minutes: January 2024 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721083508/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/assets/downloads/council-minutes/guild-council/2024CouncilDocuments/January24/january-guild-council-minutes-1-actual-final-copy.pdf . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  10. Web site: 2023-06-01 . Public Affairs Council Rules (2023) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721085140/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/assets/downloads/regulations/pac-rules-2023-(1).pdf . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  11. Web site: 2024-07-21 . Public Affairs Council . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721085455/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/departments/public-affairs-council . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild . en.
  12. Web site: 2024-07-21 . Societies Council . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721081355/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/departments/societies-council . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  13. Web site: 2024-07-21 . Postgraduate Students' Association . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721092041/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/departments/psa . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  14. Web site: 2024-07-21 . 2024 PSA Committeee Candidates & Results . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721092322/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/psa-elections/2024-psa-committee-candidates . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  15. Web site: 2024-07-21 . International Students' . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721112428/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/departments/isd . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  16. Web site: 2024-07-21 . Women's . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721112544/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/departments/womens . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  17. Web site: 2024-07-04 . UWA Student Guild Standing Orders (2023) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240704115631/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/assets/resources/2023-guild-standing-orders.pdf . 2024-07-04 . 2024-07-04 . UWA Student Guild.
  18. Web site: 2024-07-21 . Wellbeing . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721084256/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/departments/wellbeing . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild . en.
  19. Web site: 2023-12-01 . Wellbeing Department Rules (December 2023) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721084430/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/assets/downloads/regulations/wellbeing-department-rules-(2023)-final.pdf . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  20. Web site: 2024-07-21 . Environment . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721112236/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/departments/environment . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  21. Web site: Talluri . Nikhita . 2024-07-21 . Guild Council Minutes: March 2024 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721091150/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/assets/downloads/council-minutes/guild-council/2024CouncilDocuments/4March24/march-guild-council-minutes-updated.pdf . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  22. Web site: 2024-07-21 . Sports . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721111841/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/departments/sports . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  23. Web site: 2024-07-21 . Residental Students' . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721112842/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/departments/rsd . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  24. Web site: 2024-07-21 . Pride . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721093233/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/departments/pride . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21.
  25. Web site: 2024-07-21 . Access . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721090348/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/departments/access . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  26. Web site: 2024-07-21 . Ethnocultural . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721092751/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/departments/ethnocultural . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  27. Web site: 2024-07-21 . Student Assist . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240512011115/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/student-assist . 2024-05-12 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild . en.
  28. Web site: 2015-07-13 . About Pelican . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240704124006/https://pelicanmagazine.com.au/about-pelican/ . 2024-07-04 . 2024-07-04 . Pelican . en-AU.
  29. Web site: 2021-03-22 . PROSH celebrates 90 years of raising funds for charity . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721115930/https://www.uwa.edu.au/news/article/2021/march/prosh-celebrates-90-years-of-raising-funds-for-charity . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . The University of Western Australia . en.
  30. Web site: 2016-04-13 . PROSH newspaper hits Perth streets for University of WA charity drive . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721120235/https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wa/prosh-newspaper-hits-perth-streets-for-university-of-wa-charity-drive-ng-d4ac128085ebcdc887fba6191630e6d2 . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . PerthNow.
  31. Web site: 2023-08-28 . Nominations NOW OPEN for the 2023 Cruickshank-Routley Memorial Prize . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240703222448/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/blog/2023/08/28/nominations-cruickshank-routley-prize-23 . 2024-07-03 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild . en.
  32. Web site: 2023-09-28 . Cruickshank-Routley Memorial Prize Rules . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231130010940/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/assets/downloads/crmp-rules-2023.pdf . 2023-11-30 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  33. Web site: 2013-04-19 . UWA student publication sparks racism row . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721120513/https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/uwa-student-publication-sparks-racism-row/o6taz2lsi . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . SBS News.
  34. Web site: 2013-04-19 . Prosh racist newspaper causes a stir . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721121228/https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wa/prosh-racist-newspaper-causes-a-stir-ng-727c9cd5a5cfdc3b2ad0f7255ec7b71a . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . PerthNow . en.
  35. Web site: 2013-04-19 . Foundation refuses UWA funds . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211019224543/https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/foundation-refuses-uwa-funds-ng-ya-277752 . 2021-10-19 . 2024-07-21 . The West Australian . en.
  36. Web site: 2024-05-29 . Guild Council Meeting Minutes: May 29, 2014 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721122446/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/assets/downloads/council-minutes/guild-council/guild-council-2014/may-28-14/7-minutes-gcm-may.pdf . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . UWA Student Guild.
  37. Web site: 2018-08-27 . Jail sentence for UWA Guild theft . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927232601/https://www.businessnews.com.au/article/Jail-sentence-for-UWA-Guild-theft . 2021-09-27 . 2024-07-21 . Business News . en.
  38. Web site: McKenzie . Matt . 2014-09-19 . Financial probe for student union . https://web.archive.org/web/20220605100519/https://www.businessnews.com.au/article/Financial-probe-for-student-union . 2022-06-05 . 2024-07-21 . Business News . en.
  39. Web site: Clarke . Tim . 2018-08-26 . UWA Guild man jailed for years of thieving . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721123514/https://thewest.com.au/news/crime/uwa-guild-man-jailed-for-years-of-thieving-ng-b88937867z . 2024-07-21 . 2024-07-21 . The West Australian . en.
  40. Web site: 2024-07-04 . History . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240704115609/https://www.uwastudentguild.com/the-guild/history . 2024-07-04 . 2024-07-04 . UWA Student Guild . en.
  41. Web site: 2024-07-20 . University of Western Australia Student Guild General Elections . 2024-07-20 . Western Australian Electoral Commission.
  42. Web site: 2024-07-20 . University of Western Australia Student Guild General Elections . 2024-07-20 . Western Australian Electoral Commission.
  43. Web site: 2024-07-20 . University of Western Australia General Election . 2024-07-20 . Western Australian Electoral Commission.
  44. News: 2023-07-15 . UWA student support jobs on the chopping block under proposed restructure . 2024-07-20 . ABC News . en-AU.