Hi all,
After a staggeringly long 4.5 hour Guild Council last week, I thought I’d take the time to share with you a bit about what we spoke about. It has been a busy time period as we wrap up Semester 1 and begin preparing for Semester 2. Please don’t ever hesitate to get in touch with myself at [email protected] or Bre at [email protected] with any questions or ideas.
So, without further ado, here is a brief recap on the motions passed by Guild Council:
- Condemning the recent move to defund university faculties and increase the price for students in some degrees Morrison Government.
- Commits to extend scope of SPGs and similar grants to ensure financial stability of clubs
- Open an early SPG grant round for semester 2
- Stands in solidarity with the BLM movement and supports WASAC in running peaceful protests
- Calls on University to establish a separate platform for reporting on-campus racism during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Writes to the State Government requesting a working group to be established with student and university representatives to address the return of international students safely, and with welfare and financial support
- Encourages PAC and the Ethnocultural collective to support the Yemeni student community throughout the Yemen humanitarian crisis
- Sends a letter to the Minister for Housing Peter Tinley calling for an extension for tenancy protections for students in the period following the moratorium.
- Recognises Men’s Health Week and commits itself to supporting better funding for healthcare services, supporting men’s health campaigns, and working to deconstruct harmful narratives and structures that exist in our society.
- Updated the photography policy: admin stuff, but important!
Guild Council doesn’t quite capture the day-to-day of work at the Guild too, so here’s just a recap of a few of the things your student reps have been working on:
- Hands off Our Education campaign
- Organised the UWA Students Against Cuts and ran a sit-in for staff working conditions
- Ran an open Education Action Network meeting
- Implementing a more equitable textbook policy at UWA
- Introduced new self-declared special consideration policy
- Introduced the Education Action Plan
- Introduced transcript recognition for student leaders
- WASAC representation at BLM march
- Facilitated PAC Innovation Grants
- Introduced and expanded $4.50 and sub-$5 meals on campus
Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you around on campus some time next Semester!
Best,
Luke
Guild General Secretary 2020
