Students aren’t just voting for Guild Councillors next week: there are also seven spots as delegates to the National Union of Students up for grabs.
The NUS is the national representative body of tertiary students. Delegates are elected to attend the National Conference in December, where the policy and campaign priorities for the year are set. Delegates may also be elected to various bodies within the NUS, such as its National Executive or state branches.
Pelican put the following questions to the groups and candidates to compare their approaches to the NUS.
Social Justice did not respond to Pelican’s request for comment. AMITY and GLOBAL did not respond in time for publication.
What do you make of the current state of the NUS?
Faisal Bakhrayba (Independent): The NUS is intended to serve as the national advocacy body for student unions, including UWA’s Guild, by uniting student voices across the country. However, it’s clear that the NUS faces significant challenges in fulfilling this role. As outlined in recent reports, the NUS has been criticized for its factionalism, internal conflicts, and the conduct of some delegates. The NUS Education Conference held earlier this year in WA was marked by division, aggression, and inaccessibility, undermining its ability to engage in meaningful dialogue or achieve tangible outcomes.
NUS President Ngaire Bogemann’s comments that EdCon represented “the worst the student union movement has to offer” are concerning and highlight how factional infighting can derail the broader mission of the NUS. The disruptive tactics employed by factions like the Socialist Alternative (SAlt) faction prevented many scheduled sessions from proceeding, leaving significant issues unaddressed. Such internal strife diminishes the NUS’s effectiveness and tarnishes its image.
While these challenges are undeniable, I believe that the NUS still holds significant potential. Many delegates and student leaders continue to work toward meaningful reform. The formation of the NUS Reform Working Group, spearheaded by Mia Campbell, represents a promising step toward overhauling governance structures and improving transparency. Serious reform is needed to address these issues and restore the NUS’s capacity to advocate for students on a national stage.
LIFT: The NUS is a completely dysfunctional organisation. It consistently fails in its responsibilities to represent students because those running the NUS are more interested in politics and infighting than the everyday issues students face. Every year, the Guild sends delegates over east to attend the NUS National Conference, and every year, reports are submitted about an organisation with no direction, marked by infighting, derogatory language from officeholders, and the bullying of delegates with differing opinions.
REVIVE: Parham Bahrami (2023 NUS delegate, Ordinary Guild Councillor candidate, and group agent) The NUS has real potential as a way for students to push for their interests. However, it would be an understatement to say that this vision gets lost in divisive and ugly factional politics. When people care more about patting themselves on the back or trying to appease their factions’ bosses (affectionally called ‘head-kickers’), rather than getting things done, the NUS starts to tread into deep water. Unfortunately, we are seeing more and more of this each year, and more often than not, reforms which are proposed to improve the experience of student interaction with the NUS get voted against on conference floor. It’s a toxic and vicious cycle which causes our NUS Executive to spend more time infighting than trying to achieve genuine results for the students it represents – this cycle needs to stop if we are to truly function as an effective union.
SPARK: Nikhi Talluri (Presidential and NUS candidate) The current state of the NUS isn’t one we, as students across Australia, should be proud of. Several SPARK councillors, now NUS delegates, attended the NUS Education Conference in Perth back in June. Whilst excited to attend a conference discussing education issues students across Australia are facing, there was very little opportunity to do so. Significant portions of the conference were disrupted due to disrespectful behaviour, and it isn’t the first time we’ve seen this happen. There needs to be a change to ensure that the NUS is operating at its highest capacity. The NUS needs to commit to transparency and honesty about their decisions. The NUS should focus on matters that are of interest to students and impact us.
Olivia Stronach (Independent): The current state of the NUS is honestly pretty frustrating. With all the factional infighting, it’s hard to have productive discussions, which means important issues don’t get the attention they deserve. I’ve written about this for Pelican before, and it’s disappointing to see how this environment can be damaging, especially for minority groups who often end up being sidelined.
It’s such a shame because a national student union should be a space where everyone’s voice is heard, and advocacy is actually effective.
Thankfully, there’s been some real momentum for change, and I’ve been lucky enough to be part of a working group focused on improving things for the future. It’s headed by Mia Campbell from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), and it’s fantastic to see national, cross-factional support coming together for these changes. I’m hopeful that the National Conference at the end of the year will be a big step up from the Education Conference we had a few months ago.
THUNDER: THUNDER sees the NUS in dire need of change, and we believe that this must come from the delegates who want the NUS to change. The factionalism present in the NUS is what we believe to be the root cause of its disfunction, and we are strong advocates for the NUS to be run by independent student advocates who are unaffiliated with federal or state politics.
What do you hope to achieve through the NUS?
Faisal Bakhrayba (Independent): My candidacy is driven by a desire to contribute to these reform efforts and ensure that the NUS can return to its core mission of advocating for students’ interests. I hope to work on:
- Advancing meaningful reform within the NUS: I support the ongoing efforts to reform the NUS’s governance structures, reduce factional infighting, and ensure a respectful and inclusive engagement. Without these changes, the NUS risks becoming increasingly ineffective.
- Prioritizing mental health and wellbeing: The mental health crisis among students is growing, and I aim to push for increased funding for counselling and support services across universities. This should be a national priority, and the NUS has a crucial role to play in advocating for it.
- Tackling education affordability: Many students struggle with the rising costs of education. I want to push for policies that reduce the financial burden on students, including lower HECS debts, more accessible scholarships, and affordable learning resources.
- Supporting marginalized student communities: International students, Indigenous students, and other underrepresented groups often face additional challenges. I plan to focus on policies that provide better support, including tailored student services and improved cultural integration programs.
LIFT: Given the current state of the NUS, we have serious doubts about any UWA delegate’s ability to achieve meaningful change.
REVIVE: Luke Alderslade (Presidential and NUS candidate) Unless some fundamental changes are made both at our Guild level and nationally, it is going to be increasingly difficult to justify association with the NUS. For a starter, all our candidates are committed to attending the national conference, not just sending unprepared proxies into the trenches. We aim to bring a serious and sincere vision to the NUS, drawing on its strengths.
We plan on working with the NUS to implement national faculty forums, allowing faculty society leaders, or equivalent, to be able to communicate and organise national level actions to advocate for their communities.
We plan on making an NUS committee of the Guild, comprising of elected NUS delegates and Guild Office Bearers who have direct counterparts at the NUS. This committee will meet monthly to ensure our active participation in the NUS, any business of importance coming from the NUS and any items we wish to push to a national level.
When the NUS pushed the Human Rights Commission to investigate sexual harm at universities, it did so because enough representatives came there with a sincere sense of service and moral purpose. We plan to extend on these efforts, working to author policy briefs to pressure national and state governments to introduce minimum standards for mental health and sexual harm support services on campus.
Overall, we aim to get out of the NUS exactly what we put in – a sense of seriousness and a framework to keep both the Guild and the NUS accountable to each other.
SPARK: Jay Williams (Education Council President and NUS candidate) All of the SPARK NUS candidates have a strong track record and history of advocating for students across campus here at UWA and beyond. Whether this be advocating to protect club spaces with the University, make campus a safer and more accessible space, lobbying to the State and Federal Government for maintain our SSAF arrangements and much more. Our primary goal is to continue to advocate for students, whilst also making sure the NUS is held accountable. WA students are often overlooked at the National level, and we are going to fight to make sure this never happens again.
Olivia Stronach (Independent): My main goal through the NUS is to make sure UWA students’ voices are heard on a national level and that we can advocate for the issues that matter most to them. I’d love to see real progress in areas like accessibility, mental health support, and cost of living measures.
I also hope to help push the NUS towards a more inclusive and collaborative environment, where we can focus less on internal conflicts and more on getting things done for students.
THUNDER: Our candidates want the NUS to advocate for the students, not for the interests of a federal political party as we have seen in the recent past. The NUS is an excellent vehicle for backing policy which will improve not only the lives of UWA students, but of students across the country. To achieve a better sense of student advocacy from the NUS, we hope to run town-hall sessions before our delegates are shipped off over east to attend the NUS conference. We acknowledge that we have a limited perspective of what UWA students want from the NUS, and we hope that having these sessions would allow for our perspective to broaden and better represent us as UWA students!
If elected, will you affiliate with a national faction? If so, which?
Faisal Bakhrayba (Independent): I understand the importance of factions within the NUS, but I am wary of affiliating too strongly with any particular group, Factions can often dominate NUS proceedings to the detriment of productive discussion. The SAlt faction, for example, has been criticized for its aggressive tactics, which often result in the disruption of conferences and a focus on internal power struggles rather than the issues that truly matter to students.
At this stage, I remain open to aligning with a faction that prioritizes reform and student welfare over internal politics. I believe that any faction I choose to work with must be committed to genuine change and advocacy on behalf of all students, Local and International. However, my focus will always be on representing UWA’s interests, and I intend to engage constructively with a broad range of perspectives to achieve the best outcomes for our student body.
LIFT: Lift is not affiliated with any NUS faction, and it will be up to each delegate to decide where they align themselves.
REVIVE: Ed Stoddart (NUS candidate) We understand that getting this done – returning to a vision of change and service – requires navigating a tiring factional system. REVIVE will be sitting as independents, but will explore the opportunity to work with other independent universities in order to see if there are any common objectives we can push together. The only bargaining power we have at the NUS is our vote, and we are a firm believer that if you’re not at the dinner table – you will be served up on a plate. Showing up is very important to us – and we plan to show up representing only UWA students, not the views of any groups.
SPARK: Keertikka P Ganesan (NUS candidate) SPARK as a group has consistently remained independent of political factions at the NUS. This allows us to advocate for issues that impact students without any factional bias and push for the best outcomes. We campaign as independents, and then remain independent, unlike other groups and individuals who run off to factions as soon as they get there.
Olivia Stronach (Independent): At this stage, I haven’t committed to affiliating with any particular faction. My main focus is on working with whoever can deliver the best outcomes for UWA students, which is the same approach I’ve taken at the Guild level.
That being said, with the way the NUS works right now, it’s hard to achieve much without the support of at least one faction. I’m open to working with one if it helps reach those goals. This year, I’ve successfully collaborated with candidates from a range of parties, and I believe that working together is key to amplifying student voices.
THUNDER: THUNDER will not bind nor encourage its NUS candidates to affiliate to any faction, and we will encourage them to move around and hear the different perspectives within the NUS.
How will you represent UWA’s interests at the NUS?
Faisal Bakhrayba (Independent): UWA’s students face unique challenges, and it’s essential that our voice is heard at the national level. If elected, I will work closely with the UWA Student Guild and other student unions to ensure that UWA’s priorities are presented clearly and forcefully at the NUS. These priorities include securing better support for mental health services, advocating for student accommodation solutions, and ensuring that the experiences of international and Indigenous students are improved. Additionally, I want to make sure that UWA’s concerns about NUS reform are taken seriously, and I will push for changes that ensure transparency, inclusivity, and effective advocacy.
LIFT: The NUS needs to be held accountable with UWA-specific KPIs that outline its obligations to deliver for UWA. These KPIs should cover advocacy on UWA-specific issues, evidence of successful advocacy to government, and prudent financial management. Unlike other Guild groups, we will take these KPIs seriously. If the NUS fails to meet its commitments, we won’t waste student funds on it.
REVIVE: Parham Bahrami (2023 NUS delegate, Ordinary Guild Councillor candidate, and group agent) The fundamental purpose of our group is to unlock the true potential of the Guild. The UWA Guild spends tens of thousands to be affiliated with the NUS and to send delegates, yet less than half of the elected NUS representatives actively contribute, instead choosing to send untrained and inexperienced proxies in their place. Even less submit any policy. Last year I submitted three policies, with two of them getting passed, and worked with other UWA delegates to pass another one. These were important policies around safety at club events, housing support services, mental health support services and Palestine. The incumbent group did not support me in this process. I repeatedly asked for feedback, repeatedly asked if they were interested in seconding my motions, and I was continually ignored for weeks, to the point that the motions were due and I had to work with other delegates at UWA to get them across.
We vow to make the best use of that opportunity to put our best candidates forward, in the best interest of the student body. It is easy to say a group puts the student body first. Doing the work, showing up, fulfilling promises – that is the hard part. We expect to be judged on the standards that we hold the incumbent group to. We are tired of the NUS being used as a retirement village for old Guild hacks. Students deserve better, and we can do better.
SPARK: Nikha Talluri (Presidential and NUS candidate) By using our voices and remaining independent, we are able to represent the diversity of the views of our students. Without being beholden to a political agenda, we can advocate for the best position of UWA students. Students are the only stakeholder in the Guild, and SPARK is committed to putting students first and fighting for real change. We understand the importance of work constructively with key stakeholders beyond the NUS, but also pushing and advocating for the best student focussed outcomes. By building these connections, we can maximise our advocacy for students.
Olivia Stronach (Independent): I’ll make sure UWA’s interests are front and centre by actively listening to what students here need and advocating for those issues at a national level, which I already have experience with this year due to my role as Access Co-Officer. Whether it’s fighting for better accessibility, improved mental health services, or cost of living measures, I’ll be focused on what matters most to UWA students.
I’ll also work to build relationships and collaborate with other UWA delegates to make sure we can bring about real change, even in a challenging environment like the NUS.
THUNDER: Given that our NUS delegates will have voting and speaking rights at the NUS conference, we can move motions which affect NUS policy. We want these motions to be shaped by UWA students, and not just by the delegates themselves. As previously mentioned, we plan on running town-hall sessions, so that everyone can meet their NUS delegates and have their voice heard. After each session, we will compile the issues students want to see addressed, and closer to the conference date, we will publish the motions that will be presented, giving enough time for review and feedback.
What specific policies do your candidates want to focus on at the NUS?
Faisal Bakhrayba (Independent): My key policy priorities include:
- Mental health and wellbeing: Expanding access to mental health resources is crucial. The NUS should lobby for federal funding to ensure that universities are equipped to provide adequate support for students.
- Inclusion and support for marginalized students: It’s essential that all students feel supported, regardless of their background. I will advocate for policies that enhance the experience of international students, Indigenous students, and other marginalized groups, focusing on better support services and cultural integration programs.
- Student housing: With Perth’s rental market at an all-time high, both local and international students are struggling to find affordable accommodation. I will advocate for better housing options and push for either a reduction in rent or, at the very least, a cap on prices for university-owned accommodation.
- Reforming the NUS: It’s clear that reform is needed to restore the NUS’s credibility and effectiveness. I will support the efforts of the NUS Reform Working Group to introduce governance changes that make the NUS more transparent, accountable, and inclusive.
LIFT: LIFT’s candidates will focus on reforming the NUS. We want to see a National Conference that is friendly and free of bullying and harassment. We want the NUS to make proper use of the $30,000 that UWA spends on it each year. Most importantly, we want the NUS to make a tangible difference to government policy for everyday students.
REVIVE: Hannah Bygrave (General-Secretary and NUS candidate) As mentioned in what we hope to achieve, we have plenty of policies for submission to the NUS which we are really excited about. All of our policies, including the NUS ones below, are publicly available on our website. Without further ado:
- Propose national faculty society forums to be standardised nationwide to allow student representatives of faculty societies to interact and provide the best possible student experience.
- Advocate for the lowering of tuition fees for arts majors and unfair price gouging for arts-related degrees.
- Advocate for the lowering of education costs for international students, including local initiatives to support them to help cost of living
- Advocate for the establishment of minimum standards for university-provided mental health services nationwide.
- Demand an increase to the supply of mental health support services, noting that at UWA there is over a 3-month wait time for services and it is often not possible to book services. This minimum standard is required at the national level, there is an inadequate supply of trained mental health support workers.
- Call for easier access to free psychological services on university campuses.
- Advocate at NUS for the establishment of minimum standards for sexual harm support services nationwide.
- Advocate for a high quality, researched, and relevant national standard in dealing with Sexual Assault reports on campus.
- Support the implementation of post-trauma care training for student leaders nationally, with a standardised level of competency required.
- Stress the importance of consultation with experts in post-trauma care training to take a survivor first stance.
- Promote wider education on how to report, pre-awareness, and understanding of post-trauma care being revised and shared at the inter-university level.
- Push to mandate for students to be at every level of decision-making power within universities around the country. I.e. student consultative committees, senate representatives, etc.
SPARK: Indi Creed (2024 Guild President and NUS candidate) As a team, we know that passing motions at the NUS is not the only way to get things done, and often not the best way either. This year, we’ve experienced the reality of lobbying with the NUS. The NUS Policy Platform is a huge, convoluted and contradictory document. The NUS is not actively lobbying for everything that gets passed at the National Conference every December, so as much as it is nice to say you’ve passed a motion as a delegate, that is not the whole game at all, and it isn’t hugely effective.
As someone who has spent face to face time working with the NUS this year, I know that the best way for us to utilise the weight of the NUS is to advocate for them to act on our interests, and make it clear what the needs of our campus are. A great example of this is the idea of federally legislated minimum SSAF. When the news about this policy came out, the NUS welcomed the change (and rightly so!) but the WA universities were concerned that a policy of 40% minimum SSAF might negatively impact our existing 50% SSAF allocation. We knew that it was in the interests of WA and UWA students for SSAF to stay in student hands – but we didn’t know whether the NUS had considered this. So, we lobbied – to ensure that when the NUS President was meeting with the Minister, we had our interests protected. And it worked (in addition to private lobbying I did with relevant Federal MPs). We ensured that WA’s 50% SSAF allocation would not be affected by the actions of the Federal Government because we did our time to engage with the NUS Executive.
This example really illustrates our approach to the NUS – not just about motions or words or pandering, but about taking action to protect the interests of WA students. So, our candidates plan to lobby the NUS Executive to ensure that they understand the interests of UWA students when it comes to national issues – like paid mandatory student placements, like postgraduate degrees being covered by Austudy, like renter’s rights, like oversight for sexual harm reporting in private university colleges, like ensuring that student representatives sit on their university committees, boards and senates, like needs-based-funding for people that are historically underrepresented in higher education. SPARK this year have worked incredibly hard, at every stage, to understand the needs of this student body, and we have the experience and the tools to gives those needs a national voice.
Olivia Stronach (Independent): If elected, I’m planning to push for more action from the NUS on paid placements. It’s great that there’s already been some movement on this issue this year, but I think it’s important to acknowledge that we still have a long way to go. I’d love to see a world where students can choose the degree that they’re passionate about without having to worry about their financial situation. I’ve known people who have been put off from studying degrees like physio simply because they can’t afford to go on placements, and that’s something we need to change.
I also want to push the NUS to adopt specific policies, like a strict code of conduct with clear consequences, to make sure all students can engage with it—not just those heavily involved in student politics. While it might seem like this is something only the ‘hacks’ would care about, it’s crucial to remember that attitudes towards accessibility impact every part of student life. If student leaders come to the NUS and think it’s acceptable to dismiss accessibility needs, they’ll likely bring that mindset back to their own campuses, and that’s something we need to challenge.
THUNDER: Some of the policies that we already have in mind are:
- Mandating an audit and updating of educational material to ensure our education is up to date.
- Advocating for 100% of SSAF is allocated to student unions.
- Advocating for the abolishment of HECS indexation.
- The creation of a SASH prevention and active bystander course for university students and staff.
- Mandating the release of NUS minutes and the NUS budget to every student, and not hiding it somewhere on their website.