University of Sydney Students' Representative Council

The University of Sydney Students' Representative Council (SRC) is the representative body for undergraduate students at the University of Sydney.

Structure

The SRC is governed by the Council, which consists of 31 Representatives elected annually by undergraduate students. The Council meets once a month. It is the supreme decision-making body in the SRC.

The Executive of the SRC is elected annually by the Council, and consists of the President, Vice-President, General Secretary, and four general members, elected proportionally out of Council. Meeting weekly, the Executive makes most significant decisions regarding the SRC.

The day-to-day operation of the SRC is generally conducted by paid staff and paid office-bearers, being the President (directly elected by students), the Education Officer(s), and Women's Officer(s).

Annual elections are held in September each year, to elect the Council, the President, 7 NUS delegates, and the editors of Honi Soit, the student newspaper. Unlike most student organisations, other office-bearers are elected by the Council, and not directly by students. All undergraduate students have a right to vote in annual elections.

History

The SRC was founded in the late 1920s, and is one of the oldest student organisations in Australia. The SRC was prominent in student campaigns against the war in Vietnam and numerous other political issues. The SRC was also deeply involved in the campaign to create the separate Political Economy department within the School of Economics in the late 1970s.

Past SRC Presidents

# Peter Byrnes resigned midway through his term, and was replaced by Barbara Ramjan. Ramjan subsequently won election to the presidency in her own right.
# Adair Durie was removed from office following the 1997 election.
# Luke Whitington was elected in the 1998 by-election following the removal of Adair Durie, and was elected again at the 1998 general election to serve in 1999.

Former Presidents of the SRC have gone on to many notable achievements. Former Cabinet ministers Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey were President in 1979 and 1987 respectively. Jim Spigelman, Chief Justice of New South Wales and Michael Kirby, Justice of the High Court of Australia, were also President. Other prominent personalities formerly involved in the SRC include Members of Parliament Anthony Albanese and Malcolm Turnbull.

Presidents of the SRC have regularly gone on to become President of the National Union of Students, with the 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2007 Presidents being immediately elected to the peak office in NUS. The last three and current Undergraduate fellows of the University of Sydney Senate, Moksha Watts, Jo Haylen and Rose Jackson and Angus McFarland were all former Presidents of the SRC.

Functions

The SRC focuses its work on representation of students, rather than the provision of services. This sets it apart from the University of Sydney Union, which provides services such as Clubs and Societies and food services, and the Manning, Holme and Wentworth buildings.

The SRC is also highly involved in political campaigns and has been central to the campaign against Voluntary Student Unionism and freedom of speech. It has collectives in the areas of Education, Women's, Queer, Environment, Global Solidarity and Anti-Racism.

The SRC also publishes "Honi Soit", Australia's only remaining weekly student newspaper, as well as "Growing Strong", the Women's handbook; and the Orientation Handbook. The SRC runs a second-hand bookshop, as well as providing free advice on legal issues, Centrelink and conflicts between students and university administration.

Politics

The SRC has a long history of being at the centre of student politics and student activism in Australia. Most political groupings in Australian student politics have a presence at Sydney University, such as Labor Left, Grassroots Left, Labor Right, Socialist Alternative and Liberals.

Since the end of 2000, the SRC has been controlled by the National Organisation of Labor Students, the student Labor Left faction. Prior to that, from the late 1980s until 1997, the SRC was controlled by Left Alliance, a former NUS faction made up of students to the left of Labor.

Some believe that due to the dominance of left-wing political factions, maninstream students have been alienated from joining or participating in the SRC. This is reflected in the low turnout of voters in SRC elections [ [http://digest.idmedia.org.au/2004/0119studentb.html The idMEDIA News Digest, published the Sydney University Journalists' Society ] ] and low membership rates of non-political students [ [http://spinsyd.blogspot.com/2006/09/src-election-results.html Sporean_in_SYD: SRC election results ] ] .

See also

* University of Sydney Union

References

External links

* [http://www.src.usyd.edu.au SRC Website]