O-Week Handbook 2015

The SRC’s Guide to

HOW TO UNI

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your ridiculously detailed, no bullshit, ‘by students for students’ guide to every single part of university SURVIVING UNI 2 Important Contacts & Editorial 3 SRC Services 4 Important Dates 5 Safety on Campus 6 Centrelink Advice 7 Scholarships, Bursaries & Loans 8 Surviving Academic Life 10 Renting: Tips and Tricks 11 Health Services & Pharmacies 12 Mental Health 13 Drugs HAVING FUN 14 Honi Soit: Your Student Newspaper 16 Cheap Food & Local Food 17 Recipes 18 The Best Pubs & Coffee 19 Sydney’s Nightlife 20 THE SEALED SECTION 22 Bumper #informative Map

GETTING INVOLVED 24 National Union of Students 25 Intro to Your SRC 26 Education Action Group 27 Wom*n’s Collective 28 Queer Action Collective Collective Against 29 Autonomous Racism 30 Enviro Collective 31 Indigenous Collective 32 International Students’ Collective 33 Disabilities & Carers Collective 34 Anti-Racism Collective 35 Sexual-Harassment Department 36 Interfaith & Housing Departments 37 Welfare Department 38 Intercampus Department 39 Residential Colleges Department 40 Thanks & No Thanks

Editorial For the first time in recent memory, the Students’ Representative Council’s annual Orientation Handbook might have been put together without the aid of bottles of rum in the desperate 24 hours before it was due. Do we even uni student? Vitamin D deficiency and $4.95-pizza-binge-bellies aside, we’re proud to present: the SRC’s No-Bullshit Guide on How To Uni. ‘We’ are Chiara and Max, your SRC General Secretaries. You may remember us from such SRC moments as “The Education Action Group confronts Micky ‘1%’ Spence in: The Quadfather”

or “Eastern Ave and the Technicolour SRC Elections”. If you’re a first year or new to the SRC though, not to fear: this handbook is especially for you.

If there’s one thing you do, be sure to check out the various groups you can get involved with in the second half of the handbook. This year we’ve also added some delicious (and affordable!) recipes (p17) – shout out to Madre Angeloni – and a bonus sealed section (pp 20-21). It’s not actually sealed, because conversations about sex and consent should be out in the open, not sealed up. Consent is sexy – and mandatory.

Throughout its 86-year history, the SRC has always been devoted to helping USyd students. On second thought: excluding the year Tony Abbott was president. We’ve created a list of the wonderful things the SRC offers on the opposite page. Our awesome casework team have also offered some tips throughout the handbook on rent, health, drugs and more. If you’re ever in trouble, we’re here for you.

So mates, enjoy the read. As for us: it’s time for some much needed sleep.

– Chiara & Max.

Important Contacts Campus security – 9351 3487 Emergency – 000 Police, firefighters, ambulance.

RPA Sexual Assault Service – 9515 9040

Student support Student Centre – 8627 8200

University department for all things related to your enrolment, HECS, and administration.

Disability Services – 8627 8422 sydney.edu.au/current_students/ disability Support for students with a disability.

Students’ Representative Council – 9660 5222 – src.usyd.edu.au Services & advocacy for undergraduates. Check out the next page for the low down on how we can help you out.

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Health services University Health Service – 9351 3484

NSW Sexual Health Infolink – 1800 451 624

– sydney.edu.au/health-service On campus doctors. Reliable, bulk bills for local and some international students.

a[Test] Newtown – Level 1, 222 King St Newtown NSW 2042 – atest.org.au Rapid HIV testing available for gay men.

Wentworth Pharmacy – 9660 3338 – Level 3, Wentworth Building

RPA Sexual Health Clinic– 9515 1200 Rapid HIV testing available.

Leichhardt Women’s Health Centre – 9560 3011 – lwchc.org.au

Autonomous Spaces Wom*n’s Room – Level 1, Manning

Campus Dental – 9692 8900 – campusdental.com.au Counselling & Psychological Services – 8627 8433 Free counselling on campus.

Mental Health Access Line – 1800 636 825 Lifeline – 131 114

House

Queerspace – Holme Building Ground Level Koori Centre – Level 2, Old Teachers College – sydney.edu.au/koori International Student Lounge – Level 4, Wentworth Building – 9563 6094

K C A B R U O Y T O G WE’VE It’s a jungle out there.

Don’t go without the help you need to survive university.

There are a number of free, independent and confidential services available to you on campus.

SECOND-HAND BOOKS

LEGAL ADVICE

Buy and sell your textbooks at our second-hand store in the Wentworth Building.

Solicitors can give legal advice on a range of issues including car accidents, court appearances, police matters & visas/migration.

CENTRELINK

ACADEMIC RIGHTS

Caseworkers can help with information on payments, as well as dealings with issues such as overpayments, allowable time & eligibility.

We can guide you in dealing with academic appeals, special consideration, “show cause” & misconduct proceedings.

ACCOMMODATION Caseworkers can help with information on tenancy and residential contracts. Talk to them before or during your stay.

GET IN TOUCH WITH THE

STUDENTS’ REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL FOR THE ABOVE SERVICES AND MORE! www.src.usyd.edu.au Level 1, Wentworth Building Call 9660 5222 to make an appointment

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Mar 2nd Semester One begins • 8th International Wom*n’s Day • 13th Last day to add a Unit of Study for Semester One • 19th Last day to pay your Student Services and Amenities Fee (check the ‘My Finances’ tab on Sydney Student) • 20th International Day of Happiness • 21st International day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination • 31st HECS census date, last date to drop a Unit of Study without incurring academic or financial penalty

apr 2nd World Autism Awareness Day • 3rd-10th Mid Semester Break • 17th Last day to Discontinue Not Fail (DC) for Semester One (all DC applications following this date will require valid grounds and supporting documentation) • 22nd International Mother Earth Day

May 17th International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia • 27th-3rd June Reconciliation Week

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important dates Jun 5th Last day of lectures for Semester One, last day to Discontinue Fail (DF), World Environment Day • 8th til 12th Study Vacation (STUVAC) • 15th til 27th Examination Period • 20th World Refugee Day • 27th Semester One ends

jul 20-24th Orientation Period • 27th Semester Two begins

aug 7th Last day to add a Unit of Study for Semester Two • 9th International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples • 29th Open Day • 31st HECS census date for Semester Two, last day to drop a Unit of Study without incurring academic or financial penalty

sep 10th World Suicide Prevention Day • 11th last day to Discontinue Not Fail (DC) for Semester Two • 28th-2nd Oct Mid Semester Break

oct 5th Labour Day • 10th World Mental Health Day • 30th last day of lectures, and last day to Discontinue Fail (DF) for Semester Two

nov 2nd-6th STUVAC • 9th-21st Examination period • 16th International Day for Tolerance • 21st Semester Two ends • 25th International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Wom*n • 29th International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

For even more dates see: sydney.edu.au/about/dates

safety on campus

by Georgia Dickinson, Isabel O’Shanassy, Serena May & Monique Newberry While there are several things to worry about when starting university, your safety shouldn’t be one of them. For this reason we’ve compiled a list of services available on campus to help you feel a little more safe while adjusting to uni life. It’s important to note that if something does happen that makes you feel unsafe on campus, whether or not you used any of these suggestions, it’s never your fault.

For students who stay at uni studying late on Camperdown and Darlington campuses, there is a shuttle bus that runs from Fisher Library to Redfern station. This bus service runs approximately every 15 minutes till Fisher Library closes for the evening. It can be accessed at various stops along the way.

The University also has a security team who patrol campus everyday and can help whenever needed. In the event of an emergency, you can call 02 9351 3333 for immediate help.

The Wom*n’s Collective run an autonomous self defence workshop (wom*n

only) once every two weeks, which is just as much about making you feel comfortable and confident in your own space, as it is about helping you feel safe. These workshops are followed by a discussion. See “Womn’s Self-Defence Classes and Discussion Group” on Facebook for more information.

Another service offered by the university is CAPS (Counselling and Psychological Services), a free counselling service available to all students. If you ever feel like you need to talk someone, you can always make an appointment with CAPS at no cost.

Lastly, if you ever need to report an incident of assault or harassment on campus, while we recommend going to the police, if you want to report an incident to the University, ask a caseworker for help.

Good luck with your studies and stay safe!

- Sexual Harassment Officers 2015

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Applying Full-time students 25 years of age or older should apply for Austudy. Under 25s should apply for Youth Allowance.

Lodge an intention to claim with the Centrelink call centre (132 490), visit your local Centrelink office or (the easier option) send a message through their website: www.centrelink.gov.au.

If you get your application and all the associated paperwork into a Centrelink office within 14 days and your claim is approved, you will normally be back-paid to the day you lodged your intention to claim. Make sure you keep a copy of everything you send them for the length of your degree. If you speak to someone on the phone, ask them for a receipt number for the conversation.

You may face a delay in payments due to Waiting or Penalty Periods. If you are a new Australian resident, you may need to wait 2 years before you can get a payment. If you have more than $5,500 in cash, trust funds, shares etc., you need to serve a Liquid Assets Waiting Period. The period is one week for every $500 you have above $5,500, to a maximum of 13 weeks. There are some exemptions, including if you have high immediate expenses for study. (See the SRC’s How Savings Affect Centrelink Payments leaflet) Maximum payable The maximum payment as at December 2014 is $414 per fortnight, if you live away from the parental home plus rent assistance of up to $127.00. To get Austudy or Youth Allowance you must ‘qualify’ and then be ‘payable’ each fortnight.

The amount that is payable depends on any income test reductions. Which income test applies will depend on whether you are ‘independent’ or not, or have a partner.

How To Qualify You qualify if you satisfy ALL of the following conditions:

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• ‘Australian resident’ for two years or more and in Australia when you claim; • Studying an ‘Approved Course’ (most undergraduate courses at Sydney University); and have not previously ‘completed’ a Doctorate (Austudy only); • Studying ‘full-time’–usually a minimum of 0.375 HECS load (18 credit points) per semester (there are some exceptions); and • Making ‘satisfactory progress’ (you have not exceeded the minimum time it takes to complete your current course, plus one semester).

Exemptions exist.

Dependent vs Independent Being ‘independent’ for Centrelink means your parents’ income is not assessed in determining your eligibility.

If you are 22+ you are automatically independent. For Youth Allowance, the other main ways to be independent include: • ‘unreasonable to live at home’ due to extreme circumstances, including physical, emotional or sexual violence • relationship – you are married or in a marriage like relationship for more than 12 months (same or different sex couples) • For some regional students income from work may be considered a way of determining independence.

Check the SRC Independence leaflet.

Parent Income Test If you’re not ‘independent’, parental income over $48,837 per year may start to reduce your Youth Allowance.

Parental income over $150,000 per year may render you ineligible. For detailed info see the SRC’s How Parental Income Affects Youth Allowance leaflet.

Note that if your Personal Income Test has a greater effect on your payment it will be considered instead.

Personal Income or ‘Assets Test’ This applies to everyone on Austudy and Youth Allowance. Your payment is reduced by $0.50 for every dollar that your pre-tax income exceeds $415 per fortnight and $0.60 for every dollar

above $498 per fortnight.

However, a mechanism called the Student Income Bank is used to average out your income for this income test.

See the SRC’s How Income Affects Payments leaflet.

Partner Income Test This applies if you are ‘partnered’. Your Youth Allowance or Austudy payment is reduced by $0.60 for every dollar your partner’s gross income in the fortnight goes over a set ‘cut off ’ point. This point is where they would not be payable if they were on a Centrelink payments.

In December 2014 this amount was $1,200 gross per fortnight. This figure could be higher depending on a range of circumstances and payments. Check the SRC’s Relationships leaflet.

Assets Test The Assets Test does not include the value of your primary residence.

If your assets exceed the threshold you will receive no payment. For a single independent home owner the threshold is $202,000. This amount is raised to $286,500 for a couple. For a single non-home owner the threshold is $348,500. This amount is raised to $433,000 for a couple.

If you are ‘dependent’ or ‘partnered’ will also look at your ‘family’s’ assets. No payment can be made if your family’s assets exceed $771,750. There are some exceptions, for example if your family are farmers or run a business. Ask an SRC caseworker for more information.

Other Payments For help with other Centrelink payments contact an SRC caseworker.

Health Care Card If you are on a payment or if you are on a low income (less than $452 per week) you may be eligible for a Health Care Card. This gives you reduced prices on most prescription drugs (about $5–7), discount tickets at the movies, free ambulance (NSW), cheap glasses and frames and access to free dental care.

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scholarships, bursaries & loanS WITH DANIEL ERGAS

A HANDY GUIDE TO CENTRELINK

BY THE SRC CASEWORKERS

There are some questions in life we, mere mortals, cannot answer. What is the meaning of life? What happens after death? And, of course, why is university so prohibitively expensive, and what can I do about it?

Unfortunately, in this introduction to the complex world of university scholarships, bursaries and loans, I can only answer one of those questions. (Barely.)

Over $65 million is given out in 7000 scholarships across our university.

Thanks to the magic of Windows Standard Scientific Calculator, that means around 1 in 7 students receive scholarship money. ‘So, how can I get a bit of that sponsorship dough?’, you ask.

If you go to sydney.edu.au/scholarships/ – the University’s hub for scholarship information – you’ll be able to sort through the weird and wonderful collection of scholarships that are offered. There are separate sections for each form of scholarship. Unfortunately, you’ll need to trawl through each part to find those relevant to you.

Be cautious that most are for a specific degree (or faculty), and are on the basis of proven financial need. Specific scholarships exist for students travelling on exchange - make sure to check them out before you check in.

REMEMBER When dealing with Centrelink please keep a copy of everything you send them.

Also record the receipt number of your phone or in person conversations in your diary. This will become helpful if you encounter problems with your payment in the future. If you do one thing, do this.

Bursaries are a little bit more complicated. Bursaries are distinct from scholarships in that they are always based on financial need and are rarely competitive. There are two categories of bursaries. General bursaries are not advertised, and are awarded as a part of a financial support package offered by the University (ie. with a loan or a scholarship) – with criteria known only to the Financial Support Service.

Advertised bursaries are, surprise

surprise, advertised and open to all students with requisite financial need.

Applications open in early March, close on 30th April, and are awarded by July.

For loans, please, use that precious mind of yours. There is no such thing as a free lunch – or loan. For the best the predatory underworld of the internet has to offer, go and search ‘cheap loan student’.

Much like an unfortunate ex-, loan sharks are temporarily attractive vestiges of hope, and then, quite suddenly, following you around and serving you with Court orders. Yikes.

For small loans, the SRC offers shortterm (30 days) interest-free loans (i.e. you only pay back the sum of the loan) up to $50. Usually you would need to apply at our office in Level 1, Wentworth Building. However, students from satellite campuses who are unable to visit the office during business hours should contact an SRC Caseworker to see if alternative arrangements can be made. For larger loans (up to $2000 for domestic students; $1000 for international students), you can apply to the University’s Financial Support Service. These are accessible to students with financial difficulties, and are also interest-free (with repayments staggered over a year). To apply, go to the Sydney Student portal and follow the online application steps. There have been some instances where a loan can be turned into a bursary provided you pass all of your subjects in that semester.

Ask Financial Support Services how to make this happen.

This is only a short introduction to financial support – make sure to book a visit with a caseworker at the SRC (a free and confidential service), underneath the Wentworth building, for specific, useful advice.

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Surviving academic life by PHILIPPA SPECKER

Navigating the academic system at Sydney can often be a confusing— particularly if you run into some trouble. Here are a few terms that you’ll probably come across, what they are, and how they can make the next few years smooth sailing.

Special Consideration What is it and who can apply?

If you experience illness or misadventure on the day of an assessment or exam (and/or in the days leading up to

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it), you can apply for Special Consideration. Examples of illness include breaking or fracturing a bone, hurting your writing hand, getting tonsillitis, contracting the flu etc. Exacerbation of a pre-existing medical condition may also be grounds for Special Consideration. Examples of misadventure include being involved in a car accident, having your laptop stolen, being affected by your family’s divorce or the death/medical diagnosis of a close friend or family member etc.

If you have an on-going issue that affects your academic performance and/ or ability to complete assessments, such as a physical disability or mental illness, then you should instead register with Disability Services (sydney.edu.au/ current_students/disability/).

How do I apply?

Go to the website for your faculty and download the application form. If you are sick, ensure that you see a doctor on the same day as your assessment and get them to fill out the Professional Practitioner’s Certificate (PPC) section of your application form. Please note that you cannot get a backdated PPC, so prioritise seeing a doctor on the correct date. If you are too sick to go to the doctor, get one to go to your house.

There are many to choose from—just google one in your local area. In the PPC section, your doctor should include a brief description of what you are unable to do, such as attend university, sit up for longer than 10 minutes, leave the bed etc. The information provided in the PPC will help your Faculty assess the severity of your illness and therefore your eligibility for Special Consideration.

If you experienced a misadventure, such as an accident or theft, ensure you lodge a Police Report (and include the ‘event number’) as Supporting Documentation. If you are unsure what Supporting Documentation is appropriate for your situation, contact your Faculty, or the SRC caseworkers.

What is the outcome?

If you have a valid PPC or appropriate Supporting Documentation that shows you were sufficiently affected by your situation AND you submitted the application within 5 working days of the assessment date, you may be granted Special Consideration. For written assignments and examinations, the outcome is usually an extension or supplementary assessment at a later date. In some cases, the assessment will not be sat and the percentage weightings of your other assessment components in that course will be adjusted.

Alternatively, you may be given a Discontinue Not Fail grade and have a

chance to re-do the subject.

If you are not granted Special Consideration and you believe you had plausible grounds for Consideration, contact your Faculty to lodge an Appeal.

Simple Extension Simple extensions are only available on courses administered within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Simple extensions grant students a small extension (up to 5 working days) on written assignments. No supporting documentation is required, only a brief explanation of your illness or misadventure and how it has affected your ability to complete the written work within the deadline. To apply, simply fill out the online form that can be found on the Arts Faculty website (http://sydney. edu.au/arts/current_students/special_ consideration.shtml).

Discontinue Not Fail (DC – previously known as DNF) If you have been consistently affected by an illness or adverse circumstance throughout the semester, you may be eligible to apply for a Discontinuation.

A Discontinuation (DC), previously known as Discontinue Not Fail (DNF), if granted, will allow a student to discontinue from one or more units of study without receiving academic penalty, if this is within 12 months of receiving the DC grade. You can also apply to have your fees refunded or re-credited. Domestic students should complete the ‘HECS Remission’ form.

International students should write to the Faculty Dean.

How do I apply?

Go to the website of your Faculty and download the Discontinue application form. Similar to the Special Consideration process, you will need to include Supporting Documentation that clearly outlines your grounds for the application. This may include a letter from your Psychologist/Psychiatrist or Doctor, a Statutory Declaration, medical records of a family member or close friend whose illness has affected you and/or legal documentation including divorce papers etc.

Academic Appeals Process If you are dissatisfied with an assessment result and/or if you believe it to be incorrect, you can lodge an Academic Appeal. The first step is to contact your unit of study co-ordinator within 15 working days of when the result was published and clearly detail your appeal.

Ask to see your examination paper or assignment and see where you have lost marks. If you are dissatisfied with the outcome, you can then lodge an appeal to the Faculty. For more details on the university-wide academic appeals process see this link: http://sydney.edu. au/student_affairs/academic_appeals/.

The SRC caseworkers can help with your appeals. Make an appointment or email your draft letter to help@src.usyd. edu.au.

Special Arrangement: If you have an essential community commitment on the day of an assessment or exam, or on the days leading up to it, you can apply for Special Arrangement. Examples of grounds for Special Arrangement include major sporting competitions, essential religious commitments, jury duty and Australian Defence Force commitments. To apply, simply go to the website for your Faculty and download the application form. Ensure that you submit the form and the Supporting Documentation well in advance of the assessment date.

Sydney Student Sydney Student is the University’s new student administration system. Aside from doing your enrolment, Sydney Student is the new location for a number of administrative forms that no longer exist in paper form. Enrolment variations, Special Permission, course transfers, credit applications, suspension and recommencement, discontinuation from your degree and Summer School applications are now all done online via Sydney Student.

If you are confused by the system or are experiencing difficulties, contact the University Helpline on 1800 SYD UNI (1800 793 864).

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RENTING: TIPS AND TRICKS THE SRC CASEWORKERS ACCOMODATE YOUR EVERY HOUSING NEED

Finding Good Accommodation Lots of people want to rent in Sydney.

To find good accommodation quickly it may help to show landlords/real estate agents the following: • Confirmation of Enrolment to prove you are a student. Provide a certified copy and keep the original yourself.

• References from previous landlords to prove you are a good tenant who will pay rent on time and look after the accommodation. A written reference is best, but if that is not possible provide an e-mail address for your old landlord.

• Proof you can pay rent, e.g. proof of a scholarship, income or money in the bank. You may show your bank account details or passport, but DO NOT give them a copy to keep.

Before signing a contract and/or paying a deposit it is best to have a Residential Tenancy Agreement if possible. Usually these are available to people who rent from real estate agents. Otherwise try to get some kind of written contract.

Remember, a contract must have the address, the date and both parties signatures, and be written in English.

See the accommodation and make sure you are happy with it. Turn on the hot water tap and see how long it takes to warm up. Run the shower and check the water pressure. Look for cockroaches and other pests in the kitchen.

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Be sure what you get for your rent, e.g.

Internet, heating.

Know your responsibilities. Understand and agree with all conditions and house rules. If you want to change any rules, ask the landlord before you sign the contract or pay a deposit. If there is a contract, make sure any agreed changes are included. Penalties for breaking rules should be in the contract. Understand these.

• Know the end date of your stay. If you want to change the end date ask the landlord before you sign the contract or pay a deposit. If the landlord agrees, the new date should be written on the contract. If you leave early you may have to pay the equivalent of rent until the contract expires. If there is no contract, you can give 1 week’s notice if you pay rent weekly, or 2 weeks’ notice if you pay rent fortnightly. If it is a Residential Tenancy Agreement you may have to pay between 4 and 6 weeks rent as a penalty.

In short, this says READ YOUR CONTRACT.

you move in – record all contents and any damage in writing and take photos. Email the photos to the landlord so that it is electronically time stamped.

• If you have difficulty paying your bond you may be eligible for Rent Start. Ask an SRC caseworker for details.

During The Tenancy • Keep records of all rent paid. If you don’t get receipts, try to pay electronically or by cheque or money order.

• When communicating with your landlord try to use email so you have a copy of what was said. If you talk on the phone, send a follow up email confirming what was discussed.

• Ask for repairs as soon as they happen. You are responsible for keeping the home in good order.

• Become familiar with all of your rights and responsibilities. This is especially so with your right to peaceful enjoyment and property inspections.

• Rent Start is also available to some people who fall behind in rent.

Moving In

Ending Your Tenancy

• Keep a copy of your contract.

• Always get receipts for the bond/ deposit and any other payments you make.

• Make a condition report both when

Most contracts will have information in them about what to do if you want to end your tenancy. Usually you will have to follow these directions, or pay a penalty.

Health Services and pharmacies Eden faithfull & ivana radix run you through local options for medical care

The University of Sydney has a variety of medical services on campus available to all students.

The University Health Service (Level 3 Wentworth Building) provides medical support for a variety of needs including basic injury and illness treatment, immunisations and sports medicine.

For international students, information about Overseas Health Cover (OSHC) is available at the International Student Office (Level 4, Jane Foss Russell Building).

Level 3 of the Wentworth Building serves as a hub for other medical services such as Campus Dental, Chris McMahon Optometrist, Union Pharmacy and the University of Sydney Chiropractor.

The University also offers Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS), designed to help students reduce stress and anxiety, improve their well-being and achieve their academic goals. CAPS provides self-help books to students, as well as individual counselling services and a Sidekicks Program which seeks to educate peers in helping their friends deal with mental and emotional crises.

CAPS is located on Level 5 of the Jane Foss Russell Building.

There are also a multitude of local off campus health services that are on offer for any student of the University of Sydney, ranging from sexual health clinics, to multilingual healthcare interpreter systems and wom*n’s services.

Here is a brief overview of a selection of these.

The Satellite Sexual Health Youth Clinic runs a free sexual health clinic for young people at Waverley Action Youth services (WAYS), Bondi Junction. To be eligible to attend the Satellite clinic you must be 24 years old or under and an Australian permanent resident or citizen. If you are an overseas student you are able to contact the NSW sexual health infoline (1800 451 624) for information on where you can get help. The Satellite clinic offers STI /HIV and pregnancy testing, as well as treatment, advice and support, along with hepatitis vaccinations and cervical cancer vaccinations. You are also able to discuss relationship and sexuality issues and find out more about other services that can support you. To come to the Satellite, you do not need an appointment. They are open every Monday from 2-6pm and are completely free of charge.

The Health Care Interpreter Service for North Sydney and Sydney West operates seven days a week to assure that non-English speaking patients are able to communicate effectively with any healthcare professional of the NSW health service. All interpreting services are free of charge to the patient, as well as their carers and family members, and can be contacted at 9912 3800.

Similarly, the Multicultural HIV and Hepatitis Service provides bilingual and bicultural support from twenty language backgrounds to those living with HIV and/or Hepatitis. For more information, contact (02) 9515 1234 or 1800 108 098.

The Immigrant Women’s Health Service, located in Fairfield and

Cabramatta, provides information and referral services as well as free English lessons and free legal advice to wom*n of non-English speaking background.

Free childcare is also available to wom*n accessing the service’s programs. For the Fairfield branch contact 9726 4044, and for Cabramatta 97261016.

Leichhardt Women’s Community Health Centre provides affordable health care and education for wom*n.

The centre’s goal is to ensure that all wom*n, particularly those on low incomes, have access to high quality health care. It is non-government and not for profit, and treats over ten thousand wom*n a year. Medical services are funded by Medicare, and the fees of other services are low cost for wom*n on low incomes. Services include wom*n’s health nurse clinics in four locations (Leichhardt, Campsie, Lakemba, Marrickville), wom*n’s health general practitioner clinics, counselling in English and Vietnamese, the statewide Women’s Partners of Bisexual Men Service (counselling and support groups) and counselling for wom*n who are adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Contact to book an appointment by 9560 3011. The centre is open Monday to Friday, 9.30am - 5.30pm (closed 1-2pm for lunch).

If you have any concerns regarding your access to healthcare facilities, or simply wish to discuss your options and feelings, make an appointment to talk to a caseworker or email: help@src.usyd.edu.au.

USYD Health Service: 9351 3484

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mentaL HEALTH

the src caseworkers SUGGEST SOME SERVICES fOr mental health Mental illness is certainly not rare at University. Students (and staff ) experience anxiety, ‘mood disorders’, schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.

Yet some people still lack a reasonable understanding. For example, one student disclosed to her tutor that she needed an extension on her assessment because she was suffering from repeated and severe anxiety attacks. The tutor’s response was to reluctantly agree, but only after the disabilities unit was enlisted to make the argument. The tutor made it a point to tell the student that she completed her degree while bringing up a family of 3 children – surely nothing could “stress you more”.

Some people seem to misunderstand that mental illness is often an unpredictable condition. Some days are positively “normal”, while other days it is simply not possible to function even on the most basic level of feeding yourself. This is regardless of the effect that a student is putting into seeking help for their condition. For example, one student had chronic depression.

She was using a number of different

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treatments. Initially in her course it simply wasn’t possible to attend classes or complete assignments. After 4 years she was mostly able to attend classes and completed many of her assignments on or near time. Her occasional backward steps needed to be seen as small and relatively insignificant hiccups. Her faculty, however, saw it as evidence that she wasn’t actually making any effort to improve her situation.

This is even more difficult to deal with when it is a family member or close friend of the student who is ill. The student does not have control over the steps taken to improve the health of the person in question, but will often share the burden of the illness. If you are caring for someone who is mentally ill you too may be able to apply for Special Consideration for assessments.

Some students are not even aware that they have an illness. They may simply feel that people are often against them, marking them down when they shouldn’t be, picking on them in their accommodation, laughing at them

when they do tutorial presentations or following them around campus.

The University has a Counselling and Psychological Service (CAPS), which offers short term counselling for students. CAPS, the University Health Service or the SRC can also refer you to long term external counsellors who can help you with chronic mental illnesses.

Remember that everything you tell them is confidential. There are even services that are free or very cheap.

The University also has a Disabilities Unit that act as a go-between for students who need an extended assessment deadlines or extra time in exams.

Register as soon as possible, so that you can benefit from your study plan during the semester and as well as not missing out on exam help.

If you or someone you know is experiencing thoughts of suicide talk to someone immediately. Lifeline offer 24 hour counselling at 131 114. Doctors and counsellors can also help.

drugs by the ever wise and totally-cool-with-it src caseworkers The SRC does not advocate that you or anyone else should take any drugs (mostly because that would be illegal!). However if you are going to take drugs (including alcohol) you really should know what you’re getting into.

There are many different fact sheets and websites that can give you all sorts of technical information. The NSW Health department has heaps of factsheets or if you have a specific question call the Alcohol and Drug Information Service (ADIS) on 9361 2111. Please note: alcohol and other drugs may impact negatively on your ongoing mental health.

Decision-making Drugs alter your physical or emotional state. That’s why people take them.

However, this means that you are less able to make good decisions and judgements. Planning ahead is a good idea.

Random testing for both alcohol and other drugs are conducted extensively on drivers. If you are going to have a “big night” figure out a safer way home (organise a lift, put aside some taxi money) before you go. Make sure you don’t have important decisions to make in the following couple of days (eg, exams, job interviews, family gatherings).

Try to eat really well beforehand and drink an appropriate amount of water during your night out (not too much and not too little).

You may find someone you are sexually

attracted to while you are partying. If they are influenced by alcohol or other drugs realise that they may not be able to consent to your sexual advances. If you are at all unsure, leave it until next time. Sex without consent is rape.

Similarly protect yourself a little by telling your friends if you are going home with someone, who they are and where they live. Also, keep an eye out for each other, and make sure that your friends don’t wander off on their own.

Looking After Yourself and Others The risk of taking alcohol or other drugs is often over stated by conservative elements in society and often under-stated by “party” elements in society. The most sensible approach is to prioritise your own well-being. If you are going to take a drug, understand that it could hurt you. That is, regardless of whether you think you have taken a small or an excessive amount.

If you or a friend becomes sick call an ambulance or get to a hospital. They are very unlikely to call the police.

Remember that you may not be able to call for help yourself, so make sure that you tell a friend what you have taken, so that it is easier to get the correct treatment if need be.

So while you’re at uni, have a great time, but stay safe.

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Fooooooood. Yep, food. You’re broke and you still want to eat? You’re loaded and want to know where to splash the cash on a meal whose price and taste will make your eyes water? Buckle in for the complete run down on survival eating and where to head for a meal/ snack/degustation in the Sydney Uni area.

If you’re contemplating a two-figure bank balance and imagining a week spent eating nothing but two minute noodles once a day: forget it. I can’t help you with that bank balance (check out Centrelink on page 5), but you don’t have be poor and eat terribly.

First rule: buy in bulk. I cannot overstate how much cheaper the essentials are when you are buying 10kg or more.

We’re talking enough rice for fifty or so meals for under $10. This applies for pasta, shitty Coles sausages and any dry non-perishable.

Second rule: cheap does not taste terrible. Well, at least not when you invest in a stack of stock cubes. Just toss one of those little gems into a stew, stir-fry, curry, or your watery spaghetti thing and things will be looking up.

Bonus points for investing in a few

“I have no $ but am hungry” max hall ate food & gave you this advice basic spices (i.e. Cumin, Oregano, and a curry powder). Super double triple bonus points for noticing that a can of diced tomatoes is normally less than a dollar and helps make most things a tasty sauce.

Third rule: beans. Yep, beans. Lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans, and their various legume siblings are the gods of a student’s kitchen. Very filling and completely stacked with protein.

Don’t know how to cook? Google that shit. Taste.com has you sorted for recipes, with countless articles on cheap eating. Trust me, Google all the questions.

If you’ve got your staples around, it’s just a matter of knowing how to turn bland pasta or beans into something that tastes at least ‘interesting’ , and figuring out which cheap ingredients can replace expensive ones. Then, you should be well on your way to saving serious food dollars. Check out the next page for some cost-saving recipes and remember that there is always somewhere or someone willing to give away a meal. Cooking in groups is cooking cheaply. Good luck out there, and may you never resort to toast again.

Some inspiration from “Actual Poor Student Cookbook” by Docpapas. Find it on Reddit.

campus & local eats Whatever people say about Sydney Uni, no one can ever say that there isn’t a ridiculous amount of food options for the hungry student.

If you’re on a budget and are frequently around campus then there really isn’t a need to shell out much cash at all.

If you have an ACCESS card (USU membership) there are free barbeques most days—though a lot of them are run by the religious groups so I guess your hunger probably has to outweigh your desire not to have someone try and convert you while grabbing lunch.

Other groups often have a bacon and egg breakfast for a few dollars on the Cadigal Lawns. For vegetarians, Vegesoc has a great lunch for $5 once a week that is well worth hunting down.

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If you’re on campus or headed for King St or Glebe Point Rd, these are some of our recommendations: • Dumpling King – $6.90 lunch special.

• Most of the Newtown Thai spots have a $6.90 lunch meal.

• $4.95 pizzas at Domino’s Pizza.

• Manning Grill – ACCESS discounts of 15% off all food.

• Unibros – $4 pide is a winner. Also check out the legendary meatbox.

• Jewel of India - $5 curries after 6.30pm.

• Azzuri burritos – $8.50 or $5 after 4pm + $1 drink; also crepe + coffee deals.

• Maccas Stanmore and Oporto Broadway – 10% off with ACCESS.

• Courtyard café – ACCESS discounts, isn’t too pricey.

• Lentil as Anything – not-for-profit vegetarian restaurant where you can pay by donation.

• Clem’s – delicious chicken and fresh salads.

• The Pasta Bowl – reasonably cheap and decent pasta.

• The Lansdowne – $5 cheeseburgers.

• The Royal – $7 wedges, $7.50 crispy chili chicken wings and $10 steak.

• Most of the places on Glebe Pt road are pretty decent. You might want to check out WellCo which has a free coffee for any ACCESS card holder who spends over ten dollars.

• Beware the trap of eating your feelings, exam results, and spare time.

It’s going to be very expensive.

SPAGHETTI NAPOLETANA for 2 people

CHILIforCON CARNE 4 people Ingredients • • • • • • • • • •

Ingredients • 200g spaghetti • 1 can peeled tomatoes • 4 tablespoons olive oil • 2 cloves garlic, crushed • A few basil leaves (note, if you need to buy basil leaves as a bunch, the leaves you don’t use can be frozen for future use to add to sauces) • Salt Method 1. Put water in a pot to boil for spaghetti.

2. While water is boiling, heat oil in a separate pan or wok and add crushed garlic cloves.

3. Lightly sauté garlic, but do not burn.

4. Add peeled tomatoes to pan and crush tomatoes with fork.

5. Add salt and 2-3 basil leaves, and allow to simmer while you finish cooking spaghetti.

6. When water boils in pot, add spaghetti. Stir and cook until al dente (not too soft, not too firm – see cooking time on packet).

7. When spaghetti is ready, strain it and toss the strained spaghetti into pan of simmering tomato sauce.

8. Sauté spaghetti in sauce for 1 minute.

9. Tear remaining basil leaves and stir through the spaghetti.

Serve

LENTIL SOUP for 2-3 people Ingredients • 200g brown/green lentils • 1 carrot, chopped • 1 stick celery, chopped • 1 large onion, chopped • 1 can peeled tomatoes • 4 tablespoons olive oil • 1 stock cube • Salt and pepper Method 1. Soak lentils for at least 1 hour or overnight.

2. Strain the lentils, put in pot and add 3 cups water. Bring to boil and then simmer.

3. Add chopped onion, chopped carrot, chopped celery, peeled tomatoes, olive oil, stock cube, salt and pepper to taste.

4. Keep simmering until lentils have completely cooked through. Keep an eye on the soup as lentils tend to soak up the water. If it gets too thick, keep adding water.

5. Puree one third of the mixture to thicken soup.

6. Serve with crusty bread, or boil 100g of ditali pasta shapes (small tubes) and add to soup – but do not freeze with pasta. Otherwise, soup is suitable to freeze without pasta.

500g lean minced beef 2 large red capsicums, diced 2 onions, diced 2 cans peeled, crushed tomatoes 1 can kidney beans 1 teaspoon oregano 4 tablespoons olive oil 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 200g long grain rice Salt

Method 1. Heat oil in casserole pot.

2. Add minced meat and sauté until liquid has evaporated.

3. Add salt (to taste), 1 teaspoon oregano, onions, capsicums, tomatoes and stir.

4. Add kidney beans and simmer for approximately 45 mins.

5. Add balsamic vinegar and cook for further 5 mins.

6. Serve with cooked rice. Very nice with freshly chopped chilies and a side dish of guacamole dip.

Can also be used the next day for burritos or tacos. Also nice served in lettuce leaves, similar to sung choi bao.

these can both be frozen!

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the entertainm local pubs & bars by telani kumar There are plenty of opportunities for students to socialise on and off campus.

When it comes to places to grab a drink and find entertainment, the University of Sydney is in a location that will spoil you for choice.

On campus alone there are three great places to be entertained, and to socialise with friends over some drinks.

Firstly, Manning has a number of food outlets as well as the grill and bar on the top level. Enjoy a beer in the sun on the balcony or mingle at one of the many society drinks events that are held here. From the weekly trivia and Theatresports, to themed parties, Manning has you covered for entertainment all semester. Don’t forget to catch Happy Hour every day from 4pm to 6pm for $4 cider and house spirits.

Hermann’s Bar, next to the Wentworth building, is another great on-campus chill out spot. Enjoy drinks in the sunlit beer garden. Be entertained by comedy shows, bands, DJ’s and other regular live acts. The grassy courtyard is a relaxing place to be when you’re not in class, and is located next door to a food court featuring student favourite Uni Bro’s the meat-boxes are a must have for all you carnivores out there! Two-minutes walk from Hermanns, will land you at The Royal Hotel (Abercrombie Street, Redfern), a popular migration point for those who like to continue with the cheap drinks and food beyond campus.

The University is within a short walking distance of the bohemian suburb of Newtown. King Street is one of the best spots in Sydney for drinking and socialising. If this is your idea of a good time you will find many cheap drinks and tasty cocktails in the string of bars.

The Marlborough Hotel is a student favourite because of the budget-friendly

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prices and lively atmosphere. This along with bars like Kuletos and Zanzibar also offer alfresco drinking and dining from rooftop terraces. Newtown Bars such as The Marlborough, Zanzibar and Newtown Hotel, often showcase resident DJ’s and local bands making this a great place to get your after school boogie on.

On the opposite side of the Camperdown Campus is Glebe, home to snug bars complete with quirky touches. If a tiny front bar with an aquarium that will dazzle you after a few drinks, check out Different Drummer. If pool competitions and free bar snacks tickle your fancy there is also Forest Lodge. The Friend in Hand bar has you covered for entertainment alongside that refreshing schooner with poetry readings, crab racing, and comedy nights. Be sure to enquire about programs at the bars you visit in Glebe as many are great for post-uni fun.

If you venture toward the city there are several bars and clubs to hit up. There is Scubar and Sidebar which are popular amongst students because of the cheap drinks, pumping tunes, and convenient location as they are next door to Central Station. With beer, wine and spirits starting from $3, Bar Century and Star Bar on George Street are perfect for those seeking a cheap but fun-filled night out. Crazy parties happen many nights of the week at Scary Canary which caters for its crowd of students and backpackers. Finally, if you feel like a fancier night out, check out the Ivy on a Thursday night to partake in their student night which always goes off !

Take your pick from these many options. Remember to make time for fun and to foster great memories alongside university studies.

How to Find the Be Whether you are a casual consumer, a coffee connoisseur or downing the sweet elixir by the litre, we tell you where on Camperdown/Darlington campus to buy the best cup of coffee.

Azzuri (Wentworth Building) Upstairs Azzuri is great for a quick espresso or long black, but don’t expect to find well frothed and milky coffee here… you’re best to head downstairs for that. Discovering downstairs Azzuri (the bottom of the Wentworth building) is like finding the lost city of Atlantis; people speak of a place of where smooth coffee is to be had and a luscious aroma that can induce a state of bliss fooling you into believing you can handle that 8am Differential Calculus lecture.

Parma (JFR Courtyard) A Parma flat white will please those who like a strong coffee while relaxing in the café’s outdoor eating space. The only real choice for coffee on the Darlington side of campus and for students trying to stay awake in the Sci-Tech library.

Laneway (Level 3 Wentworth Building) Laneway is the place to go when you need comfort food, and by comfort food I mean a carefully brewed mocha accompanied by a tasty éclair or waffles. Their coffee is Rainforest Alliance Certified and if you bring in your keep cup, they are known to give you a discount!

Taste (New Law Foyer) If the sharp and spicy tone of Campos Coffee is your thing, Taste will quickly become a beacon of shining light on campus for you. Tip: if you want to avoid the ‘takes up the entire law foyer’ queue, it’s best to not arrive on the hour and

tainment guide

nd the Best Coffee wait until after 10 past and your fellow students have dragged themselves to their next class.

Fisher Coffee Cart (Outside of Fisher) A true measure of how desperate you are for caffeine hit. WARNING: only consume if you are pulling a study all nighter at Fisher or everything else in a 5-kilometre radius is closed.

Ralph’s Café (The Arena Sports Centre) Staying true to authentic coffee flavor, you will not find flavoring syrups here.

The greatest thing about Ralph’s is their delicious iced coffee, which boasts a generous scoop of hazelnut gelato adding to your sugar hit. The macchiatos here are pretty amazing, just be sure to have your money ready before you get to the counter!

Courtyard (Holme Building) Priding themselves on “serving great coffee made with love”, Courtyard’s entire coffee selection is pretty solid.

From their long blacks to their lattes, you are sure to be served a decent coffee with a short wait time. Courtyard coffee is also Rainforest Alliance Certified and the baristas are always friendly and up for a chat.

Off Campus If you are looking for quality, affordable coffee and are prepared to venture outside of the golden gates of USYD to acquire it, we encourage you to do so and visit many of the fine coffee brewing institutions surrounding us such as Toby’s Estate on City Road, Shenkin Cafe and La Banette Patisserie on Glebe Point Road (possibly heaven on earth).

sydney’s nightlife with daniel ergas If you were to - in a fit of misfortune - Google 'what do in Sydney pls', as I did last year, you would be directed to a little website helpfully named TripAdviser. And while I am certainly not one to question this gospel of fun – who knew that Sydney’s best attraction is an inanimate curved bridge?!? – or in any way detract from Circular Quay’s ‘free’ ‘street entertainment’, if you’re looking for frank, free, and undoubtedly, unashamedly biased advice about affordable entertainment in and around your university: you’ve come to the right place.

the Chaser!) - is a campus favourite, and your chance to see brilliant performances at the fifth of the cost of a ticket to the Sydney Theatre Company.

There are, of course, the classic campus heavyweights. Hermann’s – a well-loved appendage of the front lawns of the Wentworth building – and Manning – the third-floor of the eponymous building, a quirky-70s styled outlet – are the two campus bars. Each attracts a different crowd: Manning, and its weekly comic stylings (Theatresports performed by courageous students every Wednesday lunch), has a chill, quiet introversion, and a relaxed and relaxing atmosphere; and Hermann’s, with its lush lawns and a small army of devotees, is bound to be filled with mates new and old no matter the time of the day, or assessments due.

To the north, on King Street in Newtown, is Dendy (edgy); and to our east is the infamous Broadway shopping centre, which features a Hoyts (and a Ben and Jerry’s!). Hot tip: ACCESS card holders can receive discounts at both (and, unexpectedly, at the IMAX in Darling Harbour, for the nature documentary lovers amongst you).

If you’re looking for a venue that is a little more, well, intimate: lucky you. (If this guide creates long-term, fulfilling relationships, I’m fairly sure I get a commission of some description so make sure to get in touch.) Theatrically, the various productions of the Sydney University Dramatic Society (abbreviated, sensibly, to SUDS) are a must. Unendingly original, clever and indescribable even with my awkward adjectives, SUDS – with its alumnus ranging from John Bell (of Bell Shakespeare) to that guy from the Chaser (of

If you’re basically Kristin Chenoweth, and musicals are more your style, check out MUSE (God we love our acronyms). Our own musical theatre society has productions ranging from Gilbert and Sullivan classics to modern Broadway imports, and is well-loved by musical tragics everywhere. For lovers of the silver-screen, we’re blessed/cursed to be surrounded by cinemas.

Entertainment, however, need not be a spectator sport. There are so many opportunities to get involved, whether it is trying your wits at Theatresports or stand-up; belting a lyrical classic at one of the open-mic nights at the Royal (a classic pub that is a three minute walk away from Wentworth) or Mr. Falcon’s (a very hip Glebe local); or joining a club or society. Our partying cousins at the USU provide clubs and societies, all run by students, with events ranging from screening Disney films, to sampling chocolate fondues, to playing Quidditch.

So, welcome to campus life. Just go for it. You’ve got nothing to lose, and a world of diverse, mates to gain.

I hope you like it: and, after all, if you don’t, there’s always UNSW.

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[UN]

SEALED SECTION

because conversations about sex and consent need to be out in the open, not sealed up.

Dear One Night Stand....

Things you should know before you have sex with me.

By Amy Stanford (with help from Charlie Jackson-Martin)

Dear One Night Stand, we need to talk about sex (even when it’s awkward) In the past I’ve avoided actually talking about sex; I thought that moans and groans, punctuated by the occasional ‘oh baby’ were enough to communicate my needs. Suffice to say guessing what will feel good for your partner is rarely successful. 'Good Sex' is not always about skill or experience.

For me good sex can be loosely defined as two or more people with great communication skills having the type of sex that feels good for them.

A lot of people have been raised with the understanding that sex is not something we talk about; it happens in the dark

behind closed doors. If that’s you, One Night Stand, that’s okay! It’s me too. But it’s time to embrace the awkward and find out about each other’s: 1. Boundaries. What we’re up for, what we might be into and what we definitely don’t want to do.

2. Turn-ons (and conversely turn-off ). Mind Blowing Sex™ is about knowing your partners body as well as your own and what gets you both off.

Dear One Night Stand, what are our safer sex options?

This will partially depend on what kind of genitals you have (that’s right people, your author is a Big Ol’ Queer who has sex with people who have all kinds of different genitals!)

Here are some of our options: • Using a condom on a penis or toys used for penetration (vaginal, anal or oral).

• Using a dental dam for oral sex involving a vagina/labia/ clitoris, or anus (i.e. rimming).

• Use lube. No really, lube changed my life. It’s the best.

Lots of people have an allergy to paraben, an ingredient found in most lubes. There is a range of paraben-free lubes available from sex shops or on the net. Not all lubes are safe to use with condoms or toys.

• Use gloves when one of us is using our hand to stimulate the other’s arse or vagina.

• For penis-vagina intercourse I could use an oral contraceptive (‘the pill’). The pill won’t prevent me from getting STI’s though so we should use a condom as well.

Dear One Night Stand, what’s your STI status?

I’ll want to know if you’ve had an STI test recently and what the results of that test were. Be honest if you don’t know or haven’t been tested. Sexual health checks are pretty easy, they don’t take very long. They usually involve a mouth swab, a vaginal swab or urine sample, and a blood test. All GPs,

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including those at the University Health Service, can run these tests and if they bulk bill the tests are free. How often you get tested is really up to you, but a good ballpark figure is about once every 6 to 12 months.

Dear One Night Stand, consent is more complicated than you think it is I think about consent all the time and I still not sure of the best way to ensure that myself and my partners are actively, willingly and freely choosing to participate in sex in all situations. Here are some points to get us started though: • Consent is for everyone. For sex to be fully consensual, everyone needs to seek consent, everyone needs to be affirming it. This includes the person who initiated sex.

And just because I engage in one kind of sex, say oral sex, doesn’t mean I’m consenting to another kind of sex, like intercourse.

• A lack of no does not mean yes. Sometimes I’m not into something but I find it really difficult to say I want to stop. Safe words are great, but don’t rely on me to tell you if something is wrong – you need to pay attention to my body language and checking in as well.

• Consent can ALWAYS be withdrawn. Consent is not a binding contract, nor does consent obligate anyone to follow through. Since consent is ongoing we should check-in with each other throughout sex. Check-ins can be as simple as: How does this feel? Are you still into this? • Consent involves real choices. Truly consensual, emotionally safer sex is about people having real choices, including Is there anything you need? You seem quiet: are you okay? a no always being as acceptable as a yes.

Anything I should stop doing or do that I’m not doing?

• Nothing makes consent automatic or unnecessary. Just because I decided to make out with you in a parking lot or to come home with you, doesn’t mean I owe you sex.

[Adapted from Driver's Ed for the Sexual Superhighway: Navigating Consent by Scarleteen]

Dear One Night Stand, I sometimes feel self-conscious about my body (and how not to be a douche about it) Society has unrealistic expectations about what women’s bodies should look like. I’ve internalised a lot of this and sometimes I get self-conscious about my body – the fat on my thighs or the amount of hair on my arms or whether my labia looks like other peoples’ labias.

Other people who might feel self-conscious about their bodies could include transgender people who experience gender dysphoria, where parts of their body may not feel like they belong or match their gender identity. Gendered terms or even actions involving these body parts can be stressful and triggering for some people.

Bodies issues might also arise for people with physical disabilities. Unfortunately it is often assumed that people with physical disabilities don’t have the desire or capacity to have sex. This is rarely the case and, like with anyone, it is a matter of communicating about bodies, boundaries and desires.

The most important thing here is never to assume that someone is or isn’t comfortable with their body, certain actions or with sex in general. Telling me you don’t care what my thighs look like is dismissive not accepting. Listen to my insecurities and ask me what you can do to make me feel comfortable and heard.

Dear One Night Stand, ‘slut’ is not a dirty word Some people think that people who engage in casual sex are sluts. Society tells us that women are baby making machines and that it's only acceptable for us to have sex in long-term, monogamous relationships with men. 'Slut' is a slur used to control women when they deviate from this social norm. But

there's nothing wrong with women having sexual agency, desires and expression. It should be okay for us to do mutually wanted, consensual sexual things without someone devaluing me, you or us.

Dear One Night Stand, ‘prude’ is not one either But you know what, having casual sex or sex in general is not for everyone.

In fact, I’m not always that into sex and over the years I’ve had a lot of sex that I didn’t really want to have because I felt guilty about ‘leading someone on’ or because that’s what all the 'cool' kids were doing. But being part of sex I don't want

or that doesn't feel right tends to result in unhealthy, dysfunctional or just-plain-old-crummy sex. It’s certainly not good for me and I doubt it would be good for you either. So I need you to be cool if I change my mind.

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National Union of Students Chloe Smith Hi everyone! My name is Chloe Smith and I’m your NSW State Branch President for the National Union of Students for 2015.

What is the National Union of Students?

The National Union of Students (NUS) is the peak representative body for undergraduate students in Australia.

NUS has two main activities: lobbying and campaigning. Every year, different departments within NUS run campaigns on issues students are passionate about.

NUS is the voice for students to universities and governments on issues around educational quality and accessibility.

The most important thing to know is that NUS is completely student-run and takes directives from student delegates to the annual National Conference, elected during campus elections. These delegates can write and vote on policy, elect office bearers, and have their say on how NUS runs for the year.

What has NUS done for me?

NUS has some fantastic achievements.

It successfully lobbied to lower the age of independence to 22, allowing better access to Youth Allowance. NUS also successfully lobbied for Domestic Undergraduate Full Fees (DUFFs) to be abolished. DUFFs meant those who could pay the full amount for their courses were admitted over those who

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couldn’t, disregarding academic performance.

NUS had a victory last year after the Federal Government’s higher education reforms were defeated in the Senate.

This following a consistent campaign to educate students on the effects the changes would have on education quality and accessibility, making it clear to the government and university management that students overwhelmingly oppose fee deregulation and funding cuts.

NUS also provides student organisations with campaigning and lobbying skills, running an annual Education Conference with workshops and guest speakers.

National and state office bearers also make regular campus visits and many past campus presidents have become NUS national office bearers.

How is NUS funded?

Student organisations pay an annual affiliation fee, dependent on student numbers and what the organisation can afford. This fee ensures NUS continues to play an active role representing undergraduate students under a national banner. Past victories have shown that students are much stronger working together than when attempting to effect change individually.

What will NUS be doing this year?

Conservative governments have a history

of making changes to higher education which hurt students. NUS has serious concerns about the Coalition government’s motivation to scrap the Student Services and Amenities Fee (which funds student services like the SRC) and deregulate fees, meaning universities can charge whatever they want for degrees.

NUS is committed to campaigning against these reforms, beginning with a National Day of Action on March 25th where students from campuses around NSW rally together for student rights.

There will also be many other campaigns for students to get involved in on campuses around NSW – including yours!

How can I get involved?

There are a broad range of campaigns to get involved in - from Women’s and Queer to Education and Welfare.

As your State President, please email me at any time for more information: nswpresident@unistudent.com.au Hope to see you around!

INTRODUCING YOUR SRC KYOL BLAKENEY IS PRESIDENT OF THE STUDENTS’ REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL

Hello new and returning students for 2015. My name is Kyol Blakeney and I am YOUR President of YOUR Students’ Representative Council (SRC). Firstly, on behalf of the SRC and the undergraduate student population, I would like to pay respect to the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, along with our Elders both past and present. I would like to acknowledge our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and students that are part of this vibrant institution of academia and critical thinking.

In this introduction, I would like to draw attention to student collectives in particular. I believe that top-down approaches and knowledge hierarchies are what hold us back in making progressive change. In my experience, I have found that collectives work to empower people at a grassroots level to have the courage and determination to participate and speak up about things that matter to them.

What is a Collective?

Essentially, collectives are groups of people who organise together to enact change through skill sharing, providing safe spaces and building a supportive network. I see a collective as a good way to get in touch with like-minded people and discuss ideas without the stress of overextending yourself, as you have the freedom to decide your level of involvement. The interests which unite

collectives can be almost anything. In the SRC they include Environment, Wom*n’s, Indigenous, International students, Anti-Racism, Queer and many more. What’s that? There isn’t one that suits you? Start your own.

Our SRC strives to be a space that is as inclusive as possible. If you want to be more involved in what we do, let us know.

Autonomous Collectives Autonomous collectives are groups of students who identify specifically with a certain race, gender or sexual orientation. They aim to empower those who are traditionally oppressed in society.

This includes people who identify as Queer, Ethno-Cultural, Indigenous, Wom*n (check out the Wom*ns Officers’ Report on page 27 for an explanation of the asterisk) and people with disabilities. During my time as Indigenous Officer, Indigenous students were able to form a strong collective to stand up for social justice in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in and outside of the University. The Queer Action Collective were able to raise awareness of issues that people with varying sexual orientations have to face. By doing this, they have created a strong support network for students who identify as Queer. Last year, the Wom*n’s Collective were part of a campaign against the closure of wom*n’s refuges in NSW. There are so many achievements that I can’t list them

all in the space I have, but I strongly encourage you to have a flick through this book and explore what you can do during your time at uni.

University is not just about getting a degree or a job. It is a place for debate, new ideas, controversy, and creating progressive change. If you want to see change happen for the better in the coming years, I encourage you to take a leap and have a go. Who knows what YOUR involvement in YOUR SRC could lead to.

Kyol is so #accountable (and happy to help) that you can call him anytime: 02 9660 5222 Or send an email: president@src.usyd.edu.au

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EDUCATION ACTION GROUP EDUCATION OFFICERS: BLYTHE WORTHY & DAVID SHAKES Your education is under attack. For years there have been cuts to the higher education sector by successive Labor and Liberal governments, and in a particularly audacious move, this has given Tony Abbott and his cronies the gall to propose to change the landscape of public universities in Australia forever through university fee deregulation. It is up to students to fight these attacks, and to build a movement for progressive change.

Though there are many, fee deregulation represents one of the most aggressive attacks on the working class by the Abbott government. Allowing universities to set their own fees will introduce a two-tier education system, which will mean that prestigious public universities like the University of Sydney will become inaccessible to most low- to middle-income earners and families. Student debt in Australia is set to double in just four years. Public universities are expected to compete with private education providers for government funding. The privatisation of our universities and the commodification of our education system must be stopped if we’re to prevent the government’s dream of an irrevocably stratified society.

The enemy doesn’t just exist in parliament. Our Vice Chancellor, Michael Spence, the University’s representative to Universities Australia, has lobbied for the deregulation of University fees in

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spite of overwhelming opposition from students, staff, and the general public.

This is not unrelated to the hundreds of staff on this campus threatened with redundancies each year. This year, 156 library staff will be made redundant

The privatisation of our universities and the commodification of our education system must be stopped after the restructuring (and refurbishment) of our libraries. The neoliberalisation of universities is in the government’s and university management’s private interest, to protect their wellpaid jobs and dominance in society.

Education, however, is a public good, and people being able to attend university without the fear of impending fee hikes and crippling debt is in the public interest.

Last year, students from across the country took to the streets in some of the largest student protests ever seen in Australia, including thousands from the University of Sydney. Students from the Education Action Group (EAG) disrupted national television when

Christopher Pyne was on Q&A, and chased a variety of conservative MPs off the very campuses they set out to destroy. The national campaign against fee deregulation was successful as the Bill was finally destroyed in the Senate, but mere hours after this victory, Chris Pyne reaffirmed his commitment to his ‘major’ higher education reforms, and reintroduced the Bill the next day.

Round 2 began that night, and in 2015, it will again be up to students to defend the future of our education system.

This is a call to arms. We need your help! The Education Action Group (EAG) is the democratic forum in which most of the education actions around our university are planned. We meet weekly on the New Law Lawns.

The first National Day of Action against fee deregulation has been called by the National Union of Students (NUS) and will be on the Wednesday the 25th of March.

Get in touch: education.officers@src.usyd.edu.au Join the EAG! Send us a message at facebook.com/SydneyUniversity EducationActionGroup to be added to the Facebook group Attend the National Day of Action on Wednesday the 25th of March, 1 pm @ Fisher Library!

WOM*N’S COLLECTIVE WOM*N’S OFFICERS: SUBETA VIMALARAJAH & XIAORAN SHI Wom*n’s Collective (affectionately termed ‘WoCo’) is the SRC’s radical feminist space. Although a relatively simple sounding descriptor, ‘collective’, ‘radical’ and ‘feminist’ are hardly simple words. And herein lies the dilemma with 500 words to describe WoCo: anything we think we’ve defined, inevitably attaches itself to 50 or so other questions that we don’t know, shouldn’t know and can’t know the answer to (at least not alone). And with this preamble comes the best summation of WoCo – an ideally fluid, discursive space where some people get together and talk about some things that are somewhat related to wom*n. Confused? Don’t worry, so are we.

signify an inclusive space. Restricting who Wom*n’s Collective is open to fits with the principles of autonomous organising – that those who are directly silenced by patriarchy should be central

Disclaimer aside, here’s what we can tell you with certainty: Wom*n’s Collective is funded by the Student Representatives Council and facilitated by us (Xiaoran & Subeta), your Wom*n’s Officers. Wom*n’s Officers are elected at the end of every year by those who have been actively involved in the collective throughout that year. The Wom*n’s Officers are accountable to WoCo first and foremost. We are like your humble, bureaucratic servants. We help WoCo function on a practical level but the ideas, inspiration and momentum are a collaborative effort.

to the fight against it. WoCo has meetings every week, in the Wom*n’s Room in Manning. The Wom*n’s Room is open to all those the collective is open to – there’s a microwave, some comfy couches and reading materials, so feel free to check it out if you’re looking for a cis-dude free zone or to add some heat (literally) to last night’s leftovers.

Wom*n’s Collective is open to all those who identify in whole or in part as a wom*n, non-binary or trans person.

That is also the reason for the ‘*’, to

Wom*n’s Collective is open to all who identify in whole or in part as a wom*n, non-binary or trans person

WoCo has some mandatory duties.

We run an O-week stall (come visit!),

produce an annual publication called ‘Growing Strong’ with a corresponding launch, and steal Honi Soit from the editors for a week to produce Wom*n’s Honi. Aside from that, our agenda is usually defined by the vision that the Wom*n’s Officers are elected on. In the past, Wom*n’s Collective has organised Reclaim The Night and events for International Wom*n’s Day. This year we want a radical, intersectional space that prioritises activist organising and creativity. As part of this we’re keen to work with other Collectives (some plans are already in the works!), especially our newer friends in the Muslim Wom*n’s Collective and Autonomous Collective Against Racism.

As we’ve said, we’re not captains, but comrades. The next year for WoCo is not set in stone because we need your ideas and help. So please, come along to a meeting (Thursdays, 1pm), join our Facebook group (USyd Wom*n’s Collective), or send us an e-mail (usydwomenscollective@gmail.com) if you have any questions or just want to meet up and chat. We want fresh faces, ideas and enthusiasm to make 2015 a great year for wom*n’s activism!

Wom*n’s Collective meets each Thursday at 1pm in Manning’s autonomous Wom*n’s room.

Join the Facebook group - just search “Usyd Wom*n’s Collective” usydwomenscollective@gmail.com

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Queer Action Collective Queer officers: Charlie O’Grady, Joshua Han, Amy Stanford & Hannah Pankau Welcome to the Queer Action Collective (QuAC)! We are a collective that works together to make University and the wider community a safer, more inclusive and generally better place for queer and questioning students. But wait, what do we mean by ‘Queer’?

Well, it’s an umbrella term encompassing a diversity of gender, sex and sexual identities existing outside of socially normative categories. So under this large, rainbow umbrella, we shelter a community of people who identify as trans*, intersex, bi, pan, asexual, lesbian, gay, curious, questioning, and many more (there really is a diversity of identities). Brought together by marginalisation, we find strength and comfort in solidarity, and so we foster a caring queer community in which people can come to terms with their own identity in a safe space and stand together to fight for equality, visibility and social justice.

We are an active collective, hosting and organising many activities and events throughout the year to build a strong, activist community. These include:

• A wide range of workshops: everything from crafternoons to info sessions/discussions on identity, sexuality, mental and sexual health • Social events such as movie nights, dance parties, picnics and board games

Under this large, rainbow umbrella, we shelter a community of people • We put together publications, notably Queer Honi • We run campaigns throughout the year in order to raise awareness of the many issues faced by our community, and to enact social and political change at University and beyond

Other key events that we are involved with include Queer Collaborations, a national queer student conference. We send delegates to this annual conference, which will be held in Canberra in July. We also host many events during the university’s Pride Week.

QuAC is a great way to get involved in Uni life and be a part of a community where you can meet people, make new friends and learn new skills. Our identity and direction as a collective are determined by all of our members, so if you have any ideas or just want to be involved, come along to our meetings!

They will be held on Tuesdays at 1pm in the Queerspace.

QuAC also has a sub-collective, Queerkats, which aims to create a safer and welcoming space for people who are queer and who experience oppression on the basis of sex and/or gender (e.g. trans women, trans men, cis women, intersex people, non-binary people, brotherboys, sistergirls, etc). Queerkats meetings are at 12pm on Thursdays, also in the Queerspace.

Quac meets Tuesday 1pm • Queerkats meets Thursday 12pm You can find both meetings in the Holme Building Queerspace If you have any questions or want to be added to the secret facebook group, please do not hesitate to contact the Queer Officers via email: queer.officers@src.usyd.edu.au

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Autonomous Collective Against Racism ACAR OFFICERS: Eden Caceda, Deeba Binaei, Lamisse Hamouda and Kavya KalutantirI Autonomy: The quality or state of being independent, free, and self-directing.

The Student Representative Council’s Autonomous Collective Against Racism (ACAR) aims to fight for the equality and liberation of all people who self-identify as people of colour, a person from an ethno-cultural background or marginalised by structures of white supremacy.

Our ideals and beliefs in the empowerment and self-determination of people coming from a minority ethno-cultural background, or those marginalised by white supremacy and settlercolonialism, or those who identify as a person of colour. This collective welcomes any persons who self-identify with any of these groups and are working on ways to still better represent and account for the ways people identify in terms of experiencing racism.

The collective operates not only as a space of activism and political organising, but also as a support space where people can share their experiences.

We encourage people, regardless of their political knowledge, to get involved. We run workshops and events on campus.

We also publish an ACAR Honi Soit edition every year. We also highly encourage participation in the Critical Race Discussion groups. Additionally, in 2014, we successfully ran the ‘I, too, am Sydney’ campaign, highlighting race issues on campus. We are always open to any ideas and feedback.

For most of us who are already part of the collective, autonomous organising against racism is something new and it will be exciting to see the myriad of faces and paths we can take. Racism and its effects are diverse and as a collective, we hope to make visible the different ways in which racism can manifest.

The Office Bearers for the Autonomous Collective Against Racism are: Eden Caceda, Deeba Binaei, Lamisse Hamouda and Kavya Kalutantiri. We are also your SRC Ethnic Affairs Officers for 2015.

facebook.com/usydacar • @acar_usyd itooamsydney.tumblr.com • acar.officers@src.usyd.edu.au

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enviro collective ENVIRONMENT OFFICERS: Callista Williams, Alice Strauss & Atia Rahim The Sydney University Environment Collective has a proud history of working together to address environmental issues on and off campus. We learn about, and take action on, issues of social and environmental justice. Our collective is an inclusive space where the direction of our campaigns and actions is based entirely on the interests and ideas of all our members! On campus we have weekly meetings, discussion groups, parties, panel sessions, and info nights. Off campus we participate in direct action, such as working to halt the expansion of two open cut coal mines in the Leard State forest to prevent the destruction of the forest and the acceleration of the rate of climate change.

Historically, the collective has worked on anti-nuclear campaigns, pushed the university to adopt more sustainable practices including the introduction of more efficient infrastructure and renewable energy usage, and called for a widespread fight against climate change.

In the past year we’ve been working on

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the Fossil Free USyd campaign, which is encouraging the University of Sydney to stop investing in fossil fuels and stop funding climate change. This is part of a global push from students and staff at universities all over the world, with campaigns running in the US, the UK, and many other countries. We’ve held fair days, an overwhelmingly positive student referendum, and actions including building an extraction rig on campus. This campaign is looking to ramp up in 2015 and we’d love you to be a part of it.

folks from UTS, UNSW, Macquarie University, and the ANU, and collaborated on Fossil Free Universities with crew from UWS, the University of Newcastle, UTS, UNSW, the University of Wollongong and Macquarie. ASEN also runs two annual camps for student environmentalists: Training Camp from January 19-25th and the larger Students of Sustainability conference which will be held at Flinders University in Adelaide from the 8th-12th of July 2015.

We organise trips out to sites of campaigns for environmental justice, such as the Mining the Truth Road Trips. These road trips are organised with other enviro collectives from NSW and ACT and involve visiting community campaigns against coal and gas across NSW, and swims. Lots of swims.

Please come to our first meeting for the semester on Friday of O-Week, 27 February 1pm at Manning Sunken Lawns. Our regular meeting times will be determined then based on the timetables of members.

We are affiliated to the nation-wide Australian Student Environment Network (ASEN), and through ASEN we communicate and collaborate with Enviro Collectives on other campuses.

Most recently, we’ve road tripped with

Find out about cool enviro events: facebook.com/groups/usydenviro/ Join our email list to stay in the loop about Fossil Free USYD: usydfossilfree@gmail.com.

Indigenous collective INDIGENOUS OFFICERS: Jethro Braico, Ebony Hill, Georgia Mantle & Nathan Sheldon-Anderson The Indigenous Collective provides support and a safe space for the Indigenous students of the University of Sydney. We are made up of people from various mobs but our shared university experience and drive to improve ourselves and society bring us all together as our own mob.

The Collective allows for a greater ability to share our culture, our stories and our passion for our mobs and lands.

The Collective aims to provide a space where Indigenous people can come together to better communicate and support one another.

The Koori Centre in the Old Teachers college is our gathering place. Made up of a computer room and a relaxed lounge area, the KC is safe space for support and study, whether patiently and quietly or with bubbly enthusiasm.

Throughout the year we will be having various events from simple lunches and barbecues to the Reconciliation Week festival, by far our biggest event.

This year, 2015 is especially important for the Indigenous Collective, the wider Indigenous community and Australian society in general, for it is the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides which were organised by students from our university. The importance of these event will be stressed in our activities this year. Our student society, Wirriga, hosts events throughout the year for Indigenous students. This means Indig-

enous students on campus get to know each other, and have an on campus support system. It can be quite difficult or intimidating for the first couple of

The Collective allows us to share our culture, our stories and our passion for our mobs and lands days for some students and this support system can be tremendously helpful.

The Indigenous Collective acts as a lobbying mechanism for the wider Indigenous student community, as well as a visible presence within the university and wider Sydney community. For example, the Collective supports the

Redfern Aboriginal Tent Embassy. We are proud of our ties with the Redfern community, as well as our opportunity to voice the concerns of Indigenous young people whether that be in relation to academic or educational issues, or the political and social concerns of the group.

The Indigenous Collective strives to build a stronger and healthier community, believing that collaboration allows for cultural competence and true understanding. This not only refers to the Indigenous community but also the wider Australian community, especially in regards to race and discrimination issues in the current socio-political climate.

This year the Indigenous Collective is represented by the four Indigenous SRC Office Bearers: Ebony Hill, Georgia Mantle, Jethro Braico and Nathan Sheldon-Anderson.

If you ever need help, shoot us an email or just ask us when you undoubtedly see us around the KC.

Any questions? Get in touch: indigenous.officers@src.usyd.edu.au Or find us on Facebook. Just search “USyd Indigenous Collective�

Also check out: sydney.edu.au/koori/

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International Students’ Collective INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ OFFICER: LEAH LI

The International Students’ Collective aims to provide information and assistance to international students.

The four main purposes of the International Students’ Collective are: helping international students adapt to their new living environment in Australia; providing information about, and advocating for, international students’ rights on campus; speaking out for international students if they face any difficulties or troubles during their study or social life; and organising events for cultural exchange on campus.

First of all, the International Students’ Collective provides a multicultural communication platform. The main area of activity is the International Student Lounge, which is located on the second floor of Wentworth Building on Darlington campus. The Lounge offers a comfy and safe space for interna-

tional students from all over the world to interact and communicate with a non-judgmental attitude, exchanging different experiences and ideas. We would like to create a relaxing area for international students and make them feel like home.

Secondly, we provide information to international students about their rights in Australia. Every international student should know what rights they have in Australia. Meanwhile, our Collective will keep fighting for the ‘Fair Fare’ concession travel ticket for international students in New South Wales. In 2015, we would like our international students to be treated fairly in Australia.

Thirdly, we will help international students to speak out if they face any difficulties or troubles during their study in Australia. This includes

academic problems, discrimination, and sexual harassment issues. International students shouldn’t be afraid to speak out if they face any difficulties such as these.

We would like to help and provide a safe, social and fair study environment for international students. The International Students’ Collective will also work on the sexual harassment issues with Wom*n’s Collective this year.

Finally, we strongly suggest cultural exchange events on campus, such as parties or scavenger hunts during O-Week. Getting international students involved on campus is our responsibility. We also would like to associate with USU cultural societies.

We are going to create a better multicultural environment on campus for both international students and local students this year.

The International Students’ Collective meets fortnightly on Monday at 3pm.

For more info or any questions contact: international.officers@src.usyd.edu.au

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disabilities & carers collective disabilities officers: Samuel Brewer, Christopher Armstrong & Yaz Camdzic

What is a disability?

Don’t be afraid of the word ‘disability’; it covers all sorts of conditions from the seemingly insignificant to the debilitating. Disabilities can be temporary or permanent and may affect you for a small part of your degree, or for the whole time. For some, disability might mean having a sensory impairment, mental health problem, chronic medical condition, physical or learning impairments, to name a few.

Who are Carers?

The term ‘Carer’ refers to anyone that provides substantial informal support to someone they know with a disability, an ongoing illness, chronic condition or drug and alcohol condition. Examples of care may include domestic, financial, practical or medical management, personal care and emotional support.

What is the Disabilities and Carers Student Network?

Our network is made up of an amazing group of students from all walks of life who are motivated to embrace and enjoy university life, and enhance their well-being alongside the experience of a disability or being a carer.

The network is not about being defined by our circumstance, but supporting each other throughout university.

We place no pressure on our members to disclose information about their disability or caring responsibilities.

What do we get up to?

We have regular social meetings where you can meet some great people and get involved in a number of activities, some of which include: • Picnics near the University • Hanging out in the USYD community garden • Movie afternoons…free food (Yay!) • And more to be announced Are you studying with a disability?

Sydney University is a great place to study, however the experience of dealing with a disability can sometimes make your studies difficult. For this reason, Disability Services provide a range of adjustments to suit individual needs (there’s no one size fits all here!). Some adjustments might include assignment extensions, access to note takers or lecture recordings, larger font exams or timetable adjustments to move classes closer together.

These are just a few of the many adjustments Disability Services can arrange for you. To receive support for this service, students must register online, provide supporting documentation and meet with a Disability Officer to discuss their needs. For more info, visit http://sydney.edu.au/current_students/ disability/ or contact disability services directly on (02) 8627 8422.

Are you studying whilst caring?

Caring commitments often impact

study considerably. As there is no formal data collection on Student Carers, they are largely an ‘invisible’ group. At this time, no formal support mechanisms (like Disability Services) exist that recognize the greater need for flexibility whilst caring and studying.

The Disabilities and Carers Network is currently campaigning for the recognition and support of Student Carers (particularly within the Disability Action Plan Committee) and has established an informal network of Student Carers on campus.

What can we do for you?

First and foremost, we’re here to help you out! We also make your voices heard by the university, and represent you and the issues you face. Contact us if you have any questions relating to disability and study or want to get involved in the network. Welcome to Sydney University, we hope to see you soon!

How to Join?

It’s free, so just come along to one of our social events!

Follow our Facebook page: “USYD SRC Disabilities & Carers”

Or shoot us a message: disabilities.officers@src.usyd.edu.au

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Anti-Racism Collective anti-racism collective Gabrielle Pei Tiatia The Anti-Racism Collective is a campaign group open to any student wanting to fight the government’s refugee policy. We are committed to fighting racism on and off campus and building up a student movement that demands an end to offshore processing and mandatory detention.

As we enter 2015 the government’s detention camps on Manus are again at breaking point. The hunger strikes, lip stitching, and self-harm attempts are all products of the cruel deterrence policy both major political parties support.

This is a policy that has already killed two men: Reza Barati and Hamid Kehazaei.

Currently there are no guaranteed or safe resettlement options for any of the refugees on Nauru or Manus. The government wants to deport them back to danger or force them to languish indefinitely in the Pacific. Those locked up on the mainland do not fare much better – most spend more than a year in detention and develop severe mental health issues. With the recent re-introduction of Temporary Protection Visas, refugees who are released in Australia will live in constant fear of deportation.

One of the Anti-Racism Collective’s main demands is to close these centres and bring every refugee safely to Australia for permanent resettlement.

Australia is a wealthy country that can easily offer safety to relatively small

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number of refugees who arrive here by boat.

A large part of our campaign is dispelling the lies the government spreads about asylum seekers. We are told there isn’t enough to go around and that refugees are filling up our hospitals and getting too many welfare payments.

But it is the Liberal government that is determined to slash Medicare and unemployment benefits and hike up university fees. Their budget is widely despised but their refugee policy is in part designed to distract us all from our real enemies. These poisonous anti-refugee ideas make it harder for us to win the anti-budget fight.

This is why the Anti-Racism Collective goes to every major demonstration against the budget cuts and campus rallies against the fee hikes to demand money for our education instead of camps and deportations. We’re part of building a wider anti-Liberal movement that aims to dislodge Tony Abbott as soon as possible.

But we also can’t rely on Labor to welcome refugees. Under Kevin Rudd they re-opened the offshore detention camps and paved the way for Abbott’s Operation Sovereign Borders. The collective is committed to breaking this bipartisan support for refugee-bashing, which is why we strongly support initiatives like Unions for Refugees and Labor members speaking out against

the policy.

Recently the Anti-Racism Collective has also played a role in campaigns against Islamophobia. Many refugees who come by boat are from majority Muslim countries. The government’s anti-terror laws and looming new war in Iraq are feeding Islamophobia around the world. As a collective we are committed to fighting racism wherever in rears its ugly head and fighting for the kind of society that welcomes everyone, no matter how they came to Australia or where they’re from.

The only way we can build up this kind of campaign is with a strong and determined social movement. Anti-Racism Collective is open to anyone, so come along and join the fight back! We meet Tuesday at 11am on New Law Lawns.

Contact Gabby on 0416 488 258 for more info.

We meet every Tuesday at 11am.

Find us on the New Law Lawns!

Any questions?

Call Gabby on 0416 488 258

sexual harassment department SEXUAL HARASSMENT officers: Georgia Dickinson, Isabel O’Shanassy, Serena May & Monique Newberry The primary task of the Sexual Harassment officers is to make campus as safe a space as possible, and to eliminate risk and fear of sexual intimidation and aggression.

While these goals pertain to university students of all genders and identities, the Sexual Harassment officers have traditionally aligned themselves primarily with the Wom*n’s Collective.

Given that wom*n are consistently statistically at greater risk of sexual harassment and violence, the officers shall aim to continue and strengthen their collaboration with the main autonomous feminist society at university. The Wom*n’s Collective has been instrumental in organising workshops promoting self-defense and engendering discussions of what sexual consent entails, and the Sexual Harassment officers wish to continue to support these programs in the coming year.

Consequently, there are many ways female-identifying students can get involved. The Wom*n’s Collective meets weekly in the Wom*n’s Room, located on the 2nd floor of the Manning Building on Camperdown Campus, and offers a supportive and safe environment to discuss important issues and create events for their members, and for the student community.

The Wom*n’s Room is not simply for

the collective; as an autonomous space, it is open during campus hours for any female-identifying student to use.

Nevertheless, the Sexual Harassment Officers also wish to pursue a number of initiatives aimed at improving the

The Wom*n’s Collective has been instrumental in and engendering discussions of what sexual consent entails health and safety of all students at campus. It is important that the services available to students, such as the sexual harassment reporting services and their contact information, are widely publicized. The officers aim to achieve this with a larger presence at O-week and through continuing to promote the Royal Prince Alfred posters, created in the last two years by the previous Sexual Harassment officers. The department will also seek to work with the University of Sydney Union, which organized the inaugural ‘Radical Sex and Consent Day’ in 2014, which we might see as a week long event in 2015.

Don’t have a guess, receIve a “yes”

Helpful Contacts:

Campus security - 9351 3487 Emergency - 000 Police, firefighters, ambulance RPA Sexual Assault Service 9515 9040

For anyone wishing to contact the Sexual Harassment officers, either to become involved in future projects or to express concerns, they can be contacted at the following email: harassment.officers @src.usyd.edu.au.

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interfaith department interfaith officers: Chris Garvin, Fatema Ali, Arin Harmin & Serena May interfaith.offiers@src.usyd.edu.au The purpose of the Interfaith Office is to promote understanding and appreciation of different faiths and backgrounds, campus wide, through meaningful dialogue. Interfaith discussion therefore becomes one of the most important aspects of bringing people together from different religions and backgrounds. Bringing different groups of people together is empowering and the sharing of different values between each other is unifying. Belief and non-belief are integral to many individuals’ identities. It is thus critical that all people learn about and respect other belief systems. Promoting healthy, constructive conversation between all students is imperative to breaking barriers and fostering understanding.

Future projects will hopefully include a Common Ground Festival, which would celebrate the common underlying principles of major worldwide religions such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism. This would be a great opportunity for religious groups, particularly already large campus groups, to acknowledge their similarities rather than perpetuate differences. Furthermore, this would provide a good chance for non-believers to learn about the ‘core beliefs’ of these religions. The Muslim office bearer, Fatema, has also founded the Muslim Wom*ns Collective which aims to increase visibility of Muslim wom*n on campus and empower them all.

In addition, the Interfaith office bearers intend to encourage understanding and meaningful interaction between the religious societies on campus through long-term events. One such event is the organisation of regular breakfasts, potentially timed to coincide with important religious festivals, which each faith-based society will be invited to join and participate in. If this initiative is successful, members of different religious clubs will not only learn from each other’s experiences, but more importantly create friendships built on respect and acceptance.

Search “Muslim Women’s Collective Sydney University” on Facebook

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housing department housing officers: riki scanlan, andy mason, michael ellioTt & chris warren student.housing@src.usyd.edu.au Our department has two main broad responsibilities: first, supporting students with their housing situations; and, second, advocating to the University and other bodies for genuinely affordable housing that meets student needs.

We aim to develop a Student Housing Handbook that contains detailed advice on housing in Sydney. Colleges, private student accommodation, and landlords are extortionately expensive, largely fail to meet basic maintenance needs, and often provide a less than welcoming living situation— which is often racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or discriminatory to those with disabilities. We believe that students need a resource that advises them on how to navigate this complex housing landscape. We also aim to reignite the Student Housing Accommodation Collective, which will provide a support network for students and activist body to push for better housing.

Over the next five years, the University plans to build student accommodation for up to 5000 students. This moment is a critical juncture in their vision planning: we aim to influence their plans and fight for student accommodation that is affordable and meets our needs, rather than continuing the current trend of private accommodation that seeks to extract as much profit as possible out of our pockets. The management group organising the University’s plans are already taking seriously recommendations from last year’s SRC, including a provision for temporary crisis accommodation for students who become homeless or face a severe housing crisis. Currently there are six temporary accommodation rooms available—if we continue this work, we can expand this to far more.

We believe that there are alternative models to the private landlord / tenant rent model of housing. STUCCO Housing Co-operative is one such example: it is a democratically organised collective of forty students—in fact, the six temporary rooms are located within STUCCO’s building—that has no landlord, has rent under $100 per week, and maintenance

welfare department welfare officers: Ivana Radix, Sarah Enderby, Luciano Carment & Eden Faithfull

welfare.officers@src.usyd.edu.au Stressed? Struggling to find housing or pay for textbooks?

The Welfare Officers can help!

The Australian Federal Government has launched one of the worst attacks on students that this country has ever seen. It is becoming harder and harder for students to afford basic food and housing, and Youth Allowance simply is not enough to cover the cost of living in Sydney. It is even more difficult for young people receiving the Disability Support Pension, as the Government is reviewing their payments in an attempt to squeeze as much out of the young and vulnerable as it can.

Sydney University is one of Australia’s leading education institutions, but it lacks equitable and accessible student services. That’s why the SRC exists – to provide the services that the University does not. If you are struggling with money, health, housing, the welfare system or the legal system, please contact the SRC. We can help you with: • Seeing a FREE SRC Caseworker & Legal Service • Applying for an emergency short term loan or bursary • Locating affordable, safe and easily accessible health care and administration is managed by the residents. We recognise the potential of the University’s plans to include alternative models of housing that aim to develop communities of students in affordable housing. We support the project to develop a second student housing co-operative, named SHACCO. We believe that solidarity with other movements is the most effective way to create genuine change in Sydney’s housing situation. We extend our support to the Redfern Aboriginal Tent Embassy—located fifty meters from Redfern Station, the embassy is a months-long blockade and protest for longpromised Aboriginal housing. Wom*n’s refuges were threatened with significant cutbacks and closures over the past year.

Miller’s Point residents face evictions in order to clear room for luxury developments.

• Accessing emergency housing, both short-term and longterm • Accessing mental health services on campus • Finding a suitable migration lawyer or support with visa issues • Accessing loans of study resources such as lab coats and calculators As the Welfare Officers, we also run campaigns to protect the safety nets currently in place, and lobby the University and the Government for more support for students. Activism is the best way to engage students in the fight for their rights.

We intend to continue this fight on issues such as: Mental Health The university currently provides a small number of free counselling sessions. This is inadequate for dealing with mental health issues—the recovery process often requires follow-up evaluations and long-term care. The University must expand its services and work with outside providers to improve mental health care for students.

Financial Support and Housing Current Centrelink payments such as AusStudy and Youth Allowance are not enough to afford adequate housing in Sydney, and most student housing is overpriced when matched to realistic student budgets. Study should be considered a full time job, which is why the University must prioritise affordability, instead of profit, in its housing developments.

International Students International students do not have access to the same privileges as domestic students (for example, travel concessions).

They also face the further challenge of studying in what is often their second or third language, while trying to afford food, housing and study resources. The University must expand services to support international students, and allow them to claim travel concessions.

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intercampus department intercampus officers: Mary Osborn, Fiona Lieu, Jason Kwok & Mary Ellen Trimble There’s more to USyd then just Camperdown. We have nine other campuses and thousands of proud USyd students who don’t call the sandstone halls of the Quad home. Are you one of these students? If so, the Intercampus Department is here for you. This year we’re going to do things a little bit differently. Keep an eye out for us at your campuses because we’ll be around frequently as your representatives of the University of Sydney Students’ Representative Council. In previous years we feel that student services have been an exclusive Camperdown privilege.

Despite the good work of many student activists, we want to ensure that all students, regardless of location, have the ability to access the amazing services that their SSAF pays for too. Get fired up SCA, Mallet, Cumbo, Con and Camden kids because we are thousands strong, we are proud USyd students and we love our university, and it’s about time we got some of that sweet lovin’ back.

campus students. We study with you and we are familiar with your problems because they are our problems too. We are your link to your SRC so don’t be shy, come Holla at us. You now have the opportunity to bring up your issues to the SRC so make sure to take advantage and all of the SRC services. So don’t hesitate!

Our vision, our plan for 2015 is to make your SRC more accessible, more available, and more accountable to you, students of satellite campuses. Your campus should not determine your access. For the first time in too long, your Intercampus officers are Inter-

Contact us via email on inter.campus@ src.usyd.edu.au, and you’ll also be seeing us around on your campus daily. So come say hi!

This year we will be: • Providing frequent meaningful consultations to your campuses.

• Bringing the SRC to you and ensuring that you get acquainted with your President and Executive.

• Delivering caseworkers and legal services to your campuses so you don’t have to make the trek out to Camperdown.

• Expanding Union events to your campuses.

• Fighting for the small things such as longer facility hours (e.g. libraries, practice rooms, studio rooms) more frequent shuttle buses.

xoxo Your Intercampus Officers for 2015.

inter.campus@src.usyd.edu.au

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residential colleges department college officers: William Khun, Tim Sullivan, Laura Webster & Issy Hellig The University of Sydney is home to nearly 2,000 students in several Residential Colleges, each with their own unique culture, history and community.

They provide a rich and supportive community for students on campus, with a range of college and intercollege activities in sport, drama, debating, arts, and socialising, in addition to powerful bonds of communal support and a deep enrichment of university life.

The College Officers are elected by the university student body to ensure that this community is adequately represented, supported, and improved through cooperating with the SRC and wider university. In particular, the College Officers seek to ensure that the wide range of services the SRC provides, including legal representation, support in academic appeals, emergency financial support, support against discrimination and safe spaces for marginalised groups, are available and widely known within Intercol (that’s the entire College community). This means that as Residential College Officers we are elected to represent the interests of all college students on campus which includes those at St Paul’s, Wesley, St Andrew’s, Women’s, Sancta Sophia, St John’s, International House and Mandelbaum House.

Our goal for 2015 is to ensure that this cooperation, dialogue and representation occurs for the benefit of all students, both those residing in

the colleges, and those in the larger community.

The first way we are seeking to achieve this goal is by ensuring that the SRC is available to college students, and that its values and goals are supported within the community. This means ensuring that College Students have access to SRC support, especially in terms of safe, autonomous spaces for discriminated groups (including, but not limited to, the Wom*n’s Collective, Queer Collective and the Autonomous Collective Against Racism). College students deserve the same protection from discrimination as any other individual, and we want to ensure that this can be provided.

We also want to foster and continue to support movements within Intercol which further these aims, such as the ‘Intercol Free Alliance’ for LGBTIQ* students and other such organisations.

This further means ensuring that SRC legal aid, case workers, and dispute resolution mechanisms are available to students as an alternative to internal College structures, where those structures may not be ideally suited to the task at hand.

The second way we want to continue this positive dialogue between College and SRC is through representing College interests in the wider SRC community. College students, by virtue of living on campus, have a particular

stake in campus policy. As such, in the past College Officers have been part of lobbies for safer night-time campus, such as the lighting of Science Road, and ensuring that Campus Security adequately protect students 24 hours a day. This is in addition to ensuring that the SRC always pays attention to the needs of College students, and that they always have a voice within the wider university community.

As Residential College Officers, we see it as our role to be intermediaries between the services of the SRC and college residents. We wholeheartedly encourage any college resident to contact us via the email address below for assistance in gaining access to any of the services mentioned above, to share ideas with us regarding desired improvements to campus policy, or for more information about what the SRC can offer you. We are very excited to be your 2015 College Officers and look forward to working with both College students and the larger university community for a continually improving, healthy relationship between the two often diverse groups.

Got questions? Want to chat? residential.college@src.usyd.edu.au

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// THANKS to Chiara “are we offending anyone with this?” Angeloni and Max “the inDesign grid is our saviour” Hall who made this whole thing. We dedicate the handbook to the memory of the ten day streak we spent in the office: those hours will never be recovered. Thanks to all the OBs, kind souls, and Caseworkers whose names are attached to their contributions. No thanks to those of you who couldn’t quite locate the deadline. Thanks to Laura Webster for company, the coffee article and patisserie goodness; Kyol Blakeney for clarifying that he was unwilling to help and hanging out anyway; Heist for bringing some SWAG into the office (and pizza); Mickie and Amanda for finding quotes, debating the relative merits of non-standard page sizes and helping in general; Daniel Ergas’ One-Liners; Amy Stanford and Charlie Jackson-Martin for an incredible (and first ever) sealed (but not really sealed) section; Pip Specker for the most comprehensive academic article to have ever been written (you should, like, get a job with the uni); Julia Robins for appearing and being wonderful; Manoosh’s Pizzeria for sustenance of the most godly kind; David Shakes for wearing a fucking awesome shirt of planets which actually *plot twist* *spoiler alert* form a silouette of Mickey Mouse - at first it confused us, but then it made us smile (you win best dressed); Blythe Worthy for 420 and being more calm than anyone else in the office; Chitra for being a god; Mel and Sharon for toothpics; Albert James Poodle; Ishtiaq Rahman for enthusiasm and coming to that meeting (we love you mate); Alison Xiao and Paul Harrison for subediting goodness; Sarah Enderby for her last-minute suggestion; Laura Kitsos for always being so bubbly; Triple J for playing a little music and the excruciating amount of time it took to get through the top ten on Australia Day on a dodgy internet connection; the Transient Building for natural sunlight and an air conditioner that functioned as a commercial freezer in a past life; the SRC server, also known as ‘the bottomless pit of stock images and interesting things’; the adjective ‘cool’; Dumpling King for $6.90 specials; Kate Bush; Duke; Unicorn Faction Caucus: We’re Finally Home; assorted YouTube videos (search “baby laughing at ripping paper”); caffeine; the Wikipedia article on RSI; Google Docs, for being the one hope in this forsaken digital world you are the one thing to rule them all, one thing to find them (the articles, at least), the one thing to bring them all and in the darkness bind them; Max’s holidays for motivation; UniBros; the Reuben sandwich at Courtyard Cafe; Menulog; Bill Shorten’s Zingers; $1 Macca’s frozen cokes; everyone’s leftovers that Max ate; all of the publications we were ‘inspired’ by; musical theatre; the 3 people who are still reading this; chilled Mars bars; grammar; Donny Don and Alibaba.com for putting us in touch with suppliers of custom printed toilet paper; the Angeloni family who lost a daughter for the ten day streak; Parks and Recreation; baby bats which call outside my window while I’m trying to sleep but still make me marvel at the Circle of Life; Jamie Rusiti and Ilya Klauzner for DSPing; Tuzki; Cameron Caccamo for dropping in and being a legend; doge; the beautifully spaced font on the doors of the bathrooms out the back of the offices; the mystery person who cleaned up on Monday; David Foster Wallace for understanding me and laughing, always; the soundtrack to Birdman; Georgia Britt and Peter Walsh for recommending Birdman to me; my dreams; snowpeas; Run the Jewels, Grouper, Sufjan Stevens, Alt-J, and Bat for Lashes for fitting onto my phone and making the walk from Redfern a little less monotonous (take my musical reccomendations, dammit); the new footpath to Redfern Station, speedy; Arthur, Franklin, Sam, Pat, Monica, Pablo and Johnson and Friends for the childhood memories; everyone who checked in on our sanity; our stipends; Adobe Caslon, Lato, Norwester and their various weights for winning the brutal typeface competition and looking less shit than the rest; unicorns for being the most fantastic animal of all; that night I got seven hours of sleep; Harry Maher for that first night in Hermann’s (tear rolls slowly and magnificently down my air-conditioned cheek); Harry Fucking Potter; anyone I’ve ever loved; Brigid Hall for not questioning the erratic times that I was leaving the house; and $5 burritos. // NO THANKS to the Orientation Committee (except for those previously mentioned #fouroutofeighteenaintbad); the SRC for moving in the worst possible week; the weather; Tony Abbott; Australia’s minister for Wom*n; Australia Day; fucking nationalism; the morning that I ran out of weetbix; the wasp nest that’s growing on my window; fee deregulation; the Oxford comma; traffic on King St; the capital/military/prison/industrial complex; the 2 months (and counting) it’s taking to find out whether Chiara’s Honours application is approved; Sydney Student (like, how hard is it to build a fucking website? I’m offering); the SRC’s current logo; the feeling of entering the SRC 12 hours after we had left it the night before to work on this handbook; Max’s rapidly diminshing job prospects (#philosophymajor4lyf ); the players who are gonna play play play play play and the haters who are gonna hate hate hate hate hate but we’re just gonna shake shake shake shake shake, shake it off; capitalism; Foucault and summer school; fascists; the tendency of white people from the Eastern Suburbs to expand with their affluence to occupy the greatest amount of space possible on public transport, such that the three person seat on the train “obviously” is entirely occupied by them and their ego; Opal Cards and the Governments’ attempts (#thesurveillancestate #snowden) to steal all our contact info; the tendency to shorten “In Solidarity” to IS; mailing lists; every single person who has ever uploaded an image to the internet without thinking that we might want a 300dpi version - from the bottom of my heart- screw you; MPD printing’s insolvency (you’re still fine Mariana Podesta-Diverio); Michael Spence; SUSF; crapitalism; the two fucking mosquitos that appear in my room whenever I’m tring to sleep; fluorescent lights; the timer that turns the air conditioning off every two hours; the Uni’s continued investment in fossil fuels; the Australian flag that my brother put on my gate on Invasion Day; Max’s handwriting; the Law school still having 100% weighted exams; the printer in the Honi room; the patriarchy; heteronormativity; greyscale; the weird way that a background layer is different to a normal layer in photoshop (like, seriously?); movie trailers that spoil the whole movie; the lower-back pain inducing ergonomic composition of the computers, desks, and chairs in the office; everyone who has ever doubted Max’s future as an rapper; Chiara’s hiccups; Max’s ‘little incident’ with the Housing report and the layout drama that ensued (sorry Riki); the finite budget of the SRC - I demand full colour gloss and popups of the Quad; the lack of functioning toilets in the SRC; my internal frustration of never having finished Where In The World Is Carmen San Diego?; the amount of time we spent writing this thank you page (#ssafdollars); Rafi Alam for this being the first SRC publication he (...finally) hasn’t contributed to; and the inexorable passage of time.

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The Liberals are coming for your education Join the National Day of Action to stop them Rally @ 1pm Fisher Library, March 25 Get involved with the EAG // Search “Sydney University Education Action Group” on Facebook Contact SRC Education Officers David + Blythe: 0428 724 030 / 0423 611 771

The SRC’s Guide to

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