About
Student Voice Australasia (SVA) is an international network of students and staff from tertiary institutions partnering to foster and embed a culture of authentic, meaningful and inclusive student engagement in institutional decision-making across governance, learning, teaching and student experience.
We collaborate, learn from each other, and share best practice to:
influence a culture of active student participation;
build the capacity of all students to meaningfully engage in ways that work for them; and,
build staff capacity to engage and enable student participation, including from diverse voices.
We are a network that is resourced and active throughout the year. We provide a range of services and resources, as well as foster a democratic centre for our members to build the network and its deliverables collectively and collaboratively, harnessing the expertise present throughout the network.
Our 2024 plans
We will continue to foster a collaborative community of practitioners that support, promote and enable others to embed student voice and partnership practices and will engage widely to empower student voice in tertiary education.
Continue to develop new, shareable and flexible resources which meet the needs of network members and match content to known barriers in student voice and participation in higher education, including providing targeted activities on including diverse voices in institutional decision-making.
We will maintain our celebrated online network sessions for professional development throughout the year including Practitioner Network, Student Network, Students with Disability Leadership Collective as well as grow our new Vocational Education and Training Network.
Deliver our signature events, including the national Student Voice Symposium which invites leading researchers and expert practitioners to examine and support student voice in higher education. In 2024, we aim to hold the Symposium in person.
We will continue to provide expertise and outreach services to support members with approaches to embedding practices of authentic student engagement through partnership in institutional decision-making across student experience.
Beyond our expertise and core business in the Australian tertiary sector, we will continue to build relationships and collaborate with partners across Australasia, including our counterparts in Aotearoa New Zealand.
After three years being hosted at the University of Adelaide, SVA is looking forward to fresh feel our new institutional host University of Southern Queensland will bring into 2024. We are excited to continue the rapid growth and bring value more value to SVA members by introducing new initiatives, setting up an online collaborative platform and continue experimenting with new session formats.
We will be looking at establishing stronger partnerships with key organisations, such as Australian and Aotearoan student associations, TEQSA, ASQA and TAFE Directors Australia, and further cementing SVA’s role in the sector.
Governance
SVA Steering Group
The Steering Group provides strategic direction and governance oversight against the agreed objectives within the SVA project plan. The Steering Group monitors institutional and sector-wide issues and provides advice on those that may present an opportunity or risk to the project or have impact on the project’s success. The Steering Group ensures provision of the required resources for planning and delivery of the project and champions SVA at sector level to foster relevant strategic connections with stakeholder bodies and groups.
SVA Operational Group
The Operational Group is co-convened by nominated staff and student partners and informs and guides the delivery of annual project plans. The Operational Group comprises staff and student champions from each institutional member, acting as the link between SVA’s core business and their local context and who drive and enact our work.
Read more about the Operational Group commitments in this document: SVA Operational Group [PDF]