The University of Sydney SRC

We know many students are feeling upset, isolated and diminished by the Federal Government's decision to double the 485 graduate student visa fee, especially on such short notice, with so little forewarning or explanation. Thousands of lives have been upended by this decision, and whilst we personally know multiple students who want to publicly speak out and express their strong feelings about this, we also know that many are worried about any potential risks this might entail given their precarious visa status.  This inbox then is for those affected to have their voices heard, whilst remaining safely anonymous. Submissions can be ANYTHING you would like. We want to give YOU a voice, so it’s entirely up to you what you would like to say. These anonymous submissions will be collected and then posted as we build up to our speak-out on the 29th. We hope this will form a powerful collective statement against the government’s shameful decision, and highlight this issue on the level of lived experience. If you are or know a migrant student affected by this, or just feel ashamed to live in a country that acts this cowardly, make a submission (link in bio) and pass this form on to any and all who would also like to have their voices heard.

PRESENTING our new SRC tote bags! Make sure to get one this week at the SRC stall at welcome Fest 🤩🤩 This design by USyd student Krystal Dallinger-Simpson @culture_2_canvas was commissioned by Grace and coordinated with Gadigal and Dharawal Traditional Owner and artist Nadeena Dixon @nadeenadixonart This work represents the SRC’s commitment to truth-telling, paying respect to the Country our University was first built on and to the Traditional Owners of this Gadigal Land, and working with our networks of First Nations students and community members. Thank you so much to Krystal for your work and edits, and Aunty Nadeena for your wisdom and the sharing of your cultural language with us.

The *free* SRC influenza vaccination scheme is back and better than ever for 2026! 🦠🤧 We have 6 big vaccination sessions across the Camperdown, Westmead and Conservatorium of Music campuses to get keep undergraduate students and our wider community safer this cold & flu season. 🦠😷💉🤧🩻💪🏼 💻 Sign up now using the QR code or link in our bio for an on-campus vaccination or email [email protected] to ask about getting a free voucher for a flu vax if you can’t make any of the sessions. 📍Building and room locations will be sent to registered participants once finalised.

Stop silencing solidarity with Palestine!

SRC WIN: 2026 vaccination program expanded and delivered ✅💅🏼 check out how it went and our stats here

Happy Week 11 everyone, we’re almost there! I hope all those impacted by the Canvas outage and data breach are receiving the help they need from the University. Please see the recent Honi Soit coverage (bit.ly/42s495u) and an email from ‘University Communications’ on what you need to know and do. Over the last week, there have been many SRC events and important other campaigns that the SRC has been part of. I helped run our sixth and final SRC vaccination day on Monday, and am now working on the wrap-up report and helping students get their immunisation records. The Wom*n’s Collective held their ‘Feminist Action Week’, including a beautiful vigil on Tuesday for victims of gender-based violence that I was honoured to speak at. I attended the vigil on Thursday for Kumanjayi Little Baby with other students to pay our respect and show up for First Nations people in this time of sorry business, from Gadigal Land to Walpiri. I also attended the Students for Palestine meeting to plan for this week’s Nakba Day protests both on and off campus. Importantly, we also had our May council meeting! I will be posting the passed motions of that meeting very soon. I was excited to have two meetings last week with some great news for students following advocacy from student representatives. An issue I raised about long processing delays for academic integrity cases (which impacted students enrollment and visa requirements) has now resulted in a report on the Academic Integrity Case Resolution Timeline across all faculties by the Academic Registrar. This includes detailed statistics, analysis and recommendations about how to centralise, better staff, and improve these processes to help students. A meeting of the Canteen Working Group with myself and SUPRA representatives provided positive updates about the planned University Canteen in the J03 Engineering Building which will serve low-cost breakfasts, lunches and dinners to students from Semester 2. More information will be available soon! In solidarity, Grace

CONTRACT CHEATING is using a person or company to write or edit any part of your assignment. If you are caught contract cheating, you risk being suspended or excluded from your degree. Using AI may also be considered cheating, so check with your tutor or with the unit of study outline to see what is allowed. If you have received an allegation of contract cheating contact an SRC Caseworker, via our contact form: bit.ly/contact-a-caseworker

The @src_usyd endorses the 9 May National Day of Action against cuts to the NDIS! Get out to Town Hall at 2pm for a rally chaired by our very own @usyddisabilities officers Remy and Kayla 🤝📣

If your capacity to study or pay fees is impacted by the conflict in the Middle East, please contact Student Wellbeing. They can let you know what support is available and refer you to the appropriate University channels. https://bit.ly/3NA8IXH

Find us at Madsen Conference room 449 for this workshop on transformative justice during the USYD Women's Collective Feminist Action Week! Join us on Thursday, May 7th, at 3:30pm to discuss how we can prevent and respond to interpersonal violence within our communities, beyond the harmful approaches of the police and prison system. There will be tea and biscuits provided!

Honoured to have spoken at the @usydwoco vigil last night. We gathered in grief, in rage, and in solidarity for women and children whose lives have been taken by gendered violence here and across the world. I’m always floored by the depth of care, love, and staunchness of young people fighting for a better world. The students who organised and showed up last night remind me that even in the face of overwhelming injustice, there is courage, clarity, and collective power. We held onto something else too: that our rage and our care can coexist. That “difficult” women—loud, defiant, unapologetic—are not the problem, but a force that shifts the world. We know that seismic shifts are needed to topple old systems of power and it’s never been clearer to me that students will help lead the earthquakes that bring about this change.

Last week was spent preparing for and speaking at a hearing for the NSW Parliament Inquiry into the University Sector, where I represented the SRC and students with SRC Disabilities Officer Kayla and SRC Casework and Policy Officer Jazzlyn. We discussed important issues with the Committee on Social Issues about meaningful student representation and consultation, the crisis of free speech, the role of the University Senate, the experiences of disabled students being let down, the importance of the SRC, and much more. I went out to support the activists of the Global Sumud Flotilla at a snap rally when they were kidnapped in international waters and tortured. Our University and government must stand up against these flagrant injustices and violations of international law and human rights. This week is Feminist Action Week – an annual week put on by our SRC Wom*n’s Collective, an autonomous feminist action group for students. We have one cool event for each day of the week which you should check out, even if it’s just coming to the social event + mutual aid fundraiser this Friday at 6pm at the Forest Lodge Hotel to meet like-minded people and find out more about our feminist organising. Events like these are the kind of information included in the fortnightly newsletter I started and have been running this semester, of which I am quite proud! Make sure to sign up via the pop-up on our website to get a regular (but not spam-level) email with collated information about SRC services, events, advice, and more. Keep up the fight, Grace