National Union of Students of Australia
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The National Union of Students is the peak representational body for Australian university students. Most, but not all, students' union bodies in Australian campuses are affiliated to NUS. It represents some 700,000 university students.
The operations of NUS are dominated by several different organised factions, often with close ties to the youth wings of Australian political parties. Current factions at NUS include the National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS), the Australian Labor Students (ALS), Student Unity, the Australian Liberal Students Federation (ALSF), the National Broad Left (NBL), the NLC (the international students faction), and the Independents (who organise as a faction).
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History
NUS in its current form came into being in 1987 after the collapse of its predecessor, the Australian Union of Students, in 1984. It was formed at the same time that the Hawke government introduced the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (a system of deferred tuition payments), abolishing the free education system previously introduced by the Whitlam government.
NUS has had mixed success in its role as a lobby group and representative body. In particular, its limited finances have often meant that it has had difficulty making its presence felt on higher education issues. It was successful in the early 1990’s in preventing the implementation of a deferred loan scheme in place of government student financial assistance, and in reducing the qualification age for student financial assistance.
A setback for NUS was the election of the Howard Liberal government in 1996, which had shown hostility towards (left-leaning) tertiary sector representational bodies such as NUS and the National Tertiary Education Union. NUS was unable to prevent the introduction of differential rates of HECS in 1996, but did lobby successfully to stop the introduction of a voucher system by then Education Minister Dr. David Kemp.
NUS is opposed to the principle of Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU), arguing that it denies students effective service provision or representation. However, a concerted push by the ALSF has seen pro-VSU legislation introduced by a number of state governments. NUS has lobbied successfully to have these laws repealed, and has thus far successfully resisted the introduction of such legislation at a national level.
The union suffered another major setback in 2003 when despite intense lobbying of independent senators, the reform package of Dr. Brendan Nelson passed the Senate. This package permitted the introduction of Domestic Undergraduate Up-Front Fees (DUFF) by universities in addition to HECS places, and allowed universities to increase their HECS rates by 25%. Components of the legislation introducing VSU, and the mandatory offering of Australian Workplace Agreements as a component of universities’ enterprise bargaining practices were dropped. Relations between NUS and the Federal Government remain strained.
In 2003, NUS membership fees became indexed to CPI, removing some of the strain on the union’s finances but raising fears that many small and regional campus organisations might disaffiliate due to increases in affiliation fees.
Despite NUS having run a campaign in marginal electorates heavily critical of the Howard Government's education policies, the 2004 Australian elections saw the government returned to office with what looked to be effective control of the Senate. VSU was listed as component of a government "wishlist" of previously stalled legislation which it would attempt to put before the Senate, putting the future of NUS in doubt.
Membership and organisation
NUS is composed of all affiliated student organisations, and is organised at both a National and a State level. Most university student organisations within the major cities are affiliated to NUS. Member organisations pay an annual fee which is indexed to CPI. Most, but not all, major institutions’ student bodies are affiliated to NUS.
The supreme decision-making body of NUS nationally is the National Conference, held annually at the University of Ballarat (Victoria) in December. This conference is the central vehicle for policy debate and the election of national office bearers. Delegates are elected from all financial member organisations. The number of delegates and the number of votes held by delegates from a given campus is dependent on the EFTSU’s (Equivalent Full Time Study Units) of the campus. Smaller-scale annual conferences are also held at a state level to elect state office-bearers.
Queer, Education, Women’s, Small and Regional, Environment and International Students conferences are also held annually to develop policy specific to those areas.
Structure
NUS National structure is formalised into office bearers, committees, and departments.
National office bearers
The NUS national office bearers are:
- National President
- National General Secretary/Deputy President
- National Education Officer
- National Welfare and Small and/or Regional Campuses Officer
- National Women's Officer
- National Queer Officers (two positions)
- National Environment Officer
The first five of these positions are full-time. The Environment and Queer Officer positions are both part-time. All of these positions, with the exception of International Students Convenor, are elected annually at NUS National Conference, with terms commencing in January.
The National Women's Officer must live and identify as a woman, as must one of the National Queer Officers.
The position of International Students' Convenor is occupied by the National Convenor of the National Liaison Committee for International Students in Australia. This is not technically a national office-bearing position, although it does largely function that way in practice. The International Students Convenors are elected in July and commence their term in October.
National committees
The national committees of NUS are:
- National Executive
- National Education Committee
- National International Students Committee
- National Welfare Committee
- National Women's Committee
- National Queer Committee
- National Postgraduate Committee
The Education, International Students, Welfare, Women's and Queer Committee direct their respective office-bearers. National Executive directs the President and National General Secretary, as well as having a supervisory role over all office bearers and staff generally. The National Postgraduate Committee can request action of any office bearer as required.
National Executive consists of the national office-bearers, the International Students' convenor, the presidents of each of the state branches, and twelve general executive members. Of these, only the general executive members and the state presidents have votes. The national president acts as chair and has a casting vote in the event of ties. The National Executive meets face to face three times a year and is responsible for administering the union, subject to decisions of National Conference, and authorising the national budget.
The Education Committee comprises the National Education Officer, the state Education Officers, the other members of National Executive (all non-voting), and seven general (voting) members. The National Education Officer chairs the committee.
The International Students Committee comprises the National International Students Convenor, and the state International Student Officers (voting). The National International Students Convenor chairs the committee.
The Welfare Committee comprises the National Welfare Officer, the state Welfare Officers, the other members of National Executive (all non-voting), and five general (voting) members. The National Welfare Officer chairs the committee.
The Women's Committee comprises the National Women's Officer, the state Women's Officers, the women members of National Executive (all non-voting), and eight general (voting) women members. The National Women's Officer chairs the committee.
The National Queer Committee comprises the two National Queer Officers, the state queer representatives, the queer-identifying members of National Executive, and six general (voting) members, who must be queer-identifying and four of whom must be women. The National Queer Officers act as chair of the Committee.
The National Postgraduate Committee has membership comprising of the National President (casting vote), four general (voting) postgraduate members, and the other members of National Executive (non-voting). The National President chairs the committee.
The National Environment Officer is directed by the Student Environment Network, rather than formally by a committee. International students are represented within NUS by the National Liaison Committee for International Students in Australia, which administers the International Student Department (ISD) of the NUS. The organisation’s national headquarters are in Melbourne, Victoria.
External links
- NUS Home (http://www.unistudent.com.au)