Since the ANU was first established in 1946, postgraduate and research students have been a fundamental part of our campus culture. Through them, the Australian government has been able to commission research and develop a wide range of research commonly used in the health sector, public policy, or to the wider breadth of academia.

PARSA was established in 1960 and has remained committed to ensuring the interests of postgraduates at ANU. Each year a new Postgraduate Representative Committee (PRC) is elected according to the democratic ideals of our charter to drive the work of PARSA and ensure that our level of service to the membership is maintained. As your PRC for 2022, we are as committed to this goal as our predecessors were 62 years ago.

As we reach the end of Semester 1, we wanted to take a moment to share all the great work the 2022 PRC and broader PARSA team has achieved across our three strategic themes of Community Building, Advocacy and Student Support. 

 

Community Building

• Organised and run over 50 social events across campus and Canberra
• Over 2300 students registered to attend social events
• Facilitated 70 HDR Writing Sessions as part of the Shut Up and Write Program 

 

Advocacy (Q1 January to March Summary)

• Covid-19: Provision of emergency Covid-19 supplies, including RATs and masks to postgraduate students, Discussions of establishing a Covid Dashboard on campus with NTEU
• SASH campaign: In response to the NSSS report, PARSA issued an Open Letter along with ANU Women’s Department, ANUSA and IHC with demands for change on 23 March, Joined the Too Little Too Late campaign and Special General Meeting on 30 March, Ongoing planning of concerted campaign efforts with the stakeholders
• Disabilities: Ongoing planning of Disabilities Awareness campaigns along with the Disabilities Students Association (DSA), including but not limited to: ANU Ableism Report, Streamlining extension application portal for all colleges, Demanding ANU to establish a position of Disability Advocate, ANU Disabilities Awareness Week planning
• Environment: Ongoing engagement with the Environment Management Plan, including in-depth discussions, feedback, and meetings with stakeholders, Planning of campaign on the improvement of Waste Management at ANU Residences

 

Student Support (Q1 January to March Summary)

PARSA Student Assistance provides confidential advice, assistance and support to all postgraduate and research students, in the key areas of our service: academic, financial and migration. We are an independent professional service – funded by SSAF. 

In Q1, the Student Assistance Team has 

• Launched the PARSA Migration Service - accounting for over 40% of new enquires 
• Assisted over 250 students across a range of areas including academic, financial and accommodation issues 
• Received 46 applications for financial assistance through our grants program 

 

As an independent association, PARSA is funded by a percentage of the Student Services Amenities Fee (SSAF) paid by all students while enrolled at ANU. View our SSAF reporting submitted to the University on a quarterly basis here. 

You can find out more about how SSAF is distributed here, noting that PARSA received 28% of the total SSAF funding in 2022 to represent the postgraduate community of ANU (approximately 48% of enrollments).