UTS Students' Association

The current executive members, elected for 2022 are:[4][5]

The role of the SRC is to represent the students at the University of Technology Sydney Meetings are held monthly, and are open to all students.[11] They are usually held on-campus and are promoted on social media pages. Important matters relating to student activism, concerns, budgets and the function of the association are raised at meetings. Motions are raised and voted upon by councillors, and are passed by a simple majority. However, a two-thirds requirement must be met to pass amendments to the constitution.[12] Office bearers for the Queer, Enviro, Accessibility and Ethno-Cultural collectives are elected annually by the SRC at the "repselect" meeting. To be eligible, a candidate must be a General Councillor. Office bearers are elected by a plurality by SRC members.[11]

The UTSSA Student Council is democratically elected, with elections in the spring semester of each year.[13]

Like most bodies representing students in Australia, the SRC is divided into factions. The factions work together in groups, in 2022 these are based on their election tickets: "Fire Up!" ( Labor Right, Labor Left), "Revive" (Independents, Socialist Alternative) and "Accountability" (Australian Democrats).[4][5] No faction has an outright majority on council as of 2022.

Student Unity, the centre-left of Labor was the dominant faction on council for several years until 2022, often in a majority. However, it suffered significant losses in 2021 to Left-Wing Independents, Socialist Alternative and the Australian Democrats - its first major defeat in 8 years.[5] The group is affiliated with national Labor Right and the Australian Labor Party.

National Labor Students, the democratic socialist wing of Labor campaigns for social justice and education.[14] The faction has a strong record on LGBTQIA+ rights and environmental action on campus, and collaborate with national NLS and regional groups. They currently hold the office bearer portfolio for the Enviro collective for 2022. The faction is aligned with Labor Unity on council, and contested the 2021 election under the "Fire Up!" ticket.[4] Labor Left has 3 members on council and is an ALP affiliate.

The Australian Democrats, a centrist faction advocate for fiscal responsibility, social justice, transparency and accountability on campus. They contested the 2021 election under the "Alliance for Accountability Ticket" with independents, with a message to "keep them honest" and calling for election reform to end the practice of "spam messaging" during election periods.[14] The faction has one member on council, and is an Australian Democrats affiliate.[4]

The revive independents have a focus on ensuring the autonomy of the collectives on campus, fighting for environmental and social justice and protesting attacks on students and academics by the federal government.[14] The faction is left-wing, with most members active and heavily involved in the association's collectives and campaigns. They are linked to the "grassroots independents," according to Honi Soit, and contested the 2021 election under the "Revive" ticket alongside Socialist Alternative.[5] The faction has twelve elected representatives on council, three of those on the executive.[4]

Socialist Alternative is a far-left Trotskyist group, affiliated with the national movement of the same name. It contested the 2021 elections under the Revive ticket, and had education activist Chloe Rafferty elected as councillor.[4][15]

The current Student Representative Council as elected for 2022:[4]

[16]

The Women's department creates a space and community for non-male identifying members of the UTS community and is affiliated with NOWSA. There is an Autonomous Space in Building 3. In 2016 they worked with the NUS Women's Officer to host the NOWSA conference for that year.[17]

The welfare collective is opened to all students but has in the past been asked to be the main organising body for students from low socio-economic backgrounds. The collective aims to help students by providing food and how2life workshops. These workshops have covered topics like cooking 101, renting how-to, and fair wage/your rights.[18]

The Education Collective, also known as the Education Action Group, is open to all students and is focused on campaigning around issues that affect all students on campus. This includes fighting against fee hikes and cuts to staff and for a better trimester system, more library hours, in addition to other campaigns led be the National Union of Students.[19]

The Indigenous Collective is composed of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. The Collective meets regularly and works alongside Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research. Founded in 2012, they run campaigns surrounding Indigenous issues and have been an active political and pastoral component of the Students' Association since their inception. Camille Smith is Indigenous Officer for 2022.[20]

The Queer department runs campaigns for LGBTIQ students on campus and maintains a Queer Space on campus. Campaigns include anti-homophobia campaigns, student safety campaigns, Pride Week, Anti Queer Youth Homelessness campaign, Gender Neutral Bathrooms campaign and works with the Out2Party club on social events. The Queer department also works closely with the UTS Equity Department.[21]

Affiliated to the Australian Student Environment Network, the Enviro Collective is focused on green activism and campaigns like 'Flick my Switch' and 'Fossil Free University' as well as environmental campaigns off-campus.[22]

The Accessibility Collective is for UTS students who identify as having a disability and/or medical condition. The group operates without a space but cooperates with many internal UTS sectors to ensure students with disabilities receive adequate support. The group also campaigns around larger abilities awareness projects.[23]

The Ethnocultural Collective is composed of students from across many ethnic backgrounds, races, religions and beliefs with the aim to promote harmony and peace through fostering the diversity at UTS. The collective works to ensure representation and supportive frameworks for students experiencing or at risk of prejudice and opposes all forms of discrimination against migrants, minorities, and people of faith.[24]

The International Collective is for International Students at UTS who seek networking opportunities and space to protest on issues which affect them. Campaigns include the right to access student travel concessions and fairer fee structures.[25]

The UTS Postgraduate Committee is a group of students who aim to make a positive contribution to the educational experience of Postgraduate students. There a range of initiative the Postgraduate Collective advocate, including fairer fee structures.[26]