Clubs and societies are known for being the place to make friends, share niche interests, or work on various wild projects with people you would have never met in high school.However, for Western Sydney students, they seem to be a place often far out of reach.
“Sometimes it can feel hostile to Western Sydney peeps,” said Natarina Ramdhana, who commutes from Blacktown; a trip which takes 1.5 – 2 hours.
“There is a cultural divide in Sydney. I do find that I have to fight for people in the West,” said Alessia Poles, current Marketing and Communication officer of the Sydney University Italian Society. Poles told Honi that her commute from Fairfield takes roughly 1hr and 10 minutes.
“There was a rally on campus about the housing prices and people being like ‘We have to go find places as far as Bankstown!’ And I’m like ‘Wow, I’ve been born in Sydney, I’ve lived here my whole life and I live further than Bankstown,’” she said.
The sidelining of Western Sydney students in campus culture fuels the inaccessibility of C&S events, such as late night events, frequently held in the Inner West which can be difficult to access via public transport.
Poles struggled to attend such events in her first year, making it harder to make friends due to her public transport options ending earlier in the night. “Otherwise, you’re paying an expensive Uber,” she stated. “After midnight, if the trains aren’t running, you’re screwed.”
It seems this is a common dilemma among many Western Sydney USyd students. Ramdhana also echoed the sentiment expressed by Poles. “Even if you leave campus fairly early — say 9pm — the commute times still make you get home crazy late, [which is] not good especially when you have work at 8am the next day.” she told us.
Economics, too, clearly come into play in this equation.“The really long commute and money involved with travelling sometimes doesn’t make a 2 hour event worth it for me,” she said. “I’d rather go on days when they’re held when I’m on campus, but that is very rare as they are always on when I have class.”
Maryam, a member of QOCO, agrees. “I find myself disengaged from any events that aren’t happening on days where I’m not already on campus, and even then, those that are held later in the day aren’t attendable as I need to be back home by certain times.”
Additionally, the expensive commute can prohibit them from affording tickets to bigger events, like galas and balls.
“I’m already blowing so much money on transport alone, like why is it $10 a day to commute to uni?” said Ramdhana, who expressed a desire to be more involved in the social side of campus culture, but finds herself often restricted to remote opportunities, such as contributing or editing student publications.
For those who are forced to drive, travel can be prohibitively more expensive. Yuna, who is the President and Events Director of the Cat Society and member of SUAnime, lives in Penrith and has a disability. She can’t use public transport and must drive to campus, which can cost as much as $48.24 each way due to petrol, tolls and parking.
Most students would like to move closer to campus but, given the present housing crisis, this seems almost impossible.
According to SQM research, the median weekly rent for a unit in the Inner West has grown from $441 in 2021 to $701 in 2024, increasing by 59%, while the minimum hourly rate has only increased by 18.5%.
“Staying anywhere near campus is just way out of question for me,” said Ramdhana, who is a full time university student working three jobs to keep afloat.
Others are blocked from moving out due to cultural barriers.
“In my culture it’s heavily looked down upon for children to move out of their families’ homes until marriage,” said Maryam, who would love to move out to avoid the draining 1 hour and 20 minute commute from Campbelltown.
There is much USyd clubs and societies can do to make their events more accessible.
“Be kinder to us Western Sydney community. Make ‘bigger’ events [like galas and balls] cheaper, as sometimes they’re the only ones we can afford to attend time wise,” said Ramdhana.
Poles suggested holding events that are near popular stops on train lines as some Inner West suburbs can be “awkward” to get to.
Ramdhana also recommended announcing and scheduling events more than a week in advance, giving working students the opportunity to organise their shifts around them.
“Hold events that are more spread out over Sydney instead of always having them in the city or Inner West,” she said. “Come visit the area for once too!”
