Australian National University Students' Association

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Australian National University Students' Association
Institution Australian National University
Location Level 1, Student Facilities Building 17a, University Avenue, ANU Canberra, 2601
Members c. 10,000
Website http://www.anusa.com.au

ANU Students' Association (ANUSA) is the student association of the Australian National University. Its purpose is to represent students to both the University and the Government.

ANUSA is made up of nearly forty elected student representatives: six Executive members (President, Vice President, Treasurer, General Secretary, Education Officer and Social Officer), six Department Officers (Disabilities, Environment, Indigenous, International Students, Women's, and Queer*), two College Representatives for each faculty, and fourteen General Representatives. Additionally, ANUSA has several staff members who support the organisation. Most of ANUSA’s income comes from the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF) which each undergraduate student pays every semester.

In addition to its role in advocacy, ANUSA provides a free legal service and student assistance through its Student Assistance Unit. It also organises a variety of events on campus including O-Week and Bush Week, as well as managing the Brian Kenyon Student Space in Union Court.

List of Presidents of the Association

  • 1992: Amanda Chadwick
  • 1993: Kath Cummins[citation needed]
  • 1994: Caitlin Wyndham[citation needed]
  • 1995: Hamish McPherson[1][2][3] (removed by ANU Council because he ceased to be a student of the ANU. He was replaced by Craig Cork and later Pip Bolding)[4]<
  • 1996: Cam Filthson
  • 1997: Matt Tinning[5]
  • 1998: Harry Greenwell[6][7]
  • 1999: Helen Stitt[8]
  • 2000: Russell Egan[9]
  • 2001: Maciej Wasilewicz[10]
  • 2002: Joanne Yin[11]
  • 2003: Steve Michelson[12]
  • 2004: Max Jeganathan[13]
  • 2005: Aparna Rao[14][15]
  • 2006: Laura Crespo[16]
  • 2007: Claudia Newman-Martin[17][18]
  • 2008: Jamila Rizvi
  • 2009: Sham Sara[19]
  • 2010: Tully Fletcher[20]
  • 2011: Leah Ginnivan[21]
  • 2012: Fleur Hawes (removed from office after she failed in appealing her academic exclusion. She was replaced by Dallas Proctor in a by-election.)[22]
  • 2013: Aleks Sladojevic
  • 2014: Cameron Wilson
  • 2015: Ben Gill[23]
  • 2016: Ben Gill

1996 ANU Students' Association elections - the "Wadgate scandal"

The 1996 ANU Students' Association 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.[24] 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 (05/02/97) 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.[citation needed]

2012 Presidential resignation

On the evening of 5 March 2012, ANUSA President Fleur Hawes resigned from the position of President. The resignation resulted from her exclusion from the University on academic grounds following a failed appeals process. Her exclusion and resignation was met by surprise by those of the University community and ANUSA who only learned of her academic exclusion earlier that day.[25]

ANUSA Departments

ANUSA funds six autonomous departments which operate in key areas which are especially important to life for undergraduate students: Disabilities, Environment, Indigenous, International, Queer* and Women. A Department Officer represents each department on the Student Representative Council (SRC).

This autonomy extends to how they name and define themselves, so some departments like the ANU Disabilities Student Association don't explicitly call themselves departments.

External links

References

  1. http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/27768239?selectedversion=NBD24769033 (Graham Hastings,2003, pp280-285. This provides an accurate history of the 1994 ANU student occupation and struggle against fees which led to the election of the No Fees Campaign candidates to the ANUSA)
  2. http://press.anu.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ch145.pdf
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  21. http://sa.anu.edu.au/about-us/your-reps
  22. http://www.woroni.com.au/articles/news/anusa-president-resigns
  23. http://www.anusa.com.au/your-anusa/
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  25. http://www.woroni.com.au/articles/news/anusa-president-resigns