STATE OF THE UNION

AUU PRESIDENT’S REPORT AUU PRESIDENT’S REPORT

OSCAR ZI SHAO ONG | AUU PRESIDENT

Welcome back from the holidays! I hope you had a well deserved break as your AUU team is busy preparing for the fantastic events we have in store for you in the coming semester! Also, welcome to our new students!

It’s tax time too! The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) provides TAX-HELP, a program run by trained volunteers to assist eligible students prepare basic tax returns. You can access this service from July until the end of October at our Student Care office. To make an appointment with a volunteer Tax Officer, email studentcare@adelaide.edu. au or phone 8313 5430.

Our Student Care team offers independent information, advocacy, support and referral across a range of academic,

administrative, welfare, behaviour and conduct issues. Our Education and Welfare Officers (EWO) are all highly qualified social workers, familiar with supporting students to understand and navigate both University systems and processes along with those of external agencies. We can help support the challenges of balancing life and study demands. This may include advice and practical support in the areas of welfare, financial, accommodation, legal and personal concerns. We can also provide referral and advocacy with external agencies e.g., Centrelink and SACAT.

Further to that, Student Care also runs Breakfast Club between 8.30am and 10.30am, Tuesday to Friday during the Semester at Level 5, Union House. Come along to grab some fruits, yoghurt and muesli bar to help start your day! Also- cheesy toasties! Our staff will be available during that time too should you have any enquiries regarding our support services.

Your club’s committee chair and I also attended meetings recently to talk about improvements of the safety and infrastructure of the university. Reconciliation is extremely important to us in the AUU, which is why we are excited to see the University has been working with Wirltu Yarlu to develop an art installation for Hub Central. We are still working hard to make sure our clubs get a better space too. Clubs were relocated to Hartley in 2019, while mature students were relocated too in early 2022. Additional work was undertaken to make this lounge more inviting, this included: additional furniture, relocation of the computer pool, introduction of AUU vending machines and considerable signage to promote the space.

I also listened to your concerns that the Architecture School requires refit and maintenance, it will now be looked into by the university as a matter of urgency.

Questions/suggestions about the AUU/university? You are always welcome to email me or send me a message through social media!

Oscar Zi Shao Ong

AUU President

oscarzishao.ong@adelaide.edu.au

Facebook/WeChat ID: oscarong1997