Content Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and institutional betrayal.
This article was corrected to include the events of NAIDOC week.
NAIDOC WEEK
This week was ANU’s NAIDOC week, with the Indigenous Department holding a concert, a charity trivia, and their annual panel event, along with a multitude of other events, which can be viewed here. The NAIDOC Week Concert, which was the first of its kind, hosted Indigenous artists such as Thelma Plum, Rach Armstrong, StiffGins, and Emily Wurramara, who performed to a large crowd. Appropriate to the theme of ‘Because of Her We Can’, all of the artists were women. Observer reported on areas of Indigenous symbolism around campus in an article earlier this week.
ANUSA
The SRC meeting this week was relatively quiet, despite being the first in three months. Key points included the election of an additional probity officer for the upcoming election, and the approval of a review into the association’s Media Policy after some debate over the breadth of the reviewing committee’s powers.
Students stood in solidarity with survivors at a Speak out and Vigil on Wednesday, the one-year anniversary of the Human Rights Commission’s ‘Change the Course’ Report on campus sexual assault and sexual harassment. ANUSA and PARSA were both critical of the university’s “extremely slow” progress on the report’s recommendations.
The ANU Queer* Department’s Pride Party won an award for “Best Community Engagement of 2018” at the Australian Queer Student’s Network awards night.
Two new tickets have been announced for the upcoming ANUSA elections. One, Reform ANUSA, is only running General and NUS Representative candidates, pushing for a referendum on NUS accreditation. The second, Ignite ANUSA, is also running a candidate for Education Officer, in addition to General and NUS Representatives. Their platform prioritises campaigns on student working conditions and housing. Independent bids were also launched for non-executive positions.
The only full ticket is Refresh, who have been releasing policy over recent days.
Campus
A bike share scheme was launched on campus. It will cost $1.30 per half hour, though semesterly subscriptions are planned. They are relying on the “common sense” of ANU students to prevent the bikes from ending up in Sullivan’s Creek, or locations where they might cause a nuisance to foot traffic.
