President / Molly Willmott
We’re hurtling towards the end of semester fast! When assessments and life get a little rough, or something unexpected happens, remember that you’re union is always here for you. If you are in trouble with the university or the law, come up to our Legal and Advocacy service for assistance and support. If you’ve come back from midsem and realised you have no friends and cbf with uni anymore, check out our website and look at all the events we’re running to make you feel at home at unimelb (ping stress less week in week 11). If you love democracy, vote in the byelections!
General Secretary / Reece Moir
Hello! Welcome to report to Farrago 3.0. It’s getting colder and I’m still growing into the sweaters my mum bought for me when I was 8 years old. What’s been happening in the Secretariat you ask? Lots of admin. Students’ Council has been happening; and the Proud Mary really does keep on burning. Something you should keep your eyes out for is an UMSU by-election. What I can tell you is that because we’ve appointed so many temporary OBs, they need to campaign to stay! This is so that your representation at UMSU can be transparent, and DEMOCRATIC!
Activities / Liam O’Brien & Olivia Panjkov
Hi again! The Activities department is excited for two more events to get you through to the end of this semester. Keep your eyes peeled on our social media platforms for our annual Comedy Competition and the Semester 1 Trivia.
We are always looking for people who want to have a go cooking or serving at our Tuesday and Thursday BBQs. Come up to us at 12pm at North Court on those days and let us know if you want to help out. Don’t forget to grab one of our Semester 1 Gig Guides on Tuesdays.
Burnley / James Barclay
No OB report submitted.
Clubs and Societies / Jordan Tochner & Chris Melenhorst
Hellooooo we are busy with ze clubs as always and shall soon be even busier with 23 clubs being granted initial approval. We are inching closer and closer to the big 250 so until then we will attempt to stop Fiona from imploding. At the moment, we are doing exciting things with attendance scanners, diversity, audits, Club Awards Night and breaking our collective wrists. As always, emails are a word that needs to be mentioned in the C&S report. Good luck to all the new clubs who are going through affiliation, we’ll see ya’ll at the IGMs!
Creative Arts / Ellie Hamill & Lucy Holz
Mudfest Artist Applications are now open! If you like making art in any form, get together a team and submit a work. Categories include Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Interdisciplinary Arts, Moving Image and Music, and all the information is available on the Creative Arts website. Applications close on at 9am May 13th. In the meantime, interviews for production roles in Mudfest are well under way, we’re assembling a talented and hard working team to bring you the biggest student run arts festival in the Southern Hemisphere!
Disabilities / Lucy Birch
Come down to Beer and Boardgames held every even week during semester on Tuesdays. It’s a great way to meet people and chill out. Beverages and food is provided on the house! We also have free fancy lunches at our Mental Wellness and Disability Collective, 1pm-2pm every Thursday, level 3 Union House, Disability Space
Education Academic / Elizabeth Tembo & Dominic Roque Ilagan
It’s been a meme of a time at Ed-Ac these few weeks past! Dominic, six weeks after appointment, had only just been given access to the Education Accounts (slow clap to University IT services)… Elizabeth on the other hand had been ill for some of this Farrago edition reporting period… still, despite these, still working on our campaigns and projects… lots of readings and papers and appointments to be had, lots of thoughts on the University’s Student Life Green Paper for which we’re going to be helping UMSU Executive draft a response…. work in EdAc still on track!
Education Public / Charli Fouhy & Cameron Doig
No OB report submitted.
Environment / Will Ross
It’s that time of year again. Yep, it’s enviro season (hint: all seasons are enviro season). So what have we been up to? Well, we had a contingent to the School Strike 4 Climate demanding climate justice in the streets of Melbourne, and a snap action outside Richard Wynne’s office, in solidarity with the Djab Wurrung Tree Embassy. And RadEd Week has come and gone, looking at topics like climate grief, anti-racism, direct action, and deconstructing gender. We hosted a Student Forum on Sustainability, putting students and University reps face to face to discuss this urgent issue. What’s on? Collective is still running weekly—keep an eye out at the end of semester as we organise our collective road trip to Sydney for the annual Students of Sustainability conference. See you there!
Indigenous / Jordan & Marley Holloway-Clarke
Wominjeka (Welcome) back everyone! The Indigenous Departement hope everyone had a relaxing and rejuvenating break and is ready to steam ahead for the rest of the semester. We are in full swing with training for the Indigenous University Games and so excited to travel to Perth to defend our overall win last year. The Under Bunjil team is working tirelessly so we can push edition 7 out very soon so sit tight! Apart from that; student lunches are always popular, the MU Sport social sport teams are strong, students are kicking goals in the classrooms and mob is closer than ever. Stay Deadly. Follow us on social media to stay updated: Facebook – /umsuindigenous; Instagram – @umsuindigenous.
People of Colour / Farah Khairat & Mark Yin
A very warm welcome (back) from the break! A few exciting things happening in our department towards the second half of semester. We’re wrapping up our semester 1 series of Anti-Racism workshops, while things are starting to heat up with Myriad. Follow us (and our mag) on Facebook and Insta for all the details. We’ll also be getting comfy with our mates down in Southbank – keep an eye out for our collectives there, as well as our potluck open mic night. In the meantime, all our regular collectives are still a go. As usual, our door is always open if you want to get cosy and drink/spill some tea – find us on Level 1 of Union House!
Queer / Andie Moore & Raph Canty
It’s getting colder and UMSU Queer are here to keep you cosy with more events, more friends and more fun! The queer space is always open on Level 3, Union House if you need a hot cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate. Come along to our weekly Trans, Ace/Aro and Queer People of Colour Collective as well as the bigger Queer Lunch and fortnightly G&Ts with the LGBTs: you’re sure to find some friends to fight the winter weather with! Also look out for submissions to our annual department magazine: CAMP! Don’t miss the chance to have your gay feelings in print. See you around lovelies!
Southbank / Lily Ekins
No OB report submitted.
Welfare / Ashwin Chhaperia & Natasha Guglielmino
Hope you’re feeling refreshed, relaxed and recharged after the Easter break and are ready for those last few assignments and tests. We understand it can be a stressful time and to help you deal with it, we are bringing to you a Stress Less Week filled with free and fun activities in Week 10. We’re also starting the Welfare on Wheels initiative so look out for us on Mondays and Tuesdays at the Giblin, Baillieu and ERC in the coming weeks. Our regular Yoga & Meditation classes are also in full swing every Tuesday & Thursday respectively. Hope to see you soon
Women’s / Aria Sunga & Hannah Buchan
Hello, it’s Women’s again! We’ve been able to launch our collaboration with the Queer Department ‘Queer Gals Movie Night’! This’ll be running in week 7 and 11 again, 4:30pm in the rowdy. All queer women and non-binary students are welcome! Recently the university held Respect Week, and the Women’s Department participated holding an event in North Court, speaking to students on Friday the 12th of April. We had some drinks, shared why respect is important and what it means to us, as well as reflected on the safety on campus campaign so far. As always, feel free to drop by the Women’s room or the Women’s office and have a chat!