YouX receives the majority of our funding from the University of Adelaide as part of a Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF) funding agreement.
Prior to this, YouX collected amenities fees directly from students enrolling at the University and controlled its own funds and how they would be spent. The passing of Voluntary Student Union (VSU) legislation in 2006 ended this, and dramatically reduced the amount of funds available for student unions to operate.
In 2011, the Federal Government passed new legislation to allow the University to collect its own SSAF, and the Government has stipulated the types of things the SSAF can be spent on – which are mostly the kinds of things we want to do anyway (phew!). The University has allowed YouX to apply for some of the SSAF money to expand our services; they have also opted to provide all of our base funding from the SSAF at present.
Each year, YouX must apply to the University to receive monies from the SSAF. Adelaide University Sport also receives SSAF money, and the University keeps some to fund its own student services and amenities.
We use the SSAF money to deliver core services like student welfare, academic advocacy, events, clubs administration, prayer rooms, women's and queer rooms, On Dit and Student Radio, employment services, student representation and more. Each year we do our own survey of students to find out how students are accessing our services and what their needs are – but we are always interested to hear more.
To find out more about how the University is spending your SSAF visit their website.
Please email us at youx@adelaide.edu.au with your thoughts or to ask any questions.