24/7 Library Access

There are a plethora of reasons as to why students need to have access to spaces such as Matheson library 24/7. Students, especially in 2024, are facing an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis; more students than ever are having to take on more hours at both part-time and full-time jobs during their study, with 55% of students in 2023 increasing their employment hours due to the stress of increasing inflation and cost of goods.  Currently, a student who works a 9-5 job, has only 6 hours of access (8am-9am & 5pm-10pm), which pales in comparison to the 14 hours (8am-10pm) that a student who doesn't work has access to. We are calling on the University to make Levels G and LG of Matheson open 24/7 to allow students to have access to spaces they pay to access. 

Get Involved

• Sign our Open Letter to show the University that students require 24/7 spaces to better handle their studies around their work and life commitments
• Email Matheson Library and let them know that these changes would positively impact your life and studies

Special Consideration

The University currently has an array of Special Consideration procedures, yet all do not recognise weekends as days of rest. It is important for students and their extensions to be treated the same way as workplaces, and as such extensions should only include Academic Days. We are calling on the University to change existing policies around Special Considerations to only include Academic Days (Monday-Friday) in extension policy, and ultimately allow students to have vital rest during their weekends. 

Get Involved

• Email MSA President to explain why this change would help your academic experience at Monash, these emails will be passed on to the University

Parking Fees Increases

Students and staff are being impacted by an unreasonable price increase for on-campus parking across the Monash campuses. Parking fees have risen 106% this year alone which is plain exploitation of both students and staff. Additionally, the introduction of surge pricing is further exploiting students and staff who need to attend campus during all weeks of semester. The University claims these changes are to encourage students and staff to utilise public transport options over driving, however this is an example of ‘greenwashing’ and neglects the real reasons people drive to University. Public transport often increases travel time by up to 2 hours, and is not always accessible to people. We are calling on the University to roll back these changes and provide more affordable and accessible parking options.

Get Involved

• Sign the NTEUxMSAxMGA Open Letter, we have already amassed over 2000 signatures from students and staff alike 

• Email Vice-Chancellor Sharon Pickering and let her know why these parking increases are anti-student and anti-staff

• Visit SURLY to get a bumper sticker or laptop sticker to raise awareness about this clear exploitation of students

Accessibility at Monash

Accessibility and inclusivity is one of the most important factors that need to be considered when creating policy and procedures at Monash. While it is great that there are many provisions, there is still always room for improvement. We are calling on the University to: 

• Ensure that accessibility is a requirement to be considered prior to the beginning of all actions within the University

• Students are currently required to notify their lecturers that they have AAA requirements 2 weeks prior to a class test. Creating an automatic system where lectures are notified would not only remove the burden from students, but also decrease the administrative burden on staff

• There are still some physical accessibility issues on campus that need to be reviewed and maintained:

• Only half of the tactile indicators on the Campus Centre floor are currently in place 

• Braille is falling from the signs in Woodside 

Get Involved

• Reach out to MSA Disability & Carers Office Bearer, or MSA President if you have specific accessibility concerns and these will be raised with the University directly