Thursday 5 October, 2023

Following the incident on campus last month, Ngambri and Ngunnawal custodian, Paul Girrawah House, and Aunty Anne Martin, Director of the Tjabal Centre, will host a gathering on Thursday 5 October at 10am to acknowledge and honour our students, their families, our community and people from all parts of the campus and country.

The gathering, which will include a smoking ceremony, will take place near the carved tree, between Tjabal Indigenous Higher Education Centre and Fellows Oval. All in our community are welcome.

At ANU, a significant source of our greenhouse gas emissions is from University-related travel. Reducing these emissions is achievable through informed decision-making that considers environmental impacts. Since 2021, ANU staff and students have developed a program to address travel emissions with co-designed solutions using new tools, technologies and goal setting. ANU leadership has recently endorsed a milestone target of 50 per cent reduction in emissions from the 2019 baseline. The good news is that we know this is possible because we have already achieved this target post-COVID. Global temperatures over June-August this year have been the hottest on record by a wide margin. As Australia moves into what’s expected to be a particularly hot summer, we can reflect on how each of our decisions has the power to positively or negatively impact climate change. For positive outcomes to be realised, transformational change and collective action is required. 

Read more 

Join us in celebrating the rich tapestry of talent within the ANU staff community by nominating deserving individuals for the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor's Awards. These awards honour the remarkable contributions made by both professional and academic staff to ANU, as well as their positive impact on local, national, and international communities. 

Deadline for submissions is Monday 9 October. 

Submit your nomination now 

Wednesday 4 October, 5.30pm

Discover how data technology fuels creativity for a sustainable future through the works of eminent and emerging artists. Engage with playful and thought-provoking artworks and designs that explore the world of data and technology. Featuring panel speakers Jenna Lee, Anna Raupach, Judy Watson, and Mitchell Whitelaw, with facilitation by Beck Davis and Katherine Moline.

Register here 

Wednesday 4 October, 7pm

A key event on the School of Music and ANU calendar, this competition celebrates the talent and dedication of classical music students. Through the generosity of Ms Christine Roach, students from The Australian National University are given the opportunity to perform in front of an esteemed panel and guests for their share of $20,000 in prize money. 

Register here 

 Tuesday 10 October, 6.30pm 

Join the College of Asia Pacific Students Society, for a discussion about the future of security in this region that is vital to Australia's security. The Pacific is a region that will only grow in importance, as it is the theatre for great power conflict, and is ravaged by climate change. Attendees will have the chance to engage with experts and policy shapers in the region, directly asking questions and learning from our speakers. 

Register here

Thursday 12 October, 6pm 

Join Professor Benjamin Penny as he highlights the challenges of relying on big data analytics to understand human behavior and advocates a micro-perspective that values individual analysis. He emphasizes philology, drawing from his Chinese education, to scrutinize word nuances and highlight the beauty of focusing on specifics in today's data-driven era. 

Register here 

Thursday 12 October, 6pm

Join award-winning author, Melissa Lucashenko as she will be in conversation with Alex Sloan on her new novel Edenglassie, which torches Queensland's colonial myths, while reimagining an Australian future. 

Register here 

Monday 16 October, 6pm 

Join author, Isabelle Reinecke as she will be in conversation with Kim Rubenstein on her new book Courting Power: Law, Democracy & the Public Interest in Australia.

Register here 

 Tuesday 17 October 5.30pm

Visit the Sharing Stories Arts Exchange Exhibition, featuring creative outcomes by participants of the program in 2023. The Sharing Stories Arts Exchange (SSAE) is a creative participatory project focused on building positive reciprocal relationships between the Canberra community and local regional Indigenous and non-indigenous communities. 

Register here 

Wednesday 18 October, 5.30pm

Looking to supercharge your career or follow your passion? Our Postgraduate Information Exchange is your chance to hear from experts and alumni about postgraduate study at ANU – featuring an Alumni Panel discussion.

Register here 

Thursday 19 October, 3pm

Join Jennifer Burgess, Head of Project Management for an information session for ANU research, academic and professional staff, providing an introduction to preparing and submitting a tender response, including finding out about tender opportunities for Category 2 and Category 3 research funding. This workshop will delve into professional project management techniques, effective relationship management, time and budget management, administrative and logistical aspects, risk and compliance, financial reporting, and milestone reporting. 

Register here 

Indigenous Cultural Awareness Workshop | People and Culture 

Friday 20 October  

This half-day interactive workshop by Anaiwan man, Dave Widders, will provide staff at all levels with an introduction to Indigenous history and culture in Australia, and an opportunity to share and learn stories from personal and work experiences. Dave is an experienced presenter and is driven by a passion to make a positive difference for Aboriginal people and promote reconciliation. 

Register here 

Enterprise Agreement Update – Access period and staff vote  

The University is in a position to provide staff with further details on the timeline for the upcoming access and vote periods for the proposed ANU Enterprise Agreement 2023 – 2026.  

Access Period: Monday 9 October 2023 to Sunday 15 October 2023 

On Friday 6 October 2023, all staff will receive an email that will formally confirm the commencement of the seven-day access period from Monday 9 October 2023, and provide information on the staff vote process. 

During the access period, staff can view and consider the proposed Agreement, ask questions, and access a range of resources to assist in understanding the key changes in the proposed Agreement that are relevant to their employment at ANU.  These resources include: 

--The proposed ANU Enterprise Agreement; 

--Explanatory document demonstrating the key changes from the current Enterprise Agreement by clause; 

--Fact sheets; and 

--Information sessions (online and in-person). 

Staff can register for the Information Sessions now via this webpage. If staff are unable to attend, recordings of the online sessions will also be made available on the webpage. 

Staff Vote: Monday 16 October to Friday 20 October  

The access period will be followed by a staff ballot, where eligible staff can cast their vote on whether they approve the proposed Enterprise Agreement.  The ballot will commence on Monday 16 October 2023 and close at 5pm on Friday 20 October 2023. Further information on the voting process will be provided to staff via email on Friday 6 October 2023. 

The outcome of the staff vote will be communicated to all staff on Monday 23 October 2023. 

Further information: 

The ANU Enterprise Bargaining webpage has been updated with further information regarding the access period and staff vote processes.  

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the ANU Bargaining team at ea.comments@anu.edu.au 

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Message from Chief Information Security Office - ANU Cyber Security Alert on libwebp 

We have been notified of a critical software vulnerability that is actively being exploited across various applications and platforms. This flaw, found in the widely-used libwebp software library, could potentially grant hackers unauthorised access to your devices. To protect your systems, please ensure you promptly update all software and operating systems, especially if you’re using ANU-managed devices. For non-ITS managed devices and personal/BYOD devices, apply al available patches, and verify that automatic updates are enabled for your software. Your immediate action is crucial in safeguarding our community’s security. More information and mitigation solutions can be found here. 

Disability Action Plan Update

A safe and accessible student experience is paramount to the ANU community. ANU is undertaking important steps to improve the experience of our students. These include:

1. Through the University Experience Division, we will widen our support pathways to ensure all students who experience forms of discrimination and harassment can find timely support.

2. Through the team in Facilities and Services and external expertise, ANU will establish dedicated “hot spots” of remedial work to make parts of ANU more accessible and timeline for rectification.

3. Through the ITS, Centre of Learning and Teaching (CLT) and other teams working we are growing our capability to ensure future content and systems comply with digital accessibility requirements.

4. Through the ANU Communications and Engagement team, we will improve our wider communications including a dedicated web presence regarding our performance on improving accessibility.

The Disability Action Plan for 2024 will be finalised by the end of October of this year and will commence shortly afterwards. The immediate actions will be finalised by Semester one 2024with some actions completed before the end of the year. As these actions are being implemented, we will work closely with student groups to ensure they have continual input.

I look forward to updating you on the progress of both the immediate actions and the Disability Action Plan throughout 2024.

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Accreditation from the Australian Breastfeeding Association

I am pleased to share that ANU has received accreditation as a Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace from the Australian Breastfeeding Association. ANU provides designated parenting spaces across the campus for staff and students to breastfeed and express that are private, welcoming, and comfortable. You can locate these spaces, using our interactive campus map. 

This accreditation reflects our ongoing commitment to providing a supportive and inclusive environment for all members of the ANU community to work and learn. 

Read more on our breastfeeding policy and procedure