National Union of Students (Australia)

National Union of Students
Abbreviation	NUS
Formation	1987
Headquarters	16 Baillie Street North Melbourne, Victoria 3051
Membership	21 Affiliated University Student Unions
National President	Zoe Ranganathan (NLS)
Website	nus.asn.au
National Office Bearers
National Secretary	Param Mahal (SU)
Education	Christopher Hall (GI)
Welfare	Arabella Wauchope (SU)
Womens	Georgette Mouawad (SU)
Queer	Emily Boyce (NLS)
Queer	Bridge Truell (GI)
Ethno-Cultural	Maryam Hasanova (SU)
First Nations	Keenan Smith (SU)
Disabilities	Kit Sanders (SU)
Small and Regional	Hamish Whitten (SU)
International	Varun Kale (SU)
State Presidents
NSW	Liam Thomas (SU)
SA	Noah Beckmann (SU)
VIC	Jean-Marc Kurban (SU)
WA	Jeremy Gilchrist (SU)
ACT	Tim Smith (SU)

The National Union of Students (NUS) is the peak representative body for Australian higher education students. As of 2020, there are 21 student unions in Australian campuses affiliated to NUS. A student union is eligible for membership by its classification as a legitimate student representative body at any Australian post-secondary training provider and the payment of Union fees by the union according to the number of full-time study units of its students.

History[]

NUS in its current form came into being in 1987 after the collapse of its predecessor, the Australian Union of Students (AUS), in 1984. The AUS was first known from 1937 to 1971 as the National Union of Australian University Students (NUAUS), before allowing membership of colleges of higher education in 1971, which necessitated a name change.^[1]

NUS 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.^{[citation needed]} In particular, its limited finances have often meant that it has had difficulty making its presence felt on higher education issues.^{[citation needed]} It was successful in the early 1990s 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.^{[citation needed]}

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 Federal Education Minister Dr. David Kemp despite later claiming victory in a similar campaign.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]} This package permitted the introduction of (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 the Australian Workplace Agreement as a component of universities' enterprise bargaining practices were dropped.

In 2003, NUS membership fees became indexed to consumer price index (CPI) removing some of the strain on the union's finances. NUS charged $5 per student represented by each member organisation. This raised small fears that many small and regional campus organisations might disaffiliate due to increases in affiliation fees.

In 2006, NUS took a massive budget hit with the introduction of VSU.

In 2016, Australian National University Students' Association voted against accrediting with NUS, citing problems with the conduct of factional delegates at the National Conference.^[2] The Adelaide University Union (AUU) voted to cease their SRC from authorising payments of Accreditation to NUS in their March Meeting.^[3] The AUU's SRC later condemned the move and restated its affiliation, and intention to pay accreditation fees autonomously.^[4] The Wollongong Undergraduate Students' Association also held a referendum during 2016 to end their affiliation with the NUS; the affiliation was later restored.

In 2017, the Australian National University Students' Association voted to accredit with NUS once again.^[5] Also in 2017, the Tasmanian University Union voted to end its affiliation with the NUS.

Delegates and factions[]

The operations of NUS are dominated by several organised factions, some with close ties to the youth wings of Australian political parties. In 2019, factions operating within NUS include:^[6][7][8][9]

• Student Unity (Unity), the Labor right faction. The faction controlled approximately 51% of elected delegates at the 2019 National Conference.
• National Labor Students (NLS), the Labor left faction. The second largest faction, the NLS controlled around 17% of the delegates at the 2019 National Conference. Members of the faction vote on a position on all issues internally and then members are bound to vote in accordance with this. NLS are also constitutionally bound not to vote for, support, or negotiate with the Liberal faction. Following the 2020 NUS National Conference, a large portion of the NLS membership resigned (including the entire South Australian membership), with the intent to establish a new faction to represent students of the Labor Left.
• The Grassroots Independents (GI, Grindies) are a culmination of the former factions of the National Independents (NI, Indies) and Grassroots Left (GL, Groots). The National Independents and Grassroots Left factions merged to form the 'Grassroots Independents' ahead of the 2018 National Conference, with the merger motivated by belief that the merger would increase the efficacy of their activism, with both factions sharing similar politics and goals for the NUS, with hopes of making the union accountable, and progressive, and prioritising transparency and grassroots activation.^[10] Both of the former factions still exist on campus levels across Australia but join together at NUS. They have traditionally been the third most prominent faction, consisting of independently aligned, Greens aligned and Labor aligned members. Members are open to free votes, and fill out their own ballots. This grouping was estimated to have controlled approximately 15% of conference floor at the 2019 National Conference.
• Socialist Alternative (SAlt, SA, Trots), controlled around 12% of the votes at the 2019 National Conference, SAlt usually obtain 2–3 national office bearers in minor roles including ATSI, Ethno-Cultural, Environment, through negations with NLS.
• Australian Liberal Students' Federation (ALSF, Liberals, Libs), the Liberal Party of Australia faction. The faction controlled around 3% of the vote at the 2019 National Conference. Despite the faction's historically small control of the votes, it has been successful in gaining positions for Liberal students including Tasmanian State Branch President Claire Chandler in 2012 and Clark Cooley in 2016 as well as Victorian General Secretary Matthew Lesh in 2014.^[11]
• Small 'i' indies, are individuals attending NUS led events such as EdCon and NatCon, but are not necessarily a faction, but more of a grouping used to refer to a number independents who do not sit with a National Independents. they made up around 2% of the vote at the 2019 National Conference.

Financial and structural crisis[]

In a report commissioned by the NUS secretariat in 2013, independent auditors TLConsult authored a report which cited NUS' "inflexible factional system" as detrimental to the organisation and leading to "historical accounting approach … out of step with modern financial practices". Auditors "questioned whether some stakeholders generally understood their responsibilities to NUS", citing alliances by some national officers to factions, rather than NUS, as contributing the structural issues faced by the organisation.^[12][13]

The TLConsult audit said that NUS only had enough cash reserves to "sustain the organisation for approximately one year in its current form" and that although voluntary student unionism had resulted in a notable decline in revenue, it was structural problems, "unchanged for nearly two decades", that were the primary cause of the NUS' current financial problems.^[14]

In response to the financial pressures outlined in the audit which cited significant deficits run by NUS over the previous few years, and following outgoing NUS President Deanna Taylor's admission that they "the advice given to NUS is that were our income and expenditure levels to remain status quo, NUS would not exist beyond the next few years", delegates to the 2014 conference voted in favor of a financial and structural review, and to eliminate the stipend for the positions of National Indigenous, International Students and Disability Officer. However, an attempt to eliminate state officer bearer positions (presidents excepted) was not passed by conference delegates.^[15]

National Conference[]

By its constitution, NUS must hold National Conference, its annual general meeting, in the second week of December each year. Held at a Victorian campus, the conference sees delegates from all accredited campuses gather to vote on policy that decides the direction of the union for the next year. The election of national and state officers, as well as campus representatives, occurs during the week.

National structure[]

NUS' national structure is formalised into both a National Executive and State Branches.^[16]

The responsibilities of the National executive, as subscribed within the NUS constitution, include; setting the budget for the NUS; regularly monitoring of the finances of NUS; employing staff on behalf of NUS; authorising the publication of material on behalf of NUS; and implementing and interpreting the policy of the NUS. The National Executive may also delegate its powers as it considers appropriate.

The members of National Executive are:

• The National President (chair, casting vote only),
• The National officers (voting),
• 12 General Executive Members (voting), and
• The State Presidents (voting)

National Officers of NUS do not carry a vote at the National Conference of NUS.

Members of National Executive may not hold more than 1 voting position on National Executive at the same time.

The national officers of NUS:

• National President,
• National General Secretary/National Deputy President,
• National Education Officer,
• National Welfare Officer,
• National Women's Officer, who must be a woman,
• Two National Queer Officers, one of whom must be a woman,

(non-paid national officers)

• National Small and Regional Campuses Officer, who must be a student currently enrolled at a small and/or regional NUS member campus,
• National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Officer, who must identify as a student from an indigenous background,
• National Ethno‐Cultural Officer, who must identify as a student from a culturally or linguistically diverse background, and,
• National International Students Officer, who must be currently enrolled as an international student
• National Disability Officer, who must identify as a student with a disability.

State Executive[]

The state branches of the NUS include; New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, and Western Australia.

The members of State Executive are:

• The State President (chair),
• The State Education Vice President, and
• The NUS Campus Representatives from accredited campuses.

National Officers[]

The National Officers of NUS are elected annually at the National Conference, with their terms commencing in January.

President[]

showNational President
Year	Name	University	Faction
1987	Roger Cook	Murdoch University	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1988	Tracey Ellery	Victoria College - Rusden Campus	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1989	Lisa Neville	Griffith University	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1990	Kate Deverell	Monash University	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1991	Brigid Freeman	University of Tasmania	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1992	Tony White	Warrnambool Institute of Advanced Education	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1993	Ken Fowlie	University of New South Wales	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1994	Penny Sharpe	University of New South Wales	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1995	John Graham	University of Sydney	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1996	Lori Faraone	Edith Cowan University	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1997	John Carey	Murdoch University	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1998	Rose Tracey	University of Sydney	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1999	Jacob Varghese	University of Melbourne	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2000	Lisa Johnstone	University of South Australia	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2001	David Henderson	University of Melbourne	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2002	Moksha Watts	University of Sydney	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2003	Daniel Kyriacou	University of Sydney	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2004	Jodie Jansen	Queensland University of Technology	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2005	Felix Eldridge	University of Sydney	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2006	Rose Jackson	University of Sydney	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)/ National Labor Students (NLS)
2007	Michael Nguyen	University of Technology, Sydney	National Labor Students (NLS)
2008	Angus McFarland	University of Sydney	National Labor Students (NLS)
2009	David Barrow	University of Technology, Sydney	National Labor Students (NLS)
2010	Carla Drakeford	University of Melbourne	National Labor Students (NLS)
2011	Jesse Marshall	La Trobe University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2012	Donherra Walmsley	University of Sydney	National Labor Students (NLS)
2013	Jade Tyrell	University of Technology, Sydney	National Labor Students (NLS)
2014	Deanna Taylor	University of Adelaide	National Labor Students (NLS)
2015	Rose Steele	La Trobe University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2016	Sinead Colee	Monash University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2017	Sophie Johnston	University of New South Wales	National Labor Students (NLS)
2018	Mark Pace	University of Adelaide	National Labor Students (NLS)
2019	Desiree Cai	University of Melbourne	National Labor Students (NLS)
2020	Molly Willmott	University of Melbourne	National Labor Students (NLS)
2021	Zoe Ranganathan	Australian National University	National Labor Students (NLS)

National Secretary[]

showNational General Secretary
Year	Name	University	Faction
1988	Lisa Neville	Griffith University	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1989	Richard Marles	University of Melbourne	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1990	Andrew Wooldridge	University of Tasmania	National Independents
1991	Nicole Asquith	University of Melbourne	Left Alliance
1992	Pablo Campillos	Curtin University	Student Unity
1993	Simon Hoffman	University of Western Australia	Student Unity
1994	Wendy Haydon	James Cook University	Student Unity
1995	Michael Gadiel	University of Sydney	Student Unity
1996	Roland Stephens	University of Sydney	Student Unity
1997	Chris Burrell	Australian Maritime College	Student Unity
1998	Erica Martin	Murdoch University	Student Unity
1999	Gilbert Astorga	University of Tasmania	Student Unity
2000	Simon Lees	University of Sydney	Student Unity
2001	Lizzie Blandthorn	University of Melbourne	Student Unity
2002	Dave Hughes	University of New South Wales	Student Unity
2003	Michael Comninos	University of Sydney	Student Unity
2004	Daniel Mookhey	University of Technology, Sydney	Student Unity
2005	Sacha Fenton	University of Queensland	Student Unity
2006	Michael de Bruyn	University of Melbourne	Student Unity
2007	Mathew Chuk	University of Western Australia	National Independents
2008	Ben Maxfield	Monash University	Student Unity
2009	David Wilkins	University of Adelaide	Student Unity
2010	Xavier Williams	La Trobe University	Student Unity
2011	Patrick Sheehan	La Trobe University	Student Unity
2012	Jon Barlow	Victoria University	Student Unity
2013	Todd Pinkerton	University of Sydney	Student Unity
2014	Isabelle Kingshott	University of Melbourne	Student Unity
2015	Tom Nock	Australian National University	Student Unity
2016	Cam Petrie	RMIT University	Student Unity
2017	Nathan Croft	La Trobe University	Student Unity
2018	Jacob Cripps	La Trobe University	Student Unity
2019	Michael Iroeche	La Trobe University	Student Unity
2020	Sam Roberts	Swinburne University of Technology	Student Unity
2021	Param Mahal	Swinburne University of Technology	Student Unity

Education Officer[]

showNational Education Officer
Year	Name	University	Faction
1988	Kiri Evans	University of Sydney	Left Alliance
1989	Damien Smith	University of Sydney	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1990	Damien Smith	University of Sydney	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1991	David Howard (died in office)	Queensland University of Technology	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS) then Student Unity
1992	Rob Houghton	Flinders University	Left Alliance
1993	Toby Borgeest	University of Melbourne	Left Alliance
1994	Tim Lyons	University of Tasmania	Student Unity
1995	Melanie Wheeler	University of Adelaide	National Independents
1996	David Taylor	Monash University	Non-Aligned Left
1997	Jackie Lynch	La Trobe University	Left Alliance
1998	Katrina Curry	University of Sydney	Left Alliance
1999	Evelyn Loh	Charles Darwin University	National Independents
2000	Charlie Heuston	Flinders University	Student Unity
2001	Kate Davison	University of Melbourne	National Broad Left
2002	Camille Barbagallo	Griffith University	National Broad Left
2003	Liz Thompson	Monash University	National Broad Left
2004	Paul Coats	University of Melbourne/Charles Darwin University	National Broad Left/Socialist Alternative
2005	Rebecca Barrigos	University of Melbourne	National Broad Left/Socialist Alternative
2006	Louise O'Shea	University of Melbourne/University of Sydney	Socialist Alternative
2007	Colleen Bolger	Monash University	Socialist Alternative
2008	Lucy Saunders	University of Sydney	National Labor Students (NLS)
2009	Stefie Hinchy	University of Queensland	National Labor Students (NLS)
2010	James Butchers	University of Queensland	National Labor Students (NLS)
2011	Rachael Durrant	University of Technology, Sydney	National Labor Students (NLS)
2012	Rosa Sottile	University of Queensland	National Labor Students (NLS)
2013	Clare Keyes-Liley	La Trobe University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2014	Sarah Garnham	Monash University	Socialist Alternative
2015	Hannah Smith	University of Sydney	National Labor Students (NLS)
2016	Max Murphy	University of Technology, Sydney	National Labor Students (NLS)
2017	Anneke D'emanuele	University of Melbourne	Socialist Alternative
2018	Constantinos Karavias	University of Tasmania	Socialist Alternative
2019	Lachlan Barker	University of Technology Sydney	National Labor Students
2020	Abraham Lincoln	University of Western Australia	Grassroots Independents
2021	Christopher Hall	Curtin University	Grassroots Independents

Welfare Officer[]

showNational Welfare Officer
Year	Name	University	Faction
1988	Evan Thornley	University of Melbourne	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1989	Andrew Wooldridge	University of Tasmania	National Independents
1990	David McConnen	University of South Australia	National Independents
1991	Anita Hobson
1992	Linda Whatman	University of Newcastle	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1993	Linda Whatman	University of Newcastle	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1994	Edwina Hanlon	Monash University	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1995	Elizabeth Humphrys	University of Melbourne	Non-Aligned Left
1996	Michelle Giglio	University of Adelaide	National Independents
1997	Zane Whitehorn	Charles Darwin University	National Independents
1998	Lisa Ronnenberg	University of Newcastle	Non-Aligned Left
1999	Tom Cargill	Flinders University	Student Unity
2000	Nathan Murphy	La Trobe University	Australian Labor Students
2001	Rachel Thomson	University of Tasmania	Student Unity
2002	Jill Ferguson	Curtin University	Australian Labor Students
2003	Sarah McDowell	Monash University	Australian Labor Students
2004	Lambros Tapinos	Victoria University	Student Unity
2005	Katana Smith	Flinders University	Student Unity
2006	Kate Perry	Queensland University of Technology	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)/ National Labor Students (NLS)
2007	Joshua Rayner	University of Adelaide	Student Unity
2008	Liz Larbalestier	University of Wollongong	Student Unity
2009	Jimmy Mentor	Monash University	Student Unity
2010	Patrick Sheehan (until March)	La Trobe University	Student Unity
	Michael Buckland (from March)	University of Sydney	Student Unity
2011	Chris Monnox	University of Wollongong	Student Unity
2012	Rogan McMahon-Hogan (until June)	University of Canberra	Student Unity
	Michael Pettersson (from July)	Australian National University	Student Unity
2013	Hovig Melkonian	RMIT University	Student Unity
2014	Jack Gracie	Australian National University	Student Unity
2015	Dean D'Angelo	La Trobe University	Student Unity
2016	Robby Magyar	University of Sydney	Student Unity
2017	Jill Molloy	Australian National University	Student Unity
2018	Jordon O'Reilly	Flinders University	Student Unity
2019	Adriana Malavisi	University of Sydney	Student Unity
2020	Ali Amin	University of Adelaide	Student Unity
2021	Arabella Wauchope	University of Adelaide	Student Unity

Women's Officer[]

showNational Women's Officer
Year	Name	University	Faction
1988	Emma Koorey	University of Sydney	Left Alliance
1989	Miranda Sandars	University of Melbourne	Left Alliance
1990	Brigid Freeman	University of Tasmania	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1991	Audrey Edwards	Southern Cross University
1992
1993	Misha Schubert	University of South Australia	Independents
1994	Kate Wait	University of South Australia	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1995	Michelle MacDonald	La Trobe University	Student Unity
1996	Sarah Lantz	Southern Cross University	Non-Aligned Left
1997	Gemma Pinnell	Monash University	Non-Aligned Left, then Left Alliance
1998	Amrita Dasvarma	University of Adelaide	Independents
1999	Genevieve Derwent	University of Technology, Sydney	Left Alliance, then National Broad Left
2000	Helen Stitt	Australian National University	National Independents
2001	Sarah McBratney	University of Queensland	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2002	Catherine Davis	RMIT University	Australian Labor Students
2003	Lisa Chesters	University of Queensland	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2004	Laura Fraser	Murdoch University	Independent, then National Organisation of Labor Students
2005	Alison Vaughan	Edith Cowan University	Australian Labor Students
2006	Sarah Wickham	La Trobe University	Australian Labor Students/National Labor Students (NLS)
2007	Lucy Honan	University of Sydney	Grassroots Left
2008	Claire Tatyzo	Flinders University	Grassroots Left
2009	Kaitlin Ferris	University of Melbourne	National Labor Students (NLS)
2010	Keelia Fitzpatrick	University of Western Australia	National Independents
2011	Courtney Sloane	Australian National University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2012	Noni Sproule	University of Melbourne	National Labor Students (NLS)
2013	Mikaela Wangmann	University of Adelaide	Student Unity
2014	Georgia Kennelly	Victoria University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2015	Jess Mcleod		Socialist Alternative
2016	Heidi La Paglia	University of Tasmania	National Labor Students (NLS)
2017	Abby Stapleton	Monash University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2018	Kate Jean Crossin	La Trobe University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2019	Sarah Tynan	University of Adelaide	National Labor Students (NLS)
2020	Humaira Nasrin	University of New South Wales	Student Unity
2021	Georgette Mouawad	Australian National University	Student Unity

Queer/LGBTI Officer[]

showNational Queer/LGBTI Officer
Year	Name	University	Faction
2001	Mark Pendleton	Griffith University	National Broad Left
	Melissa Venville	La Trobe University	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS) then National Broad Left
2002	Brent Haywood	University of Canberra	National Independents
	Emma Banyer	University of Sydney	National Broad Left
2003	Belinda Clark	Curtin University	Student Unity
	Rathana Chea	University of Technology, Sydney	National Broad Left
2004	Tallace Bissett	University of Melbourne	National Broad Left
	Jenelle Davy	RMIT University	National Independents
2005	Claire English	Griffith University	National Broad Left, then Grassroots Left
	Craig Comrie	University of Western Australia	National Organisation of Labor Students
2006	Rachel Evans	University of Technology, Sydney	Grassroots Left
	Norman Jacka	Curtin University	Australian Labor Students/National Labor Students (NLS)
2007	Hayley Conway	University of Wollongong	Grassroots Left
	Pete Johnson	University of Sydney	National Labor Students (NLS)
2008	Bree Ahrens	University of Melbourne	Grassroots Left
	James Vigus	La Trobe University	Socialist Alternative
2009	Heidi Claus	University of Sydney	Socialist Alternative
	Liam Byrne	University of Melbourne	Socialist Alternative
2010	Phoebe Kelloway	University of Melbourne	Socialist Alternative
	Kathleen Larkin	La Trobe University	Socialist Alternative
2011	Olivia Hopkins	University of Sydney	Student Unity
	Jade Eckhaus	University of Melbourne	Socialist Alternative
2012	Shaylee Leach	University of South Australia	Student Unity
	Kat Henderson	Queensland University of Technology	Socialist Alternative
2013	Hiba Casablanca	Monash University	National Labor Students (NLS)
	Cat Rose	University of New South Wales	Socialist Alternative
2014	Bec Thompson	Murdoch University	National Independents
	Naomi Farmer	La Trobe University	Socialist Alternative
2015	Danica Cheesley	La Trobe University	Socialist Alternative
	Dana Endelmanis	University of Tasmania	National Labor Students (NLS)
2016	April Holcombe	University of Sydney	Socialist Alternative
	Clare Francis	University of Western Australia	Socialist Alternative
2017	Cristoforo Di Pasquale	Monash University	Socialist Alternative
	Lauren Saunders	Queensland University of Technology	Socialist Alternative
2018	Jasmine Duff	Monash University	Socialist Alternative
	Kim Stern	Monash University	Socialist Alternative
2019	Tess Dimos	Monash University	Socialist Alternative
	Steven Blacker	Swinburne University	National Labor Students
2020	Dashie Prasad	University of Technology Sydney	Grassroots Independents
	Natalie Aceman	RMIT	Socialist Alternative
2021	Bridge Truell	Curtin University	Grassroots Independents
	Emily Boyce	Monash University	National Labor Students (NLS)

Small and Regional Officer[]

showNational Small and Regional Officer
Year	Name	University	Faction
1990	Kathleen Riches	Warrnambool IAE	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1991	Tony White	Warrnambool IAE	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1992	Jacqui Davidson	Northern Territory University	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1994	Eugene Sebastian	Flinders University of South Australia	National Liaison Committee
1995	Shanton Chang	University of Western Australia	National Liaison Committee
2007	Kobie Howe	University of Canberra	National Labor Students (NLS)
2008	Grant Machell	Monash University	Student Unity
2009	Chaiy Donati	University of Queensland	Student Unity
2010	James Wangmann	University of South Australia	Student Unity
2011	Billy Colless	James Cook University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2012	Jessica Newman	James Cook University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2013	Michael Pettersson	Australian National University	Student Unity
2014	Jack Boyd	University of Wollongong	Student Unity
2015	Rose Gosper	University of Newcastle	National Independent
2016	Peter Munford	University of Wollongong	Student Unity
2017	Jason Byrne	Flinders University	Student Unity
2018	James Callow	Western Sydney University	Student Unity
2019	Jordan Mumford	University of South Australia	Student Unity
2020	Kai Donaldson (Resigned)	Murdoch University	Student Unity
2021	Hamish Whitten	Deakin University	Student Unity

Environment Officer[]

A motion to abolish the National Environment Offer position was passed at the 2016 National Conference. This change came into effect at the 2017 National Conference.

showNational Environment Officer
Year	Name	University	Faction
1994	Jamie Parker	Macquarie University	Non-Aligned Left
1995	Kirstin O'Brien	James Cook University	Non-Aligned Left, then Left Alliance
1996	Gretchen Highfield	University of Technology, Sydney	Non-Aligned Left
1997	Matt Fagan	Southern Cross University	Non-Aligned Left, then Left Alliance
1998	Chris Heppel	Macquarie University	Non-Aligned Left
1999	Scott Alderson	University of Queensland	Non-Aligned Left
2000	Mat Hines	University of Tasmania	Progressive Left Activist Network (PLANet)
2001	Peter Zakzrewski	UNSW College of Fine Arts	Australian Democrats
2002	Matt Skellern	University of Sydney	National Broad Left
2003	Bonnie Rivendell	La Trobe University	National Broad Left
	Eli Greig	Monash University	National Broad Left
2004	Bek Hamed	Australian National University	Independents
2005	Anna Rose	University of Sydney	National Broad Left, then Grassroots Left
2006	Danya Bryx	Monash University	Australian Student Environment Network
2007	Claire McCall	RMIT University	Australian Student Environment Network
2008	Cecilia Vagg	University of Technology, Sydney	Australian Student Environment Network
2009	Dany Boulos	University of Newcastle	Australian Student Environment Network
2010	Hugh Mortensen	Swinburne University	Student Unity
2011	Christian Jones (until February)	University of Sydney	Student Unity
	Shaun Taliana (from February)	RMIT University	Student Unity
2012	Neha Madhok	University of Technology, Sydney	National Labor Students (NLS)
2013	Stephen McCallum	University of South Australia	National Labor Students (NLS)/ Australian Student Environment Network
2014	Damian Ridgewell	University of New South Wales	Socialist Alternative
2015	Carl Jackson	University of Queensland	Socialist Alternative
2016	Izzy Manfield	University of Queensland	National Labor Students (NLS)
2017	Leesa Markussen	Curtin University	Student Unity

Ethnocultural officer[]

showNational Ethnocultural Officer
Year	Name	University	Faction
2007	Jamila Rizvi (until February)	Australian National University	Student Unity
	Fatma Al Mahrizi (from February)	University of Melbourne	Socialist Alternative
2008	Phoung Au	University of New South Wales	National Labor Students (NLS)
2009	Matthew Incerti	University of Melbourne	Unaligned
2010	Lauren Fernando	Victoria University	Student Unity
2011	Gen Li (until February)	Monash University	Student Unity
	Mildred Linmiao Zhan (from February)	La Trobe University	Student Unity
2012	Patrick Massarani	University of Sydney	Student Unity
2013	Kerrie Kahlon	Griffith University	Student Unity
2014	Daniel Nikoloski	University of South Australia	Student Unity
2015	Michael Bezuidenhout	Flinders University	Student Unity
2016	Betty Belay	La Trobe University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2017	Lorena White	University of Sydney	Student Unity
2018	Hersha Kadkol	University of Sydney	Socialist Alternative
2019	Hersha Kadkol	University of Sydney	Socialist Alternative
2020	Vinil Kumar	University of Sydney	Socialist Alternative
2021	Maryam Hasanova	Deakin University	Student Unity

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Officer[]

showNational Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Officer
Year	Name	University	Faction
2007	Sheena Watt		National Labor Students (NLS)
2008	Sheena Watt		National Labor Students (NLS)
2009	Carla McGrath	University of Sydney	National Labor Students (NLS)
2010	Warren Roberts	University of New South Wales	National Labor Students (NLS)
2011	Frank Gafa	Australian National University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2012	Benjamin Gertz	James Cook University - Townsville	Student Unity
2013	Blake Mooney	University of Melbourne	Student Unity
2014	Joshua Preece	University of Queensland	Student Unity
2015	Bridget Cama	University of New South Wales	Student Unity
2016	Lizzie Green	Macquarie University	Student Unity
2017	Joseph Bin Omar	University of Western Australia	National Independents
2018	Tyson McEwan	University of Western Australia	National Independents
2019	Alfred Lowe	Flinders University	Student Unity
2020	Kya Branch	University of Newcastle	Grassroots Independents
2021	Keenan Smith	Flinders University	Student Unity

International Officer[]

showNational International Officer
Year	Name	University	Faction
2010	Lily Yuen	La Trobe University	Unaligned
2011	Indrajeet Chauhan	La Trobe University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2012	Ashraf Alfian	University of New South Wales	National Independents
2013	Joshua Hao Tang (until February)	University of Melbourne	Student Unity
	Jay Kajing Ng (from February)		Unaligned
2014	Zhejian Zhang	Deakin University	Student Unity
2015	Yang Liu	RMIT	Student Unity
2016	Tony Zhang	Monash University	Student Unity
2017	David Lee	Deakin University	Student Unity
2018	Ziqi Han	Monash University	Student Unity
2019	Alex Wang	Deakin University	Student Unity
2020	Dishan Su	Deakin University	Student Unity
2021	Varun Kale	Swinburne University of Technology	Student Unity

Disability Officer[]

showNational Disability Officer
Year	Name	University	Faction
2013	Liam McDonald	Monash University - Clayton	National Labor Students (NLS)
2014	Joshua Rebolledo	University of Technology Sydney	National Labor Students (NLS)
2015	Alison Taylor	Flinders University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2016	Hayden Shaw	University of Canberra	Student Unity
2017	Taylor Ficcara	University of Technology Sydney	Student Unity
2018	Kayla Dickeson	University of South Australia	National Labor Students (NLS)
2019	Will Edwards	University of Sydney	National Labor Students (NLS)
2020	Alex Leighton	Victoria University	Student Unity
	Kirra Jackson	University of Technology Sydney	National Labor Students (NLS)
2021	Kit Sanders	University of Western Australia	Student Unity

State Officers[]

The State Branch Officers of NUS are elected annually at the National Conference, with their terms commencing in January. State and Territories officers are only elected if there are accredited campus from that State/Territory. The State Branch positions other than President and Education Vice President were abolished after the 2015 National Conference, coming into effect at the conclusion of the 2016 term of office.

Victoria[]

showVIC State Branch President
Year	Name	University	Faction
1991	Kathleen Riches		National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1992	Ben Ross	La Trobe University	Left Alliance
1993	Natalie Sykes	La Trobe University	Student Unity
1994	Liberty Sanger	La Trobe University	Student Unity
1995	Robert Larocca	La Trobe University	Student Unity
1996	Mehmet Tillem	RMIT University	Student Unity
1997	Gavin Ryan	Monash University	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1998	Laura Smyth	Monash University	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS) then Australian Labor Students
1999	Stephen Donnelly	La Trobe University	Student Unity
2000	John Raimondo	La Trobe University	Student Unity
2001	Liam Harkins	Monash University	Student Unity
2002	Lambros Tapinos	Victoria University	Student Unity
2003	Conrad French	La Trobe University	Student Unity
2004	Danielle Pastoors	University of Melbourne	Student Unity
2005	Jeremy Kelly	Victoria University	Student Unity
2006	Rhiannon Platt	Monash University	Australian Labor Students/National Labor Students (NLS)
	Caitlyn O'Dowd	University of Melbourne	Australian Labor Students/National Labor Students (NLS)
2007	Zoe Edwards	Monash University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2008	Sarah Cole	La Trobe University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2009	Mark Baker	Monash University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2010	Jesse Marshall	La Trobe University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2011	Jon Barlow	Victoria University	Student Unity
2012	Holly Burr	La Trobe University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2013	Isabelle Kingshott	University of Melbourne	Student Unity
2014	James Michelmore	RMIT University	Student Unity
2015	Cam Petrie	RMIT University	Student Unity
2016	Nathan Croft	La Trobe University	Student Unity
2017	Alan Padgham	RMIT University	Student Unity
2018	Lily Xia	RMIT University	Student Unity
2019	Sam Roberts	Swinburne University	Student Unity
2020	Catherine Abourizk	Victoria University	Student Unity
	Jean-Marc Kurban	Deakin University	Student Unity
2021	Daniel Hoogstra	RMIT University	Student Unity

New South Wales[]

showNSW State Branch President
Year	Name	University	Faction
1991	Luke Foley	University of New South Wales	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1992	Aaron Magner	Macquarie University	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1993	Ray Marcelo	Macquarie University	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1994	Alan Kirkland	University of New South Wales	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1995	Jamie Parker	Macquarie University	Non-Aligned Left
1996	John Nolan-Neylan	University of Newcastle	Non-Aligned Left
1997	Andrew Burke	Macquarie University	Non-Aligned Left
1998	Van Badham	University of Wollongong	Non-Aligned Left
1999	Amanda Tattersal	University of Sydney	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2000	Dom Rowe	University of Sydney	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)/ National Broad Left
2001	Ryan Heath	University of Technology, Sydney	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2002	Daney Faddoul	University of New South Wales	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2003	Anna York	University of New South Wales	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2004	Tim Chapman	University of Technology, Sydney	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2005	Sarah-Jane Collins	University of Technology, Sydney	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2006	Max Bryant	University of Sydney	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2007	Tom Patton	University of Sydney	National Labor Student (NLS)
2008	David Barrow	University of Technology, Sydney	National Labor Student (NLS)
2009	Kyle MacGregor	University of New South Wales	National Labor Student (NLS)
2010	Rosie Ryan	University of Sydney	National Labor Student (NLS)
2011	Phoebe Drake	University of Sydney	National Labor Student (NLS)
2012	Osman Faruqi	University of New South Wales	National Independents
2013	Josh Rebolledo	University of Technology, Sydney	National Labor Student (NLS)
2014	Hannah Smith	University of Sydney	National Labor Student (NLS)
2015	Chloe Smith	University of Sydney	National Labor Student (NLS)
2016	Michael Elliott	University of Sydney	Student Unity
2017	Michael Murdocca	University of New South Wales	Student Unity
2018	Connor Wherrett	University of Sydney	Student Unity
2019	Alexi Cassis	University of Sydney	Student Unity
2020	Liam Thomas	University of Sydney	Student Unity

South Australia[]

showSA State Branch President
Year	Name	University	Faction
1997	Tyrone Lynch	University of South Australia	Independents
1998
1999	Paul Sykes	University of Adelaide	Student Unity
2000	Matt Anderson	University of Adelaide	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2001	Joel Northcott	University of Adelaide	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2002	Rory Spreckley	University of Adelaide	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2003	Taso Filipo	University of South Australia	National Independents
2004	Meagan Hackett	University of Adelaide	Student Unity
2005	Finn McCarthy-Adams	University of South Australia	Student Unity
2006	Praneet Keni	Flinders University	National Liaison Committee
2007	Rhiannon Newman	University of Adelaide	National Labor Students (NLS)
2008	Rhiannon Newman	University of Adelaide	National Labor Students (NLS)
2009	Robert Fletcher	University of Adelaide	National Labor Students (NLS)
2010	Simone McDonnell	University of Adelaide	Student Unity
2011	Stephen McCallum	University of South Australia	National Labor Students (NLS)
2012	Mikaela Wangmann	University of Adelaide	Student Unity
2013	Daniel Nikoloski	University of South Australia	Student Unity
2013	Nina McEwan	University of Adelaide	Student Unity
2014	Gemma Paech	University of Adelaide	Student Unity
2015	Sam Davis	University of Adelaide	National Labor Students (NLS)
2016	Josh Boughey	University of Adelaide	Student Unity
2017	Maddee Knill	University of Adelaide	Student Unity
2018	Jordan Mumford	University of South Australia	Student Unity
2019	Ali Amin	University of Adelaide	Student Unity
2020	Arabella Wauchope	University of Adelaide	Student Unity
2021	Noah Beckmann	University of South Australia	Student Unity

Queensland[]

showQLD State Branch President
Year	Name	University	Faction
1990	David Howard	Queensland University of Technology	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1991	Chris Simpson	Queensland University of Technology	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1997	Robert Elphinstone	Griffith University	Student Unity
1998	Cynthia Kennedy	University of Queensland	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1999	Phoung Dong, (Guss)	Queensland University of Technology	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2000	Stella Rae	Queensland University of Technology	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2001	Sarah Abbott	University of Queensland	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2002	Duncan Pegg	Griffith University	Student Unity
2003	Bec Thomson	University of Queensland	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
	Callum Downie	Griffith University	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2004	Nick Thompson	Queensland University of Technology	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2005	Jon Hames	University of Queensland	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
2006	Dan Doran	Queensland University of Technology	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)/ National Labor Students (NLS)
2007	Claire Stimpson	University of Queensland	National Labor Students (NLS)
2008	Kat Henderson	Queensland University of Technology	National Labor Students (NLS)
2009	Joshua Young	University of Queensland	UQ Liberals
2010	Rosa Sottile	University of Queensland	National Labor Students (NLS)
2011	Joanna Horton	University of Queensland	National Labor Students (NLS)
2012	Scarlett Squire	Queensland University of Technology	National Labor Students (NLS)
2013	Sam Catanzariti-Smith	Griffith University	Student Unity
2014	Laurence McLean	University of Queensland	National Labor Students (NLS)
2015
2016	Stephanie Kameric	Griffith University	Student Unity
2017
2018	Chelsea Bently	Griffith University	Student Unity

Western Australia[]

showWA State Branch President
Year	Name	University	Faction
1990	Andrew Waddell	Curtin University of Technology	National Independents
1991	Geoff Baker	Curtin University of Technology	National Independents
1992	Peter Grant	Curtin University of Technology	Unaligned
1993	Luke Garswood	Curtin University of Technology	National Independents
1994	Damien Karmelich	Edith Cowan University	Student Unity
1995	Tony Walker	Edith Cowan University	Student Unity
1996	John Carey	Murdoch University	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1997	Steve Whitehead	Murdoch University	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)
1998	Nathan Hondros (until February)	Murdoch University	Student Unity
1998	Stephen Dawson (from February)	Edith Cowan University	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS) then Australian Labor Students
1999	Helen Carvosso	Curtin University of Technology	Student Unity
2000	Craig Edwards	University of Western Australia	Student Unity
2001	Simon Millman	University of Western Australia	National Independents
2002	Kate Mills	Curtin University of Technology	Unaligned
2003	Zaneta Mascarenas	Curtin University of Technology	Australian Labor Students
2004	Zaneta Mascarenas	Curtin University of Technology	Australian Labor Students
2005	Susie Byers	University of Western Australia	National Independents
2006	Rikki Hendon	Curtin University of Technology	National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS)/ National Labor Students (NLS)
2007	Enrico Burgio	University of Western Australia	National Independents
2008	Eden Ridgeway	Murdoch University	National Independents
2009	Luke Villiers	University of Western Australia	National Independents
2010	Basha Stasak	Murdoch University	National Independents
2011	Emma Greeney	University of Western Australia	National Independents
2012	Rebecca Leighton	Murdoch University	National Independents
2013	Anita Creasey	University of Western Australia	National Independents/Solidarity
2014	Rebecca Doyle	University of Western Australia	National Independents
2015	Jake Wittey	Curtin University	National Labor Students (NLS)
2016	Alex Hamilton	University of Western Australia	National Independents
2017	Lewis Whittaker	Murdoch University	Student Unity
2018	Jason Lawrence	Curtin University	Student Unity
2019	Christopher Hall	Curtin University	National Independents
2020	Elsa Chew	Edith Cowan University	Student Unity
2021	Jeremy Gilchrist	Curtin University	Student Unity

Australian Capital Territory[]

showACT State Branch President
Year	Name	University	Faction
2004	Ryan Hamilton	Australian National University	Student Unity
2005	Ryan Hamilton	Australian National University	Student Unity
2006	Jamilla Rivzi	Australian National University	Student Unity
2007	Lyndon Mayfield	University of Canberra	Student Unity
2008	Anya Aidman	Australian National University	Student Unity
2009	Geoffrey Wakeford	University of Canberra	Student Unity
2010	Kate Maybin	University of Canberra	Student Unity
2011	Rogan McMahon-Hogan	University of Canberra	Student Unity
2012	Michael Pettersson	Australian National University	Student Unity
2013	Greg Stewart	University of Canberra	Student Unity
2014	Tom Nock	Australian National University	Student Unity
2015	Josh Orchard	Australian National University	Student Unity
2016	Jill Molloy	Australian National University	Student Unity
2017	Nick Douros	Australian National University	Student Unity
2020	Georgette Mouawad	Australian National University	Student Unity

Tasmania[]

showTAS State Branch President
Year	Name	University	Faction
2012	Alexandra West	University of Tasmania	National Labor Students (NLS)
2013	Claire Chandler	University of Tasmania	Australian Liberal Students Federation
2014	Liam Carswell	University of Tasmania	National Labor Students (NLS)
2015	Clark Cooley	University of Tasmania	Australian Liberal Students Federation
2016	Clark Cooley	University of Tasmania	Australian Liberal Students Federation

Union affiliation[]

Typically University Student Union's Representative Council's will vote on NUS accreditation. As of 2021, accredited university Unions include;^[17]

State	Union	University	Representation
			Delegates	Total Votes
ACT	Australian National University Students' Association	Australian National University	5	45
NSW	Arc @ UNSW SRC	University of New South Wales	7	159
NSW	University of Sydney SRC	University of Sydney	7	112
NSW	University of Technology Sydney Student Association	University of Technology Sydney	7	125
NSW	Western Sydney University SRC	Western Sydney University	7	147
NSW	Wollongong Undergraduate Students' Association	University of Wollongong	7	75
SA	Flinders University Student Association	Flinders University	6	64
SA	University of South Australia Student Association	University of South Australia	7	90
QLD	Queensland University of Technology Guild	Queensland University of Technology	7	155
VIC	Deakin University Student Association (DUSA)	Deakin University	7	151
VIC	Holmesglen Student Union	Holmesglen Institute of TAFE	2	4
VIC	Monash Student Association (MSA)	Monash University (Clayton)	7	111
VIC	RMIT University Student Union (RUSU)	RMIT University	7	179
VIC	Swinburne Student Union (SSU)	Swinburne University	7	104
VIC	University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU)	University of Melbourne	7	182
VIC	Victoria University Student Union (VUSU)	Victoria University	7	113
VIC	La Trobe Student Union (LTSU)	La Trobe University	7	116
WA	Curtin Student Guild	Curtin University	7	129
WA	Edith Cowan University Student Guild	Edith Cowan University	7	79
WA	UWA Student Guild	University of Western Australia	7	78

References[]

External links[]

• NUS Home
• Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA)
• Council of International Students Australia (CISA)