‘NatCon’ is a word that sends a thrill through the veins of student politicians in Australia, and a smidgen of terror into student journalists. But what’s all the fuss about?
Overview
NatCon is short for National Conference, which is the annual general meeting of the National Union of Students (NUS). Founded in 1987, the NUS’ original purpose was to represent all post-secondary students in Australia. It currently functions as the highest representative student body, which universities and educational institutions contribute funds to in exchange for a certain number of delegates, meaning an individual that represents a faction. The number of delegates per University is based on the number of full-time students attending said university and the amount of money the university contributes. It functions with a team of federal executives alongside state branches, of whom a substantial number wind up working for the Labor Party.
Many institutions in Australia, such as TAFE, don’t have a student representative body. This makes the NUS very important in providing a national platform to hold those in power to account on behalf of students across Australia, and makes NatCon a significant event to pass motions and agree on national policies for the following year. It allows students to form a national collective and establish consensus on significant policies, providing a level of power that many institutions couldn’t otherwise access.
In 2024, USyd paid approximately $76,000 for the utter privilege of being an accredited organisation. Non-accredited organisations (those who don’t pay fees) are not able to send voting delegates. In January 2024 the NUS executives set the rate of subscription at $2.11 per equivalent full-time student load (EFTSL), although historically it’s been as high as $5. In that case, seventy-six thousand is a bargain! USyd’s hefty fees permit us seven delegates, who are allotted a combined total of 73 votes. What a treat!
Delegate Criteria
| Equivalent full-time student load (EFTSL) | Number of delegates allocated |
| 1,000-2,000 | 2 |
| 2,001-5,000 | 3 |
| 5,001-8,000 | 4 |
| 8,001-12,000 | 5 |
| 12,001-18,000 | 6 |
| 18,001+ | 7 |
Mode of Attendance (MoA)
This year, NatCon is taking place at Federation University, located in Mount Helen on Wadawurrung land, just 10 kilometres southeast of Ballarat. The event will last a total of 4 days, from the 9th to the 13th of December. Attendees will start their days at 9am and finish at a cool 10pm, leaving plenty of time for binge-drinking, frantic negotiations, and little time for sleep.
Traditionally, motions and elections held at NatCon follow a similar outcome most years, due to factions wading through negotiations weeks in advance. A faction is a group of people with shared political views, who frequently make deals with other factions whose political views are completely different so they can get a desirable election outcome. It’s all above board, of course.
Factional Overviews (FO)
FO1. Student Unity, better known as Unity (or Labor Right), is the most significant faction in attendance as they usually hold a majority of between 45-55% of votes. This represents the right wing of the Labor Party, and one of the most relaxed contingents at NatCon. We will likely see Unity kicking up their feet and watch others bickering over motions before it passes in their favour. Members of Unity can often be identified by their matching t-shirts, or seen skulling a mysterious beverage referred to as Unity Juice, which has been known to cause instant hangovers. Very ‘Boris Johnson in peak Covid’ of them!
FO2. The National Labor Students (NLS) are the next cab off the rank, with less than 10% of votes this year. NLS is known as part of Labor Left, a faction that loves a good lobby and a sprinkle of activism. They have a firm alliance with Unity, going back decades. Every year since 1987, the President of the NUS has been a member of NLS and the General Secretary has been part of Unity. With the exception of 2007, when everyone decided to try something different – and then promptly reverted to their old ways the following year. Old habits die hard… or don’t die… or… I’m confused?!
FO3. The National Independents, known as Indies, have around 15% of the votes. In 2018 they merged with Grassroots, forming a coalition called Grindies, but this alliance fell apart in 2022 and has never been revived. While Grassroots is a political tour de force at USyd, they have virtually no representation in the NUS and have very little power beyond USyd. The Indies are based in Western Australia, and since breaking up with Grassroots have often been seen canoodling with NLS.
FO4. Socialist Alternative, or SAlt, is your token group of Trots present at NatCon, with about 20-25% of votes. While Unity & NLS love a good chinwag, SAlt are known for their fascination with megaphones and their constant struggle to bring about political justice, whilst deafening everyone in the room (with Unity and NLS present, maybe shouting will get at least a thought of activism into their plans for next year). Though, we can accredit SAlt for their incredible skills in national mobilising – NatCon being the perfect place to plan their upcoming actions to piss off Vice Chancellor Mark Scott, and other university managements alike.
FO5. There are also the Australian Liberal Students’ Federation, or Libs, which are the furthest right-leaning faction. However, they distrust student politics so much that a sighting of a Lib at NatCon is like spotting a drop bear in the Sydney CBD. And there’s even a faction called the Australian Young Democrats, but among the 170 delegates they’ll hardly be able to get a word in edgewise.
USyd’s NatCon Delegate Summary
| Maddie Clark | SAlt |
| Lauren Finlayson | SAlt |
| Deaglan Godwin | SAlt |
| Aryan Ilkhani | Liberal |
| Leo Moore | Unity |
| Simon Uptis | SAlt |
| Mia Williams | NLS |
Unit Outcome
Buckle up for a star-studded week, where your brave and dedicated Honi Soit reporters, Imogen Sabey, Purny Ahmed and Ella McGrath will be beaming to you live from NatCon. We’ll have peerless Twitter coverage (or X, if we must) and daily reports of the latest insane remarks to come from the mouths of overly confident politicians. Rain, hail, or shine, the hacks won’t get away with anything on our watch. Stay tuned for more.
