Between September 9th and 13th students had to decide RUSU’s future in annual Student Union Elections by casting their vote for the two parties running for office.
The two parties competing to form RUSU are the “left-wing activist” Social Justice and the“experience and diversity” driven, Together.
Together is the party currently in office.
The group has held a majority since 2019 after a 2018 split council between three parties, Together, Revive and Climate Action.
Together outpolled Social Justice in every category last election.
Despite RMIT having more than 90,000 students only 4,200 students voted in the candidates for General Secretary.
This year, Together’s representative for General Secretary, Dulan Ariyathilaka, won 71 per cent of the votes.
The Swanston Gazette contacted both parties for comment on their values, their achievements, and their plans for RUSU in 2025.
Along with Boycott, Divestment and Sanction Australia, a letter from the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, student activists and members of Social Justice pressured RMIT to not renew its partnerships with Israeli weapons company Elbit System.
During their time in office, Together has established a bulk-billed medical centre on campus for students, and has delivered 70,000+ free meals.
Social Justice hoped to expand the “medical hub to cover abortion access and gender-affirming care”.
Together aim to “bring back Adobe Suite, increase Library hours, [ensure] paid placement for all courses and fight for increased Centrelink for students”.
When asked if there was a financial incentive to run for office, similar to The University of Melbourne’s student union, Together didn’t comment.
Social Justice said, “There are some paid positions in the union. Unfortunately, far too many people in the student union are drawn by the paid positions and [are] using their positions to pad out their CVs.”
Social Justice aims to “abolish student debt” and “shut down the Sir Lawrence Wackett Defence and Aerospace Centre”.
When asked how they would measure the success of these policies, Social Justice said they have “already had tangible results” but noted certain policies cannot change “overnight [but students] need a union that is willing to fight for it”.
There is a long history of student-led activism at RMIT with “a major campaign led by students across Australia in 2013 [that] helped scrap the Abbott government’s plan to deregulate university fees. If it wasn’t for them, we’d have an American university model and $100k degrees,” Social Justice representatives said.
Voting closed at 1 pm Friday, September 13, Together outpolled Social Justice and were announced as the winners of the election.
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