AUTSA annual general meeting meets a quorum for the first time since 2019

By David WIlliams (he/him)

The promise of pizza and giveaways meant the AUTSA annual general meeting attracted over 30 people, helping it meet a quorum for the first time in three years. Thirty-six people were present during the July 28 meeting in the city campus student lounge - 31 in person and five online. SRC President Sara Youssef says she was actually surprised that more people didn’t turn up.

“We don’t have to make it boring or stressful. People can come along and ask the questions they want - an AGM should be fun,” she says. Last year, the meeting didn’t attract enough students to go ahead - the previous vice president called it “a pretty big fuck up.” During the meeting, Youssef and SRC vice presidents Macauley Cunningham and Zina Abu Ali discussed the strategy AUTSA will be using going forward. “Coming into AUTSA, there was never really a strategy,” Youssef says.

“We didn’t really have that sense of direction, we were doing things on the go.” AUTSA General Manager Jo-Hill Ismail expressed her thanks to AUTSA’s volunteers for working in such difficult conditions. “There is no way we could have pulled through and done all of these activities if it wasn't for people helping us in this space.” South Campus Representative Ashley Kirkness says she is delighted by how well the general meeting went, and how students reacted.

“Overall, I was quite impressed by student engagement and the kind of questions that were asked,” she says. “All the staff were making eyes at each other across the room, saying ‘you take this question and you take that question’.” The meeting was capped off with Youssef giving away $500 worth of Prezzy cards and encouraging people to put their hands up to run for SRC positions.