Student Voice Australasia
JCUSA is a member of Student Voice Australasia (SVA).
SVA is a network of students and staff working together to strengthen student voice across tertiary education in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
The network brings together student representatives, student organisations and tertiary education staff to share ideas, build representative skills and improve how students contribute to the decisions that affect their education and university experience.
What does SVA do?
SVA supports stronger student representation by providing:
- Events and symposiums focused on student voice and representation;
- Opportunities for student representatives to build their knowledge and skills;
- Connections between student organisations and tertiary institutions across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand;
research and evidence-informed approaches to student voice; - Opportunities to share experiences, challenges and successful initiatives;
- A wider network for discussing issues affecting students across the tertiary sector.
Why is JCUSA a member?
Many of the challenges facing JCU students are also being experienced at other universities.
JCUSA’s membership gives our councillors an opportunity to learn from other student representatives, compare different approaches and build relationships with similar student organisations across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
This helps the Student Council better understand how other organisations approach representation, consultation, governance, student engagement and communication.
It also gives JCUSA an opportunity to contribute JCU student perspectives to wider discussions about student representation and the tertiary education sector.
How does this benefit students?
SVA membership is primarily used to support the development and connections of JCUSA’s student representatives.
The benefit for students comes from having councillors who are better informed, better connected and able to learn from the experiences of other student organisations.
Through its involvement with SVA, JCUSA can:
- Bring useful ideas and examples back to JCU;
- Improve how the Student Council listens to and represents students;
- Learn from approaches that have worked at other institutions;
- Develop stronger consultation and communication practices;
- Build relationships with other student associations and representative bodies;
- Give JCU student experiences a place in wider sector discussions.
Taking a more active role
JCUSA wants to make better use of its SVA membership and take a more active role in the wider student voice community.
This means building relationships with similar student organisations, contributing JCU student perspectives where appropriate and applying useful lessons to our own representative work.
Students are welcome to contact the Student Council if there is an issue or experience they believe should inform JCUSA’s participation in wider student voice discussions.