Student Council 2022

Billy Greet Environment Officer 2022/Student President 2023

In 2022 Student Council made significant progress towards our goals, with a focus on promoting inclusion and diversity and working towards bringing back a sense of campus culture after a few challenging years.

Our Student Council achieved two significant milestones for students this year. Firstly, we updated our election regulations to include autonomous voting for the First Nations Students Officer. This recognises and respects the unique perspectives and voices of First Nations students, giving them greater control over the election process. Secondly, we updated our constitution to include the People of Colour Officer, providing a platform for these students to voice their concerns, seek support, and engage in initiatives. These changes have contributed to a more diverse, inclusive, and representative Student Council, reflecting FUSA's ongoing commitment to promoting equality and diversity.

Our antipoverty campaign continued in 2022, with a focus on raising awareness of student poverty and supporting those in need. We continued our program tackling period poverty, installing period product dispensers in select bathrooms across all major campuses and consulted with the University to expand this program permanently. The disabilities space in the library was fitted with additional furniture and resources, and sport wheelchairs were purchased to increase accessibility and opportunity for students to participate in sports. The Mature Age Students Officer created validation surveys to gather insights into the student experiences, shaping ongoing efforts to support and engage with this important demographic that makes up approximately half of the student cohort. We organised successful events like Water Week, promoting sustainable water use on campus and at home. Wear It Purple events included a quiz night and stalls, and our Sexual Health Week event featured workshops and fair activities. We also organised and participated in a campus clean up for Clean Up Australia Day, promoting environmental sustainability and a clean, litter-free campus.

We also updated the Empire Times regulations to sustain more flexibility within the editorial team. We changed the date that the team starts their term to allow for an additional month of handover and training. This change will ensure a smoother transition between editorial teams and provide more opportunities for skill-building and training.

Finally, we created the Deadnaming Steering Group, comprising of a range of key stakeholders including the Student President, Queer Officer, President of the Queer Collective, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Students, Coordinator of Flinders Connect, Associate Director of Organisational Development and Diversity, Director of Student Services, and the co-chair of the Pride Network. This group aims to address the issue of deadnaming on campus, working towards ensuring a respectful and inclusive student experience. Through this initiative, we hope to make meaningful progress towards creating a more welcoming and inclusive campus environment where all students have the ability to use the name that best aligns with them and have this reflected in all systems across the university.

I would like to say a big thank you to the Student Council of 2022 for their hard work and dedication in serving the students of Flinders University. I would also like to extend this thanks to the FUSA staff and volunteers, who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to support the Student Council. Lastly, thank you to all of the students for engaging with all our projects and events throughout 2022.