News

The University, the City Council, and OUSA have come under tough scrutiny after Critic revealed they collectively spent $40 000 on a four-and-a-half-page report on student drinking.
It appears that no concrete guidelines, expectations, or clear terms of reference were given at the start of the trip.


Following a damning report in the Herald on Sunday last week, all parties are doing damage control, maintaining that their contributions to the project were worthwhile. The University and the DCC spent $20 000 and $17 000 respectively. OUSA contributed a further $3000 from its professional development line.
A spokeswoman for the Vice Chancellor’s office said that the ongoing contribution of OUSA staffer Vanessa Reddy, who used the money for a year-long tour of American universities, will be more significant than simply a written report. An Alcohol Issues Task Force has already been established based on the report’s findings.
Speaking to the HoS, Mayor Peter Chin seemed unaware of the funding input of the DCC. “The ... huh … I can’t recall the details of the funding, that was not something that I personally had anything …” Chin explained to the HoS, “I’m not aware of the full details of … Clearly by if it was paid by us, I accept it was paid. In terms of the management of that, which budgets, that’s not something that I recall that I actually had anything to do with.”
Chin did manage to say that he thought the trip was value for money. “In terms of her having been there, having done all the work – as a result she is hugely more experienced. It’s how that report is used as time goes on that will determine the value for investment.
“Just because a report is four pages doesn’t mean it’s a bad report or good report. It’s the information that will lie behind all that and how it’s used.”
OUSA President Harriet Geoghegan tells Critic that OUSA staff are paid less than commercial rates, and to compensate for this OUSA often contributes to staff development by enabling them to upskill while working.
According to Geoghegan, OUSA will benefit from Reddy’s upskilling in a number of areas, including being able to offer a greater range of events, and providing a “road map” for discussing an official stance on alcohol consumption. “We are not trying to ‘water down’ Scarfie culture or discourage students from drinking, but support students in doing so safely and responsibly.”
Despite media criticism that the report was insufficient given the money put into it, Geoghegan maintains that she would prefer an easily “digestable” report than a “waffly 40-page report.” Geoghegan does not mince words when discussing the HoS article. “I am really disappointed that the journalist misquoted and got facts wrong,” she says. “I explained [it all] to him but still he made it look as though we sent her off and spent $40k – seemed to be a real jab, and wasn’t surprising to find out he used to work for Salient.”