Governance and well-being support

One of the most important roles of ANUSA is giving clubs the support they need to thrive. I discuss monetary support in the section entitled “Make It Rain”. Here, I discuss my practical policies to help existing clubs thrive, and new clubs get off the ground easier.

#1: Meet your tax obligations with ANUSA!

This year, chaos has ensued as the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) introduced new requirements for student club reporting, with many clubs failing to meet tax-exempt status despite being set up for a charitable purpose. Tax is complicated, and a layperson acting on behalf of a society takes on significant liability if it isn’t done right. There are two ways ANUSA can help: first, by advising clubs on what a club needs to do to get tax-exempt status, if feasible, for example through inserting particular clauses into their constitutions. Second, ANUSA should help clubs ensure they are in compliance with their reporting obligations, insofar as they are allowed to do by law. Getting a tax clinic workshop off the ground with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) and the ATO is a top priority for me, especially with lodging for this year due by March 2025.

#2: Building a Collaborative Clubs Knowledge Base

Understanding the clubs scene takes months; even longer if a previous committee fails to give a proper handoff. There are so many unwritten tips and tricks that are passed down by word of mouth, it is hard to keep track of them all. ANUSA’s existing webpage for clubs is awful – PDFs are hard to search through, are inaccessible, and persist in search results even though they’re not the most recent version of the document.

I want to build an easily-accessible, easily-searchable, collaborative knowledge base that will collate all of this information in one place. Existing documents on the ANUSA webpage would be merged into this resource. New pages on topics like how to book rooms, find sponsors, and build events would also be developed, with contributions being allowed from anybody with an ANU email address. Think of Wikipedia, but with Clubs content. All submissions would be moderated by the Clubs team to ensure they are on-topic and useful.

#3: Help clubs build their web presence

The recently-passed amendments to the clubs regulations require minutes, constitutions and similar documents to be publicly available in a central online location for everyone to view. Unfortunately, many clubs don’t have a strong online presence beyond a Facebook page, making this requirement for affiliation difficult to achieve.

Fortunately, there are a few ways we can help clubs become compliant. The most straightforward option is to provide clubs with support to deploy a Github Pages website to host these documents and other information about their club. This is a free service, and if we provide a template and page on the Knowledge Base clubs have a straightforward way to publish their required documents and information about their club. A fabulous website also makes it easier for clubs to attract individual sponsors, should they so choose.

#4: More Transparency around funding grants

As a former club executive, I know how frustrating it is to understand how close you are to the funding cap for any given year, or even how much money is left in the overall pool.

Internal spreadsheets exist that offer a real-time account of grants given to every single ANUSA-affiliated club. There are so many exciting opportunities that can come from making this data publicly available. Not only can clubs gain the financial insights that they are craving, but they can also gain an understanding of the types of events that other clubs are running, the expected turnout for different kinds of events, and so on.

Transparency allows clubs to plan for the future, and holds the union to account. As Clubs Officer, I will build out a platform to make this data available in near real-time to the whole ANU student community, along with a suite of visualisations and common interpretations to make it easier to use.

Make it rain

It is all too easy to say ‘more money for clubs!’ and be done with it. Unfortunately, we are in a situation where merely increasing the budget through an increased SSAF bid isn’t possible. ANUSA signed on to a three-year SSAF deal with the university this year, and so any additional money for clubs is very unlikely through that pathway. 

While I will work with our treasurer Hayden to compile a bid for an extra $100k from the SSAF reserves, this is because I see this as part of a longer-term strategy to show the university that more student money should be in the hands of student clubs and societies. I do not expect us to be successful in this bid, and it is disingenuous for any Clubs Officer candidate to claim otherwise.

We need new ways to get money into the hands of clubs, and to help them spend it in a way that is most beneficial to the needs of their members. In this section of my policy, I highlight some ways I think we could reform the way the Clubs funding pool is built and spent.

Core to my monetary policy, whether it be for O-week or for clubs, is the expansion of ANUSA’s sponsorship arrangements. Currently, ANUSA makes a profit from selling spots at Market Day to various non affiliated organisations, and uses this money to offset the cost of the rest of O-Week. There is so much scope to expand ANUSA’s ability to help offer the social events you need by onboarding more and larger sponsors. Because neither monetary or in-kind sponsorship come from SSAF, this should also allow us to cover spending on things like alcohol which are not allowed under SSAF rules.

#1: The Sponsorship Match-making Scheme

One mechanism I think could feasibly contribute to getting more money for clubs is what I’m calling the Sponsorship Match-making Scheme. Currently, larger clubs supplement their clubs funding allocation with money from sponsors who are looking to promote their products or recruit talent. I think this is awesome, and should continue. Securing these partnership arrangements, however, is often not feasible for mid-size or smaller clubs because they lack the resources or connections to make these a reality. This is where ANUSA should give clubs a helping hand. I envisage the scheme to work roughly as follows: ANUSA negotiates a pool of funds with sponsors that clubs can access without expending their allocation of the regular funding pool. Clubs would likely be required, in turn, to display a sponsor’s branding at their event and on promotional materials. Basically, ANUSA finds sponsors, and clubs reap the benefits of a larger funding pool.

There are so many possibilities for sponsorship match-making. With a sufficiently large pool, we could increase event grants and increase the per-club funding limit, or bring back merch grants. The scheme could also be expanded down the line by negotiating discounts for things clubs need like event hire or merch, which clubs could then access should they wish to use them. This would be enormously helpful for clubs that wish to put on an annual special event, but would otherwise lack the financial or logistical capacity to organise it on their own.

My reach goal for the Scheme is $50,000, which would expand the total amount of money that clubs can access by 25%. I think that by setting up a good foundation and converting sponsors from O-Week we can make significant progress towards this goal during my term.

#2: Reform the joint event grant process

Joint events are great, because you bring together many communities and have a fantastic time. Joint events grants, on the other hand, are a pain to deal with. During my time as President of the CSSA, we would often purchase supplies for joint events on behalf of a partner society with the understanding that we would be reimbursed from a joint event grant out of our partner’s funding cap. However, the system that ANUSA uses for club administration currently does not support this functionality. I will attempt to fix this so clubs are free to hold joint events in a way that benefits them.

#3: Proactive events and operational grants

ANUSA is unique among funding bodies for clubs at other Australian universities in that we only provide funding after an event has already occurred. Clubs do not have certainty that an event that they have already held will be funded, due to the discretionary powers the Clubs Officer has to approve or deny any grants awarded. Further, after-the-fact grants limit the effective size an event can be, especially for small societies who may not have a lot of cash on hand.

Clubs deserve certainty, and cash flow should not be a barrier to amazing events. I propose we reform the system to allow clubs to submit applications for event grants before their event has occurred, and receive funds according to their submitted budget for the event. An after-event submission of attendees and receipts, as per the current system, would be part of this new process to ensure funds are being properly used and excess funds returned to ANUSA.

#4: Save our SEEF

The Student Extracurricular Enrichment Fund (SEEF) supports and promotes the development of extra-curricular projects, events or activities which enhance the student experience and provide benefit to the wider ANU Community. In 2024, around $100k is allocated for SEEF. As of time of writing, only $23k is left, and funding applications have been shut in the second half of the year. SEEF is an incredibly important source of funding for a lot of amazing projects on campus, from theatre to student-run conferences, to multicultural festivals, to Inward Bound. The demand for SEEF is rapidly outgrowing its availability.

Some of this increase in demand stems from the fact that Clause 22.1.6 of the ANUSA constitution renders clubs often unable to get funding from the clubs pool to pay casual staff that deliver services core to their operation that are very difficult to get otherwise. For example, ANU Auslan Club hires instructors to deliver lessons at a discount for their members, and ANU Music Society needs to pay for a conductor. In order for this expenditure to be covered, the Clubs Officer needs to exercise specific discretionary powers. SEEF does not have this same restriction on spending, which makes it a viable alternative to fund these operating expenses. 

The long-term solution is to top up both SEEF and the Clubs Pool with sponsorship money through the aforementioned Sponsorship Match-making Scheme. We must always aim for consistent and necessary clubs expenditure to go through the standard approval process because it is much faster and frees up space for non-club spending. I commit to working alongside clubs to find a way we can make this happen to save SEEF.

Engaging with and Fighting for our Communities

My policy has been built based on many consultations with ANU’s clubs and societies, both during the campaign period but also in my capacity as CSSA President. The experiences of clubs and their members are so important in helping ANUSA address tangible on-campus issues. In this section, I discuss how we will build our collective vision of a better student union collectively.

#1: Co-design, not consultation

ANUSA, especially the Clubs team, is often seen as being on a different level to the communities which we support and serve. There is a power imbalance, after all: the Clubs Officer has a lot of power that can be wielded, for better or worse. Because of this imbalance, when changes are introduced, they are often done with minimal consultation, or none at all - think about the most recent changes to the regulations and the clubs code of conduct introduced at OGM2 and SRC5, for instance. Clubs are then expected to bend to meet a vision they had minimal input on.

My approach is one of co-design, not merely consultation. We need to design our social scene with students, not just for students. Clubs should not just provide feedback that can either be used or ignored, as in the status quo. I want clubs to be partners of equal standing at every stage of making change - from identifying problems, designing solutions, and continually improving the way ANUSA works to build and maintain our social scene. Co-design manifests itself in every aspect of my policy, and I am so excited to introduce a few ways we can help support its implementation in the next few policies.

#2: Expand Clubs Committee & Communication

Expanding the way Clubs Committee works is a vital part of co-design. This is a voluntary body within ANUSA that acts as a forum for club leadership to come together, hear from the Clubs Officer about their work, and discuss problems that their clubs are facing. While a non-binding forum, I believe that the Committee provides stronger solutions to the challenges of running the Clubs and Societies program, when it is used properly. Unfortunately, the meeting is not well-advertised and agendas are rarely available in advance, which limits its effectiveness. As Clubs Officer I intend to put agendas out at least a week in advance and advertise the meetings publicly for all students to attend. 

Further, I commit to communicating early and often with clubs about the current clubs state of affairs. Proposed changes to clubs regulations should be available at least two weeks in advance of the meeting at which they are to be introduced, and clubs should have the opportunity to have input at every stage of the drafting process. I anticipate this to look like posting public Google Docs for the Clubs community to annotate, and using weekly office hours as a time to answer questions and work through issues in the document together.

#3: Help bridge the gap between ANUSA advocacy and clubs

• 3.1 Discipline Societies and the EDC

Discipline societies are often the eyes and ears of the student body when it comes to education changes. It was discipline societies who spearheaded the campaign against Proctorio in 2020, for instance, and this year the CSSA did a lot of behind-the-scenes advocacy to prevent the death of scheduled workshops in the School of Computing. Unfortunately, leadership of discipline societies are often removed from ANUSA’s education advocacy efforts because these spaces tend to be inaccessible to people unfamiliar with Stupol or the wider ANU system. I commit to working alongside the new and reformed Education Council to help bring our discipline societies closer to ANUSA’s education spaces, so we can work together to fight for students’ rights.

• 3.2 Facilitate department collaborations with clubs

Over the past year there has been an increase in the number of events that departments run in collaboration with clubs - for example, the ISD’s Timeless Clash with a number of Asian cultural clubs was apparently quite successful. I will act to facilitate these collaborations in whatever capacity departments and / or clubs find most useful.

#4: Clubs @ O-Week

I would love to expand opportunities for clubs to co-run ANUSA O-Week events, similar to how the CSSA runs Epic Games Night as an ANUSA-sanctioned (and partially-funded) event. I intend to put out a call for clubs to submit their ideas for O-Week events they want to run, and to partially cover the costs of the most promising events from the O-Week budget. This offers an opportunity for clubs to build their membership numbers and get more involved with the ANUSA O-Week calendar without impacting their allocation of the funding pool.

#5: Safety & Accessibility At Our Events (CW: SASH)

One of the big clubs goings-on this year was the introduction of the clubs Code of Conduct. I spoke in support of passing the Code of Conduct at SRC this year, and believe that a code of conduct, implemented properly and with sufficient co-design, is a useful and necessary tool to help clubs govern themselves effectively. I know how vital having good procedures in place are to ensure clubs remain accessible for all students: during my time as Vice-President of the ANU Sailing Club (affiliated to ANU Sport, not ANUSA) I served as the Club’s Member Protection Information Officer (MPIO) which is responsible for helping guide people through the disputes process as an impartial party. Racism, queerphobia, or any other discriminatory behaviour should not be tolerated in any capacity in our communities.

• 5.1: Revisit the Clubs Code of Conduct

My criticism of the Code of Conduct, as echoed by many other speakers at the SRC in which it was introduced, stems from the fact that it seems to have been built without widespread input from the very communities that it is designed to protect. Further, the policy lacks a clear complaints escalation mechanism and is vague in various sections. Nonetheless, the Clubs Code of Conduct is a good start. As Clubs Officer, I will be overseeing its implementation. We must learn from its implementation, and adjust the policy through the collaborative avenues I discussed above to make it more fit-for-purpose.

• 5.2: Improving Safety at Balls & Other Drinking Events 

Balls are popular events, but they are not without their challenges. The ANU Women’s Department highlighted that SASH is known to occur at balls and other society events featuring alcohol. I will work with the autonomous departments, the clubs community, and the wider advocacy community to develop a set of guidelines and expectations that club-run balls and alcoholic events should meet to be eligible for funding.

Based off preliminary conversations, I will compile a centralised ball calendar to allow Student Safety and Wellbeing and the residential halls to prepare resources in anticipation of these events. Walking parties to and from off-campus events should additionally be used wherever possible, and ANUSA events I plan will feature these heavily to ensure students get home safe.

I briefly want to touch upon the O-Week Mooseheads event. The Clubs Officer in SRC5 2023 described the event as “risky”, and while the incumbent has done a lot of work to make it safer, there is still more to be done. ANUSA has a duty of care to all attendees, and I intend to build upon this year’s work in partnership with the Women’s Department and the O-Week team. 

• 5.3: Training and support of club executive

During my consults, it became clear that there is a need to help club executives in making their clubs safer and more accessible spaces. For instance, executives may have to respond to disclosures, and it is crucial for them to not only perform this task in a sensitive fashion, but they should also know where they should seek support. I intend to work with the autonomous departments and the clubs community to develop a comprehensive set of training to be delivered well in advance of O-Week for executives. This training would also be put onto the clubs knowledge base previously discussed for easy accessibility.

• 5.4: Incentivise accessibility

Inclusive events grants are available for clubs to improve accessibility of their events, but are rarely used. The clubs I spoke to did not know that these existed, and neither did the Disabilities Students’ Association! Clearly, these grants are not doing what they are supposed to do.

The inclusive events grant needs to be better advertised. I also see an opportunity, in conjunction with the proactive events process described above, to bake accessibility into the events planning process. When clubs submit proactive grants to do events which may benefit from specific accessibility measures, the Clubs team should highlight those measures and offer an inclusive events grant to help implement them. The key problem for clubs is knowing what measures are suitable, and this policy goes some way towards addressing this problem.

Conclusion

I’m the only candidate for Clubs Officer with experience in the Clubs scene, and the only candidate to have a cohesive, ambitious vision for ANUSA’s social portfolio in 2025. Put your votes on Harrison Oates for Clubs, and Vote [1] Change in all positions.