University of Western Australia Student Guild

Infobox Union
name= UWA Student Guild
country= Australia
affiliation= National Union of Students
members=
full_name= University of Western Australia Guild of Undergraduates
native_name=


founded= 1913
current=
head=
dissolved_date=
dissolved_state=
merged_into=
office= Perth, Western Australia
people= Nik Barron (President)
website= [http://www.guild.uwa.edu.au]
footnotes=

The UWA Student Guild is the premier student representative body at the University of Western Australia. As such, it represents the interests of students to the University, all levels of government and the wider community, as well as providing services to students. The vision of the UWA Student Guild is to be Australia's leading campus student representative organisation.

About the Guild

The UWA Student Guild is the premier student representative body at the University of Western Australia. It is a member organisation of the National Union of Students. The vision of the UWA Student Guild is to be Australia's leading campus student representative organisation.

The Guild provides a number of services, and is instrumental in promoting and sustaining student life on campus. The Guild runs a number of activities including Prosh, Orientation Camp (O-Camp), Orientation Day (O'Day), End of Semester Shows and other major campus events. Guild Departments and Subsidiary Councils run other events, such as Multicultural Week and Spring Feast (run by the International Student Services department), Club Olympics (run by the Societies Council) and the Assassin's Competition (run by the Public Affairs Council).

The Guild also supports and assists a network of more than 80 affiliated clubs and societies on campus, catering to a very wide range of interests. The Guild also runs all the catering outlets on campus, including the Tavern, as well as a second-hand bookshop. The Guild's Student Centre provides one-on-one academic advocacy, as well as financial counselling and interest-free loans.

Guild Council is the overall governing body of the Guild and consists of 20 voting members democratically elected at the annual Guild elections. The current Guild President is Nik Barron. Former guild presidents include notable figures such as former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, former federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley and serving state Attorney General and Health Minister Jim McGinty [cite web
url=http://www.ministers.wa.gov.au/mcginty/index.cfm?fuseaction=biography.main
title=The Hon Jim A McGinty BA BJuris(Hons) LLB JP MLA – Biography
publisher=Department of the Premier and Cabinet Western Australia
accessdate=2007-10-22] .

The Guild and VSU

Currently, the UWA Guild and many other student unions around Australia are facing the challenge of Voluntary Student Unionism, or VSU, a law passed by the Howard Government that saw student union membership become voluntary from 1 July 2006. Under this legislation, the Amenities and Services Fee charged by the Guild became voluntary, thus rendering membership optional. VSU is strongly opposed by the Guild [http://www.guild.uwa.edu.au/__data/page/2915/VSUsubmission.pdf] , as financial support for services such as student representation and financial assistance has been impacted without the funds generated by the compulsory fee.

95th Guild Council

The Guild is administered by a Council of student representatives elected for one-year terms at the annual elections. There are twenty voting members of Council, and several more non-voting members. Members may hold a voting and a non-voting role concurrently. Unlike some other campus unions, there is no financial compensation for student representatives, with the exception of the President who works at the Guild full time during his/her term.

Annual Elections

The Student Guild is governed by students through the Guild Council. Student representatives are elected to their positions by students in annual elections held in September. To ensure fairness and transparency, the elections are conducted by the Western Australian Electoral Commission. Both independent and party candidates run in the elections, with the historical bias leaning towards grouped members becoming elected.

References