The USU CEO and student Board President have announced a historic 12 month plan to incorporate the organisation and are currently seeking feedback from USU staff and members on the proposal.
This builds on a long campaign where various USU Presidents and CEOs have put forward incorporation plans in the past without success.
The proposal has sparked an internal debate inside the USU and would be the largest governance change since 1983 reforms to the Board.
In an email to all USU staff on Tuesday, interim USU CEO Michael Bromley announced his intentions to incorporate the USU, including a survey that queried the existence of a student board.
Bromley began the email discussing the USU Board’s historical campaign for incorporation and then stated it was “incredibly unusual for a commercial organisation to remain unincorporated and this status brings with it a number of legal, governance, regulatory and other risks”.
Bromley went on to explain that the changes incorporation would bring about were “not likely to substantively effect day to day operations”.
Bromley asked staff to complete a survey on the proposed changes, inquiring as to their thoughts on incorporation. Specifically, Bromley asked staff if they were in favour of the student Board continuing.
A survey has also been sent out to all members of the Union on social media with the post’s promising in-person consultation sessions to be announced in the coming weeks.
Currently the USU is unincorporated which means that it is not a legal corporate entity, stopping the organisation from entering into specific agreements. Creating a separate legal entity, this governance reform would give the USU greater powers.
An incorporated USU would bear liability, and be able to enter into contracts, without a member having to act on the organisation’s behalf.
Bromley argued that the plan would increase accountability in the organisation and the formalisation of roles and responsibilities would better allow the USU to apply with its regulatory obligations.
Any changes to the USU’s constitution, including incorporation, requires approval from the current Deputy Vice Chancellor (Education) Joanne Wright and the University Senate.
Current Board President Bryson Constable (Liberal) believes this is long overdue, and “should’ve been done 20 years ago”.
In a statement to Honi, Constable stated that past campaigns have been plagued by a “lack of planning and prioritisation”, but now, under himself and Ben Hines’ lead, there is a “12-month timeline”. For Constable, the goal is for the process to end before his term finishes next July.
Constable affirmed his commitment to retain a student chair and the “same level of student representation”.
Constable believed that the current consultations will return an “overwhelmingly positive” response, and said the reform achieved “near unanimous” approval by the Board while conceding that he and Vice-President Ben Hines (Libdependent) had been driving the project.
When asked what he thought he would get out of the consultations if his executive was already committed to the proposal, Constable said the survey was part of his efforts to maintain “radical transparency.”
He agreed with the CEO that the average USU members would not witness major changes when they interacted with the services the union offers.
Some sources inside the USU have raised concerns with the proposal.
A Board Director, who wishes to stay anonymous to speak on the record, labelled the decision as “right-wing”.
They raised concerns about student representation, stating incorporation would risk the loss of the independent student chairperson “and the structure of the influence of the Board could change drastically”.
They viewed incorporation as problematic, lending greater power to the Senate. The Director recalled that Senate-appointed Board Directors “voted against the student majority earlier this year to install a right-wing executive”.
Another source in the USU pointed to the Senate’s prior interventions, including sacking the Board’s Honorary Treasurer and Vice-President over an attempt to acquire the USU’s food and beverage facilities in 2011.
Incorporation would mean the USU’s agreement with University would be up for renegotiation, and that could change the amount of Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF) the USU receives. The union received $8 million in SSAF last year and won over $2 million more in contestable grants.
The Director thought it was timely that this reform is being pushed through “in a year where the Senate appointed Directors have orchestrated a manipulable right-wing executive who can push for incorporation against relatively negligible left-wing control.”
“The moment the USU becomes incorporated, I will become an abstentionist,” they said, meaning they would retain their seat but refuse to perform their role on the Board such as attending the monthly meetings.
Despite the dissent the plan appears on track to go ahead. The University confirmed that they had consulted and provided initial feedback on the incorporation proposal and a spokesperson told Honi that they “will stay involved as they refine their models for consideration.”
The spokesperson said that “we appreciate the important role the USU plays for our student community and are open to considering additional protections that will help ensure it is well set up to continue its operations into the future.”
