Australian Labor Students
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The Australian Labor Students is a political faction within the National Union of Students. It is an offshoot from the National Organisation of Labor Students, based primarily within Victoria and Western Australia. Like NOLS, it is oriented towards the Left wing of the Australian Labor Party.
Since splitting from NOLS in 1997, the ALS has undergone various changes of name and political alignment. They have also been known as NOLS Inc. (since they registered the name upon leaving the faction), or the NOLS Right.
Starting from a position to the right of NOLS and to the left of Student Unity, ALS has subsequently shifted ideologically to a position that appears to be somewhat to the left of NOLS. The two factions are close ideologically but ALS remains markedly smaller and less influential.
The faction's derisive name amongst its opponents is "The Rats" - a reference to the group's alleged tendency to renege on deals, most recently being a 2003 deal with Unity, as well as the original split with NOLS.
Some discussions have concerned a possible reunion of ALS and NOLS, but such discussions have not so far borne fruit. The most recent move towards reunification is a joint caucus to be held at the 2005 Education Conference, although there is considerable resistance to this within ALS.
ALS is organised through a National Caucus, which operates through a phone-link up between the Victorian and Western Australian members. Although the National Caucus is the supreme decision making body, State caucuses meet to debate regional issues.
Most recently, ALS suffered a campus level crisis at the La Trobe University ALP Club. After a contested preselection ballot fraught with irregularities, a significant portion of the La Trobe ALS contested the student union elections in opposition to the rest of the club. In an extraordinary display, the La Trobe split was forced to resign from ALS, in violation of the faction's own constitution.
ALS has in the past held the Women's and Welfare offices in NUS National Office, and played a large role in the Western Australian State Branch of NUS. The 2005 NUS Women's Officer, Alison Vaughan, is a member of ALS.