The Labor-aligned ticket Change your ANUSA officially launched late last week, with bold promises including harm reduction policies, driver licence subsidies, ANUSA-funded vending machines and a sponsorship fund for clubs.

The platform has a strong emphasis on academic reforms, student welfare initiatives, enhanced mental health support through grants and partnerships, and expanded food security programs.

The ticket also commits to implementing elements of the ANUSA Governance Review while engaging in a co-design process with Autonomous Departments.

Harm Reduction Policies 

Unique to Change your ANUSA’s policy platform is the push to institute a holistic harm reduction framework that commits to “designated smoking areas on campus, pill testing kits in the BKSS, and subsidising PreP for students.”

According to Change your ANUSA’s Presidential Candidate, Will Burfoot, establishing “harm reduction strategies [recognise] that there are inherent risks in human behaviour” and therefore, endeavours to “take approaches that prioritise safety over other aims”.

ANU began phasing out Designated On-Campus Smoking Areas (DOSA) in 2020 in an effort to curb the harmful health effects of tobacco and vaping products, eliminate “smoking related litter” and “increase the rate of quitting”.

Burfoot argues that “[the] removal of [DOSA] has had negative ramifications for everyone”, impacting both smokers who are “forced to walk often quite far or to poorly lit areas” and non-smokers who are “exposed to the secondary smoke of those who choose to not to follow the current rules in place.”

He argues that this “realistic” approach is a “no-brainer” that is of “benefit to everyone” on ANU campus.

Burfoot further commits to establishing an on-campus alternative to CanTEST pill testing in Civic as means of “prioritising student safety in an accessible, shame-free environment.” Alongside this, Burfoot pledges to create a Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PreP) subsidy “to protect students at risk from HIV transmission” and ensure that access to PreP is financially viable for all.

It is possible that this distinct harm reduction policy approach taken by Change your ANUSA may be an attractive one amongst students, particularly those residing on campus.

Drivers Licence Subsidies 

Change your ANUSA has also promised to deliver “ANUSA discounted drivers licences”. Announced on their Instagram, Change your ANUSA stated, “[we] understand how expensive drivers licences are especially during a cost of living crisis. A vote for change will make it easier for ANU students to get those red Ps.”

This is distinct from Serve! for ANUSA’s transport policy, which is “pushing for a return of the Bus on Daley Road” discontinued in 2019 by the ACT government.

It is challenging to envisage the strength of Change your ANUSA’s driver licence policy, particularly given that many students must first overcome the hurdle of purchasing a car. For these students, the prospect of no longer “taking the bus to campus” or “asking [their] friends for lifts” cannot be is not readily overcome by discounted drivers licences.

However, for students with cars approaching a provisional or full licence, this policy may be attractive.

In addition to the driver licence subsidies, the ticket also plans to introduce parking subsidies during exam periods. Welfare Officer candidate Keira Rosenberg also promises to advocate for on-campus parking at Dickson Parking Precinct to be for “residents as intended”. While both these policies are likely to be received well by students, each is equally vague.

The ticket does not explain how it will secure funding for both the driver’s licence and parking subsidies, or whether the funding will come out of the current ANUSA budget lines.

The daily rate for both student and resident permits is $1.40, while pay as you go for students and staff is $2.36 per hour, and $16.92 for the whole day.

On-campus vending machines 

The sole on-campus grocery store, Daily Market, may soon have some competition if Change your ANUSA is elected.

While the other major ticket Serve! For ANUSA are promising vending machines in the BKSS exclusively, VP candidate Vaishnavi Gangarapu and Treasure candidate Hayden O’Brien are promising the delivery of ANUSA-funded vending machines all over campus. They believe this “sensible” policy will provide a “cost-effective way to generate consistent revenue” to reinvest in student services while “[offering] affordable, student-friendly options”.

O’Brien argues that situating these vending machines across campus will allow students to “purchase snacks at a cheap price wherever they are in campus without having to plan ahead or interrupt their studies in order to travel to the supermarket and buy snacks at unaffordable prices.”

For snack-loving students, this policy may prove popular. Yet it remains unclear how it will balance providing both cheap snacks all the while generating revenue margins.

In addition, for ANUSA vending machines to be supplied all around campus, the Union will likely have to secure contracts around campus for these vending machines. Given that places like Marie Reay already have vending machines, it is unclear whether owners around campus will allow ANUSA’s more competitive and cheaper vending machine to be on the same grounds.

Sponsorship funds for clubs 

Change your ANUSA’s Clubs Officer Candidate, Harrision Oates, has committed to a “Sponsorship Match-making Scheme” which provides a means for “mid-size or smaller clubs” who “lack the resources or connections” to receive sponsorship funding secured by ANUSA.

Oates explains that ANUSA will “[negotiate] a pool of funds with sponsors that clubs can access without expending their allocation of the regular funding pool.”

Clubs would then be “required… 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.”

Oates argues that in doing so, ANUSA can “[give] clubs a helping hand” which can then “increase event grants… [and] the per-club funding limit, or bring back merch grants.”

He has committed to a goal of $50,000 for the scheme, which he says would “expand the total amount of money that clubs can access by 25%.”

While the policy will likely ease some financial pressures on Clubs, it does not specify how specific sponsors will be chosen. In particular, given the ongoing discussion of ethical investments and purchases surrounding the Palestine Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, without adequate measures, this policy may risk creating sponsorships with brands and companies which are opposed by students on campus.

Exam reforms 

The Change Your ANUSA platform promises to implement an exam rescheduling reform. The ticket argues that exams held outside regular university hours as well as those scheduled on weekends are detrimental to student well-being, safety, personal time and ultimately exam performance.

The platform website states, “Saturday exams take away from valuable downtime that [students] are otherwise entitled to. Late-at-night weekday exams likewise can make students travel home late and in the dark, take up valuable personal time, and are scheduled when students are not at their best performance.”

Instead the Change Your ANUSA platform seeks to ensure that mid-semester exams take place in-class and that end-of-semester exams are only scheduled during equivalent class time hours.

Further the ticket would advocate for a reduction of hurdle requirements which are set above the usual 50 percent% pass mark; “Students who put in the work, and perform with a pass mark on a course should not be failed due to an arbitrary mark on the final exam, regardless of their output, effort, or success in the rest of the semester.”

In addition, the ticket’s Education Officer candidate Rosie Paton plans to standardise extension policies. In particular she plans to implement five day simple extensions by “advocating, lobbying, and pushing the University to implement this change.”

Five day simple extensions are applied in multiple universities such as the University of Sydney. The simple extensions allows students to get extra time on their assessments without the documentation requirements of a longer e extension. This procedure is primarily designed to help working students, parents and carer students and students with disabilities.

Paton also pledges to work towards clarifying and creating uniformity on tutorial attendance, participation and tutorial participation to weekly forums. As it stands, various courses at the ANU require that students not only attend tutorials, but also participate to an appropriate level and oftentimes send in written submissions. The specifics of each of these contributions are vague and always grouped under the 10 percent tutorial mark.

Unlike her counterparts in Serve!, who plan to carry out campaigns such as the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) to exams, Rosie’s aims to work with the university and achieve outcomes through negotiations and lobbying.

However, when campaigns and petitions such as the Save our Graduations campaign have been successful in a short period of time, it is unclear how Paton’s plans to work with the University will achieve better and faster outcomes.

In addition, unlike Serve!’s Mitha Mallichetty who plans on running campaigns on Palestine actions and divestments, higher PhD stipends and fighting the International Student Caps, the Change Education Candidate remains quiet on political activism.

Student Welfare 

The Change Your ANUSA ticket also places a strong emphasis on its student welfare policies. These most prominently encompass cost of living, food security and mental health for students.

A key proposal is to conduct a Cost of Living Report aimed at clearly identifying the real impact of rising costs for ANU students and thus providing more tailored solutions. This includes offering students better access to support services, such as expanding affordable meal options and providing more accessible mental health services.

Presidential Candidate Will Burfoot states that “Students at ANU have consistently wanted better, more easily available access to mental health care. We completely agree, that’s why we have focused so much on ways ANUSA can help.”

The platform will seek to achieve this through the implementation of a mental health grant and a partnership with the ANU Psychology Clinic to provide a free first session for students.

The ANU Psychology Clinic charges $40 for concession card holders for an initial assessment, and $20 for therapy sessions for ANU students. Cognitive Assessments, however, range from $750 to $950. On its website, the Clinic admits that while it takes referrals throughout the year, intakes close during high demands.

Burfoot also acknowledged the “need to be mindful of what groups don’t access support and what the barriers are” which will see guides on how to access such kinds of student support be disseminated across campus in different languages and throughout  different colleges.

However, his policy does not elaborate on where the funding for the mental health grants will come from and how much will be offered.

The Governance Review 

Burfoot criticises both the “purposeful mischaracterisation” and “misunderstanding of many of the recommendations” in the recent ANUSA Governance Review. He argues that the review “did not set out with a particular political objective, but rather reflected the views of the students who went to the consultations.”

He points to “many important reforms” outlined in the Review ranging from ANUSA meeting conduct, postgraduate student engagement and constitutional clarity.

In referencing the Review’s proposed reforms to ANUSA’s autonomous departments, Burfoot emphasises the importance of “[committing] to a  genuine co-design process with autonomous departments and their officers to ensure the unique needs and views of each department and the students they represent are put front and centre”.

“Anything that infringes on autonomous departments ability to build community and represent students is unacceptable”, Burfoot explains.

General Secretary Candidate, Sam Gorrie, further writes that if elected, “[he] will continue the implementation of the governance review” but will ensure that this is not carried out through a “top-down approach”.

Gorrie particularly emphasises that “maintaining departments’ autonomy and collaborating with them to reach the best outcome is a key priority”.

In SRC meeting seven, General Secretary Milli Mconald, who oversaw the review, clarified that the $14,000 review did not adequately consult Departments and that in the upcoming Ordinary General Meeting, Department reforms will not be announced.

The ticket does not specifically comment on the Review’s proposed removal of the ANU Environment Collective.

This is in contrast with Serve! for ANUSA’s defence of the Environment Collective and Left Action’s broader condemnation of the Governance Review’s restriction on “the capacity of our union to fight for Palestine.”

Divestment and Palestine 

While the ticket plans on campaigning for a “Yes” vote in the upcoming divestment referendum, its most vague policy is on defending Palestine activism.

Presidential candidate Burfoot states, “As President I will work to ensure student rights are protected. This means standing against decisions of the university that unfairly target and intimidate students, ensuring those that are the victim of this treatment are referred to support and understand their options.”

In contrast to tickets such as Left Action – Free Palestine, Globalise the Resistance for Palestine and Serve!, Change puts forward no concrete policies on how it will participate in or defend Palestine activism and only fleetingly mentions the Gaza Solidarity Encampment.

Change your ANUSA: 

Despite campaigning on changing ANUSA, Change as a ticket offers many policies which overlap with its biggest competitor Serve!. This includes policies such as the simple five day extensions, ensuring cooperation during the Governance review implementation, expanding the lunch express program and introducing vending machines.

However, perhaps the greatest difference the ticket offers is its separation from the controversies of this year’s activism, one which Serve! candidates, for better or for worse, are entangled with. But in a year which has seen mass student turnouts for pro-Palestine causes, it remains to be seen whether the Labor ticket’s policies will be louder than its silence on the topic of Palestine.