Wednesday 2 August, 5-6.30pm 

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice: A Dialogue is a special event designed for students and people interested in learning more about the upcoming Voice Referendum.

Hosted by ANU together with our partner universities, this special event at Llewellyn Hall will connect students and the general public from across Australia for an in-depth dialogue, covering diverse perspectives regarding the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice Referendum. 

The Dialogue features a special panel, moderated by Professor Mark Kenny, and will cover key issues and points of contention relating to the Voice and respond directly to questions from students. Our special panel includes: 

- Senator Jana Stewart, Labor Senator for Victoria 

- Senator Andrew Bragg, Liberal Senator for NSW 

- Dean Parkin - Director, From the Heart 

- Sally Scales - Partnership Manager, Uluru Statement from the Heart 

- Professor Megan Davis, Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous UNSW and Co-Chair Uluru Statement from the Heart 

The Dialogue is a unique and important opportunity to hear from our national student body as our nation prepares for one of the most crucial referendums in our history. 

The ANU School of Culture, History & Language (CHL) has uncovered a forgotten piece of history.

The date was 2 August 1943. US Navy Lieutenant John F. Kennedy and his crew patrolled the waters of Blackett Strait in the mid-Solomon Islands in his Patrol Torpedo boat PT-109, as was their usual duty. It was an ominously dark night devoid of moonlight or stars. Suddenly, the much larger Japanese destroyer Amagiri rode down the boat, splitting it in two, killing two crew members and injuring Lt. Kennedy and another crew member. 

The story goes that the 11 surviving crew swam to a small, unoccupied island, with Kennedy holding the strap of his injured crewmate’s lifejacket between his teeth, towing him while he swam roughly three-and-a-half miles to the island. 

The crew hid on this deserted island for several days, living on coconuts and rainwater till they could eventually swim to find a bigger island, where they went foraging for food and water. 

This is how they met two Solomon Islanders in a dugout canoe.  Scouts Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana worked with the Coastwatchers, a network of agents based behind enemy lines across the Pacific islands during WWII. Their job was to keep an eye on enemy activity and report this back to Allied forces. 

Few historical accounts focus on the role that Gasa and Kumana played in the rescue of JFK and his crew. They risked their lives out at sea—paddling through Japanese-patrolled waters—to transport Kennedy’s message back to the US base to organise a rescue, a message which he had carved onto a coconut husk—the one he later kept as a memento on his desk. 

While the story of JFK’s heroism is well-known globally, few know about what happened from this Indigenous perspective, given how little is recorded in books or historical documents. Young Solomon Islanders often do not have the opportunity to learn about their own history. Anna Kwai, a Solomon Islander historian and a PhD candidate at the ANU School of Culture, History & Language (CHL) says this was a subject she had to wait until she was at a foreign university to learn about, one that really should get to the local population through schools.

Events & activities

Thursday 27 July, 6-7.30pm  

Imagine condensing hours, days, maybe even years of complex research into a short, dynamic and accessible presentation in front of a packed theatre, while your communication skills are being judged by an expert panel. No pressure, right?!

It is often said that an 80,000-word thesis would take nine hours to read out loud, but our finalists have just three short minutes and a single PowerPoint slide to support them. 

Join us for that rare beast - an evening of intelligent entertainment suitable for the whole family and catch a glimpse of some of the amazing research projects that are being conducted by ANU PhD students. 

Register for the ANU 3MT Competition Final

Tuesday 1 August, 6-7.30pm 

The ANU School of History is pleased to host the 2023 Allan Martin Lecture delivered by Professor Glenda Sluga (Joint Chair in International History and Capitalism, in History and the Schuman Centre at the European University Institute).

Through the 20th century, Australians punched above their weight in the invention of the international order, as we have hardly known it. This lecture aims to go deeper into that international past—what we know and don’t know—by investigating Australians as international economic thinkers. 

Register for the 2023 Allan Martin Lecture

Thursday 3 August, 3-6pm  

Climate-fuelled disasters continue to devastate communities and ecosystems around the world. Incremental approaches to disaster management cannot keep up with the impacts of our changing climate. We must plan for record-breaking bushfire, record-breaking flood and record-breaking drought.

The 2023 ANU Disaster Solutions Update will explore the latest research developments in transformational solutions to disasters that aim to prepare us for unprecedented scenarios.  

Register for the ANU Disaster Solutions Update

Monday 7 August, 6-7pm  

Megan Davis and George Williams will be in conversation Mark Kenny on their new book Everything You Need to Know about the Voice. Australians will soon be faced with an important choice. Will they vote Yes to change our nation's Constitution to introduce an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice? Or will they vote No and bring the recognition process to a halt and, along with it, the aspirations of an overwhelming number of Australia's first peoples? The stakes could not be higher. 

Register for the Meet the Author with Megan Davis and George Williams

ANU Enterprise Bargaining Update

Representatives from the University, NTEU and other parties are continuing to work towards reaching an agreement that addresses the needs of both staff and the University. ANU has entered into another week of increased bargaining sessions, with a focus on pathways to more secure working arrangements as well as other entitlements for casual staff, fixed term employment, workloads and academic freedom.

Staff may also have seen last week that the University presented a revised pay offer of 18.5 per cent (or 20 percent compounded) over the life of the new Enterprise Agreement. In other words, by June 2026, you will be earning 20 per cent more than you were at the start of this year.

This means that in addition to the increase already provided to staff in February 2023 and in place of any one-off payments, the revised offer provides a 2.5 per cent increase in December 2023, and then a 2.5 per cent increase twice a year until June 2026

Details of the pay offer are presented in the table below.

Further information on enterprise bargaining at ANU is available via the ANU Enterprise Bargaining webpage.

Figure 1: Pay offer details

NTEU Protected Action

Despite the progress being made in bargaining, NTEU has notified the University that its members have voted to engage in protected industrial action in the form of a stoppage of work this Thursday 27 July 2023 from 12pm.

This is protected industrial action in accordance with the Fair Work Act. The University is prohibited from paying staff for the period of time that they engage in protected industrial action in the form of a work stoppage, and staff members are prohibited from accepting payment for the period of time that they engage in the work stoppage.

If you are a member of the NTEU who is engaging in protected industrial action when you are either rostered or expected to be working:

1. Please inform your supervisor on the day (or after you have ceased the work stoppage).

2. Staff (excluding casuals) should record participation as "Unpaid Industrial Action" in the absence function in HORUS to enable pay compliance under the Fair Work Act

3. Casual staff who were rostered to work at the time they are engaging in protected industrial action should not claim hours for the period they have engaged in protected industrial action. Staff should also inform the Human Resources Division via ea.comments@anu.edu.au the duration of the work stoppage.

Any questions can be forwarded to ea.comments@anu.edu.au or to your local Human Resources team.

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Rights, Relationships and Respect Program Report 

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) portfolio has released the first interim report into Rights, Relationships and Respect (RRR) program, developed by the Respectful Relationships Unit (RRU) and Student Safety and Wellbeing (SSW). There will also be an opportunity to talk about our future plans in the prevention space and the next iteration of the Student Safety and Wellbeing Plan. 

The findings from the evaluation of the online component of the program, which reached close to 3500 students in Semester 1, received overwhelmingly positive feedback. The initial evaluation of the program shows that: 

- Students undertook the course because they saw it as an important part of studying at ANU.

- After completing the program students know where to find help and trust our services to support them.

- The course is more relevant and engaging for students at ANU than previous consent programs.

Moving into 2024, the University will build a specific program for HDR students, introduce more peer led activities and update the RRR program based on initial feedback. We thank all the students who helped us with building the pilot program and look forward to improving our prevention programs as part of the Student Safety and Wellbeing Plan.

Enquiries about the Rights, Relationships and Respect Program or the Student Safety and Wellbeing Plan should be directed to director.university.experience@anu.edu.au.

Read the full preliminary evaluation report

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Extenuating Circumstances Application (ECA) | Supporting Coursework Study | Planning and Service Performance 

The new ECA eForm to support extenuating circumstances went live in Orientation Week in ISIS (the previous Special Consideration and Deferred Examination – SCADE - eForm will be retired). 

ECA is a new initiative that supports coursework students where extenuating circumstances have impacted their learning experience. Accepted grounds for an ECA will in most instances be previously unknown and unavoidable incidents that have a demonstrable and significant impact on a student's ability to study or to undertake an assessment item.  

Find out more about ECA

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Immersia 2023 - Call for Participation 

We are excited to announce that planning for the second edition of our multicultural festival, Immersia: Engaging with Asia and the Pacific, has kicked off! Immersia is an annual celebration of the cultures of Asia and the Pacific, diversity, inclusion, wellbeing, and the spirit of community. 

In this context, we are seeking expressions of interest for participation.  

Calling all researchers, academics, students, presenters, artists, dancers, singers, musicians and performers from the Asian, Pacific and Indigenous community. 

Be it a performance, discussion, demonstration, talk, seminar, workshop, or presentation we would love for you to showcase it at our festival. 

Applications are open until Monday 31 July. Interested people should email their proposal to immersia.cap@anu.edu.au.   

Indigenous Professional Staff Grants Program - Apply now  

The Indigenous Professional Staff Grants Program (IPSGP) provides grants for ANU Colleges, Schools, Service Divisions or other ANU Business Units for initiatives that support employment outcomes for Indigenous professional staff at ANU. Successful areas are required to match the grant with an equal funding commitment.  

Applications will close on Friday 11 August. 

Apply now for the IPSGP

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McMichael Award - Call for applications 

The McMichael Award supports research and career development through a global network of mentors and thought leaders connected to NCEPH through the late Emeritus Professor McMichael’s legacy.  

A minimum of $30,000 will be offered to the successful applicant to contribute to their agreed-upon research over 12 months. 

Applications will close on Friday 11 August. 

Apply now for the McMichael Award

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How to become a Consultant: Introduction to Personal Consultancies at ANU 

Thursday 10 August, 3-4pm 

This information session for ANU staff provides an introduction to what is involved in becoming a consultant, how to professionally run personal consultancies under the University's Paid Outside Work Policy, and how ANU Enterprise can support you. 

Find out more