Equity

The CAPA equity officers – women’s, queer, international, and disabilities – are now part of the CAPA Executive Committee, ensuring a strong equity lens in CAPA’s operations.

In 2018, the CAPA Equity committee launched the Raise Our Voice campaign, which intends to raise awareness of equity initiatives in postgraduate spaces. The campaign highlights marginalised voices among the postgraduate population, and emphasises national advocacy for equity groups. All CAPA affiliates are invited to participate in the Raise Our Voice campaign. We are seeking to spotlight excellent equity initiatives by CAPA affiliates, in order to give recognition to your contributions and inspire student leaders around Australia to do more for equity groups. The first outcome of the Raise Our Voice campaign is the Equity Student Representatives Handbook, which provides guidance for how to effectively represent equity groups at a postgraduate level.

International
Disabilities
Queer
Women

2019 International Officer: Devendra Singh

e: international@capa.edu.au

Download: International Officer first quarter report 2019

Media releases:

Alliance of NSW student associations advocate for concession fares for international students (6 March 2019)

Portfolio activities in 2019 so far:
I have established relations with various stakeholders which includes foreign diplomats, organisations such as VicWISE which are working for the employability of international students, and other student associations such as AFIS and the ASEAN Youth Organisation. Having a widespread network will help CAPA as an organisation to better advocate for issues impacting international students in Australia.

Planned activities for 2019:
I look forward to further involvement with current stakeholders, connecting and representing CAPA to other student organisations, and establishing a network with the organisations who are there to benefit the student community.

Key issues impacting international postgraduate students:

Concession fares on public transportation in Victoria and New South Wales – In Victoria, CAPA and our Victorian affiliates have been running the Fares Fair PTV campaign since 2017. We have recently established the Cross Campus Fares Fair Steering Committee which has been formed with representation from postgraduate student organisations in Victoria. In New South Wales, we are beginning campaign efforts for international student concession fares and will be presenting a position paper to advocate on the statewide issue.
International student exploitation – Resources are developed across various universities, which are distributed during the orientation. This helps the students to better become aware of the prevailing ways of exploitation in order to prevent themselves from falling victim. Further, help and support are always available to students from their universities as well as state departments.

2019 Disabilities Officer: Marguerite Biasatti