President / Molly Willmott
This semester is in full gear, and we’re speeding through the academic period with an array of events, services, and campaigns! Keep up to date on our UMSU website calendar and all our socials (@umsuunimelb). We’re about a month away from a federal election so I thought I’d take this time to remind you to VOTE! University funding, Centrelink, housing, penalty rates, climate change, and refugee rights are all on the line this election. The voice of students is powerful – if you want this country to listen to young people, have your say in May and help create a Future Worth Fighting For!
General Secretary / Reece Moir
The Neverending Story was released in 1984! And, just like the title, the work is never ending! The start of semester has had me bewitched! Students’ Council (our board of directors, basically) meets every two weeks in semester to discuss the strategic direction of our Union. This is open to all students to attend (y’all just can’t vote, unfortunately). Notice of meetings go up on the website, and there is a form to sign up to the mailing list—exciting! Committees and collectives are another body you can get involved in, so why not join us (and have fun)!
Activities / Liam O’Brien & Olivia Panjkov
Hey! The Activities department has been in full swing to start off 2019. Heading into the second half of semester 1, keep an eye out for our famous trivia events and the rest of our Tuesday Bands, Bevs and BBQ events. We still have some massive acts to keep an eye out for including RVG who we’ll be supported by Club Med on 6th of May and the massive Sampa The Great on April 29th, who’ll be sure to pack out North Court. We look forward to hanging out with you at the rest of our events.
Burnley / James Barclay
No OB report submitted.
Clubs and Societies / Jordan Tochner & Chris Melenhorst
CLUBS! Clubs have been crazy over the last few weeks. We had a successful appearance at Southbank’s carnival with a good club showing. Our big publication, the Clubs Guide has finally been printed and looks great, and we are well on the way finalizing stalls for o-week. Our fingers are crossed that we get good weather and well-behaved clubs. Clubs have also received their lockers, the allocation of which was the death of one Jordan Tochner. The attendance scanner app is coming along well with regular bug tests, and of course, lots of emails have been answered.
Creative Arts / Ellie Hamill & Lucy Holz
It’s been a thrilling start to the year, Summerfest was a blast for Creative Arts! From Arty Party to scrunchie making and face painting, we have been busy making and supporting art at both Parkville and Southbank campuses. We have also been getting ready for Mudfest with a Grants Workshop and getting our production team on board. Mudfest Artist Expressions of Interest close on at 9am May 13th! If you have any sprouting ideas (sculpture, performance art, stop motion film, anything that comes under the art umbrella) that you want to see realised in a large-scale festival, you should apply!
Disabilities / Lucy Birch
Hello again. We hope the beginning of uni hasn’t exhausted you yet In any case, the disabilities department will have you covered, in whatever capacity. We’re beginning the semester proper with our inaugural disability collectives, as well as mediated, anxiety support groups, Special Consideration workshops. This latter will cover the potential tangles and nuances of the university SEDs application process, as well as the landscape of disability at uni. Spaces are limited, so if interested please be sure to attend. Finally, we will have guided art therapy sessions and mindfulness workshops, whether you might need a quiet place, a space to convene, relax or otherwise detune.
Education Academic / Elizabeth Tembo & Dominic Roque Ilagan
We protec, We atac, we ed-ac! Your Education Academic Team has grown
by 100% since the last Farrago edition: Elizabeth has a new co-Office Bearer, Dominic! SO get keen because this means EdAc will now have the capacity for more focussed campaigns! Our goal this year is tackle inequity, accessibility, employability and general student satisfaction. Elizabeth will be lobbying for more study spaces and in-semester 24Hr library access, equity scholarships and green investment. And Dominic will be combatting high-stake assessments, increased student support from Counselling and Psychological Services. We’ll also be lobbying for specialised support from Stop 1!
Education Public / Charli Fouhy & Cameron Doig
Wow! It’s been a month (and a bit) of 2019 and EdPub has been steam rolling through our goals. Definitely most importantly, UMSU Ed’s hard work has paid off and the On Track Passes have finally arrived! If you’re a student facing financial strain, EdPub has your back with public transport, offering limited 7 and 30 day free public transport passes to students facing hardship, to apply go to legal’s website: bit.ly/umsulegal. As always, our Instagram content remains amazing on @umsueducation and our facebook page UMSU Education has been blowing up! Don’t be the last on the bandwagon, peace activists.
Environment / Will Ross
Enviro is back! And so are your favourite things about us. With the semester starting and the year going ahead, we have a lot in the pipeworks. First off, Rad Ed Week will be coming back in Week 7 of Semester 1, looking closely at topics like climate action, student radicalism, and the intersection of dumpster diving and urban wildlife. Keep an eye out for more announcements! Not only this, but our popular Play With Your Food events will be returning on a fortnightly basis this semester. With an exciting lineup of guest speakers, the Food Co-op opening its doors to all manner of cuisine and play every second Wednesday. Want to get involved? Enviro Collective meetings Tuesdays 1pm-2pm, in Graham Cornish A (Lvl 2, Union House). Stick around until 3pm for our Radical Reading Group.
Indigenous / Jordan & Marley Holloway-Clarke
Hope everyone has had a good start to their classes and getting back into
the swing of things. It was great to see everyone at the First Murrup Barak lunch and at our first event. It was great to see the celebrations for International Women’s Day, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Close the Gap Day over the last month. Shout out to all the strong Blak women, non-binary and queer folx in our wonderful community.
Follow us on social media to stay updated
Facebook – /umsuindigenous
Instagram – @umsuindigenous
People of Colour / Farah Khairat & Mark Yin
S’up friends and welcome to a new semester! We’re stoked to have met so many of you during SummerFest, and hope 2019 is bangin’ so far. Currently, we’re getting things started for our annual mag, Myriad, so we’re looking for a team of editors, designers and subeditors—hit us up to get involved! We’re also kicking off some Anti-Racism workshops; come along if you’re down to get mad woke with us. All our regulars—collectives, film screenings and reading groups— are still running, which is totally tubular. As always, go to our Facebook, Instagram or website for the full 411!
Queer / Andie Moore
Hello again! It’s your fellow gays. We hope your semester’s been good to you! We’ve been BUSY. We’ve been working hard to ensure queer students get accessible more gender-neutral bathrooms on campus (especially in the new student precinct), and rolls and ID cards that respect trans students. We’re also throwing events everywhere. G&Ts with the LGBTs is happening at the Ida every even Thursday, 5pm, and it’s unmissable. Come to Queer Political Action Collective and join discussion about important political issues affecting our community! Grab free sushi and pizza with us every Wednesday, 1pm, in the Queer Space. If you’re at Southbank, POC, trans, asexual or aromantic, join a collective for food and friends. GET INVOLVED DARLINGS!
Southbank / Lily Ekins
No OB report submitted.
Welfare / Ashwin Chhaperia & Natasha Guglielmino
Hello! Hope you had a fun-filled and enjoyable SummerFest and are settling into your classes. If you have early morning classes or are trying to make ends meet, Welfare has got Breakfast covered. Come down to the Ida Bar on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, or North Court on Thursday, from 8:30- 10:30am every week. We also got Yoga & Meditation on Tuesdays and Thursdays, respectively. For more info, visit https://umsu.unimelb.edu.au/support/welfare/ Hope you enjoy your classes and Happy Easter!
Women’s / Aria Sunga & Hannah Buchan
Thank you to everyone who has attended all of our events so far—Carnival Day, Women’s Mocktails and our Moonlight Cinema. Especially thank you for marching with us during the International Women’s Day March. In continuing the Safety on Campus campaign, we will be having our first meeting with the university’s taskforce at the end of March, and we will continue to work closely on this issue with the university. The Women’s Department has also been involved in college o-weeks, to help foster a closer relationship between colleges and UMSU. We’ll soon be starting to work on Judy’s Punch, so keep an eye out for when Judy’s Punch collectives are announced!!!