The Students’ Representative Council (SRC) of the Australian National University Students’ Association (ANUSA) voted last night to reaccredit to the National Union of Students (NUS), provided that a list of key performance indicators (KPIs) are met. The move comes after three consecutive years in which ANUSA has refused to accredit to the NUS.
As reported by the ANU Observer, the KPIs include the retrospective and future release of National Executive meeting minutes and the appointment of a non-partisan Returning Officer and the National Conference of the NUS, amongst various other requirements recycled from KPIs of years past.
In both 2017 and 2018, ANUSA made similar demands of the NUS which were not met. Amendments to previous KPIs were introduced this year to avoid a similar outcome, which included changing the appointment of a non-partisan RO from an ‘exit’ KPI with a specific date of completion attached to an ‘assessable’ KPI with less stringent implementation requirements.
NUS President Desiree Cai (NLS) spoke to Honi, expressing an optimistic outlook on the implementation of the KPIs following the change.
“Given the amendment to the KPIs passed at the SRC meeting, it is likely that we will meet all the KPIs necessary for affiliation and accreditation this year,” Cai said.
Amongst a list of ‘exit’ KPIs – demands that must be met if ANUSA is to reaccredit – is a request that the minutes and policy book of the 2018 NUS National Conference be released to all member organisations by June 1. If this condition is not met by the NUS, ANUSA’s road to accreditation may well be over within a month.
At NatCon 2018, Cai spoke in favour of KPIs, asserting that they were essential to the health of the Union. Ultimately however, a rare coalition between Labor Right and the Socialist Alternative defeated the motion, labelling KPIs a “corporatist” measure unbefitting of a union. It remains to be seen how this tension will resolve and whether ANUSA will finally reemerge in 2019 from the wilderness of disaccreditation.
