National Union of Students (Australia) - Membership and Organisation

Membership and Organisation

NUS is composed of all affiliated student organisations, and is organised at both a National and a State level. Most university student organisations within the major cities are affiliated to NUS. Member organisations pay an annual fee which is indexed to the Consumer Price Index. Most, but not all, major institutions’ student bodies are affiliated to NUS.

Currently, the University of Queensland Union, the student representative body of the University of Queensland, a Group of Eight university, does not accredit to the National Union of Students. However, it remains an affiliate.

The supreme decision-making body of NUS nationally is the National Conference, held annually at La Trobe University (Victoria) in December. This conference is the central vehicle for policy debate and the election of national office bearers. Delegates are elected from all financial member organisations. The number of delegates and the number of votes held by delegates from a given campus is dependent on the EFTSU’s (Equivalent Full Time Study Units) of the campus. Smaller-scale annual conferences are also held at a state level to elect state office-bearers.

Queer (Queer Collaborations), Education, Women’s and Small & Regional conferences are also held annually to develop policy specific to those areas, (although the Women's conference, Nowsa, and Queer collaborations are autonomous from NUS).