Voluntary Student Unionism

The reality of the situation is that Voluntary Student Unionism legislation in some form or another is likely to come into place in January 2006. VSU legislation, as it is currently tabled, will mean that no compulsory up-front non-academic fees can be collected from students by the ANU. However, there has being some dissent over the recent months, most especially from Liberal backbenchers and National Party Senators which means that the form of the legislation, and its impact on studnets’ associations, is as yet uncertain.

Unfortunately, because we do not know in what form VSU will ultimately be passed, it would be irresponsible to form hard and fast contingency plans. That is to say that no action has been taken by ANUSA to compensate for voluntary membership. This year’s executive have being working closely with the Vice Chancellor and ANU administration to develop strategies that will ensure not only the survival of ANUSA, but also the continued provision of its vital services. Furthermore, if the VSU legislation is passed this year, most of the changes that will occur to ANUSA will be taken by the elected representatives of 2005 in consultation with students. In fact there are already plans for university-wide forums to discuss these issues once the legislation is passed.

The people that make up the Synergize ticket recognise that if VSU legislation is implemented, ANUSA will have to change in order to adapt to its new circumstances. The heart of the problem with VSU is that with voluntary membership comes a variable income. Currently ANUSA applies for funding from the GSF committee of the ANU with the knowledge that there is an expected income. With VSU, and an unstable income, we want to continue to provide essential services, like the welfare and legal officers, or Woroni, which have fixed costs, but we do not know how much income we have to be able to provide for them. The way to make this work is to create a stable income through close co-operation with the university and good promotion of the services we provide to students, all the while keeping the interests of students first.

It should be acknowledged that no amount of good management will prevent students from feeling the impact VSU. Anyone who tells you that they will be able to prevent the loss of services or give you the same level of representation and advocacy as you enjoyed this year, doesn’t have a very good understanding of the issues. Instead ask them which services they will fight to keep. And anyone who says they are running because they want to make the changes so that ANUSA will survive next year doesn’t realise that by the time they take office, these decisions will probably have already been made by you.