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Swinburne Student Association
Learn how Swinburne is collaborating with students to co-create the services and functions of the new Swinburne Student Association, and how you can get involved.
SSA Inaugural Election Results
The Swinburne Student Association Inaugural Election has now concluded. Find all the details of the newly elected representatives below.
Swinburne has been on a journey with students to co-create the university experience of the future.
We want all our students to contribute to the future operations of student-led activities at Swinburne so we can provide the best university experience possible.
This page will be updated as more information comes to hand. We encourage all students to stay up-to-date by visiting this page regularly.
The story so far
Up until now, student representation has been supported across Swinburne Student Life, Swinburne Student Union and the Student Representative Council. Feedback from our students has been that it’s not always clear where and how they are represented in university decision-making.
We developed two operational models that address this feedback from our students.
The proposed student representation models provided a clear structure for where students can access representation and a range of student-led services:
- Option 1 was based on maintaining the current model with a few minor changes.
- Option 2 offered the opportunity to create a new Swinburne Student Association to replace the Swinburne Student Union and Swinburne Student Life.
These models were presented for students to vote on during the single student body election period, which ran from 8 – 15 April 2024.
More than 3,900 students had their say, with 88.85 per cent voting in favour of creating a new Swinburne Student Association.
Subsequently, a co-creation workshop was held to inform the brand identity of the Swinburne Student Association. More workshops will be held soon to determine other aspects of the operation of the new entity.
2024 Swinburne Student Association Inaugural Election
The 2024 Swinburne Student Association (SSA) Inaugural Election has concluded. Below are the elected SSA Board of Directors and Swinburne Student Council Members, as well as the National Union of Students Delegates. Nominations and voting for two further Swinburne Student Council members (First Nations and Accessibility Representatives) will occur during the upcoming University elections.
Swinburne Student Association Board of Directors
As a single student body established for Swinburne students, the new Swinburne Student Association (SSA) will be governed by a Board of Directors that includes six (6) Student Directors and three (3) University Directors. The six inaugural Student Directors were appointed following the SSA election held in September and are listed in ‘Student positions’ section on this page. The three University Directors have been appointed by Swinburne’s Vice Chancellor and are listed in the ‘Staff positions’ section.
Board of Directors
| Elected positions | Role | Elected representative(s) |
|---|---|---|
| One | President | Sanara Galhenage |
| One | Vice President | Tess Robb |
| Four | Student Director |
|
Swinburne Student Council
| Elected positions | Role | Elected representative |
|---|---|---|
| One | Welfare Lead | Sandali Girish |
| One | Education Lead | Midursan Gopalakrishnan |
| One | Activities Representative | Amit Aalok |
| One | Cultural and Faith Representative | Reshab Srinivasan |
| One | Women’s Representative | Rianne Loise Bragagnolo |
| One | Queer Representative | Pimmada Lalitrungroat |
| One | International Representative | Quoc Hoang Le |
| One | Swinburne Online Representative | Lachlan Duncan |
| One | First Nations Representative | TBA |
| One | Accessibility Representative | TBA |
National Union of Students (NUS) Delegates
| Elected delegates | Role | Elected representatives |
|---|---|---|
| Seven | Delegate |
|
Swinburne Student Association
| Positions | Elected Positions |
Elected by and from | Election Candidates |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Nations Representative | One | Students |
|
| Accessibility Representative | One | Students |
|
Swinburne Student Association Board of Directors
| Elected positions | Role at Swinburne | Appointed representative |
|---|---|---|
| One | Director, Student Experience | Ian Thomson |
| One | Director, Commercial and Financial Planning and Analysis | Stacey di Cocco |
| One | Associate Professor of Marketing and Academic Director, Student Experience | Carla Ferraro |
On Tuesday 24 September, nominations will also open for the election of two additional Swinburne Student Association (SSA) positions on the Swinburne Student Council:
- First Nations Representative
- Accessibility Representative
Please note the following regarding elected positions:
- Elected Presidents and Vice Presidents also serve as Directors during their office term.
- Students elected to the SSA President or Vice President roles are ineligible to nominate for roles in Swinburne University of Technology Elections (student members of the University’s Council or Academic Senate).
- A person who is an elected student member on the University’s Council or the University’s Academic Senate cannot simultaneously hold office as the President or Vice President.
If you have any questions about the election, please get in touch with Returning Officer Tully Smith at elections@elect1.com.au.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can contribute to the future operation of Swinburne Student Association by:
- participating in further upcoming co-creation workshops on SSA operations
- nominating and voting to elect the two additional Swinburne Student Association (SSA) positions on the Swinburne Student Council (First Nations Representative and Accessibility Representative)
During the interim period, while the Swinburne Student Association is being established, student services will continue operating as they have been, with no changes to how these services can be accessed.
Want more information?
Our friendly team is here to help answer any questions about the facilities and services we have available here at Swinburne.