Liv Yu

Running for: General Representative

HELLO ANU!!! My name is Olivia (Liv) and I am more than excited to run on ANUSA with RAGE as your General Representative. Currently studying a Bachelors in Law & Political Science, I have always had a massive passion in politics, particularly concerning feminism and education. This leads to my desire to deliver the services you need, deserve and want. Hence, in this election, I wish to address and work with university leadership to improve campus safety for women and make it easier for you to afford education.

CW: SASH

Women’s issues are everyone’s issues.

The ANU and its disproportionately high SASH rates.
The ANU is notorious for having highest rates of sexual assault and sexual harassment (SASH) out of any other Australian university. Just to give an example, the Australian Human Rights Commission Change the Course in 2017 found that 1 in 5 women experienced some form of SASH on ANU campus.

This is a rate that the ANU should be incredibly ashamed of and a rate that should not exist at all. The trends of SASH are a plague and virus on our campus. As a diverse and unique community, the ANU needs to be proactive in reducing rates of SASH, especially in our residential halls

The ANU continues to fail victim-survivors, and hold perpetrators to account. As a victim-survivor I am far too familiar with this negligence.

Entering the legal framework is a daunting, lengthy and often re- traumatising process. The ANU’s privatised reporting process is no better and does not effectively protect victim-survivors or adequately provide them with support.

The impractical and insensitive reporting processes have caused students and victim-survivors to lose faith in the ANU’s reporting process. This is a failure that must end.

Victims need, deserve and want protection, justice and security.

To deliver this, I advocate strongly for:

  1. More accessible ways for victims to receive justice, including:
  • A reporting process that is co- designed by people with lived experience
  • Consistent policy and process that aligns with the incoming national student safety code
  1. More autonomous spaces for fem* identifying persons
  2. Advocating for fem* wings in ANU residences
  3. Improve training of CSOs, Heads of Halls, SRs, Residential Wellbeing Coordinators to provide and create accessible services that are trauma-informed, culturally and queer inclusive and diverse.

There is a concerning lack of awareness surrounding domestic violence.
Domestic violence (DV) remains as one of the largest impediments to women’s lives. However, as one of the largest universities in Australia, the ANU is simply not doing enough (or nothing) for the millions of women affected by this pandemic.

Currently, there is a lack of guidelines and mechanisms implemented by the ANU concerning DV. Moreover, discussion and awareness surrounding this astronomical issue is close to none.

Our fem*identifying students need, deserve and want a campus that acknowledges and works to solve one of the biggest threats to women’s lives.

Why is this the ANU’s issue?

Many victims of DV, like myself, move to university, to flee from abuse.

However, thousands are prevented from doing so due to financial and societal strain. They are denied the bare minimum: the ability to escape hardship and violence.

To relieve this, the least the ANU can do is raise awareness surrounding DV and its impacts (which it has unsurprisingly failed to do). It is also vital for the ANU to take action, rather than rely on words without promise.

Subsequently, I wish to work with ANUSA and the ANU to:

  1. Connect students to specialised DV support and assistant services, including ANUSA Lawyers
  • Students can choose to preserve their anonymity
  • Work with local services (YWCA, Beryl Women Inc, etc.) to provide emergency accommodation for students.
  1. Demand the ANU to introduce immediate relocation assistance for victim- survivors
  • This can guarantee safety, housing and long-term support for victims

  1. Waive accommodation deposits and upfront rent for students fleeing DV.

Why are textbooks so goddamn expensive??????
Everyone knows that textbooks are ridiculously and insanely expensive. No student should be expected to pay more than $100 on a book they’ll only use for one semester. No average student can also afford to pay for textbooks, which is ironic, because textbooks are essential to our education, and yet, they remain inaccessible.

I aim to work with the university and ANUSA to:

  • Create a fund for students with low socio-economic backgrounds, financially unstable or marginalised backgrounds to pay for their textbooks
  • Increase the number of free textbook copies available on the ANU library for better and broader access

Thank you for taking your time to read my suggested policies as General Representative in 2026. I am extremely proud to be running under and working with RAGE who will deliver the services you NEED, DESERVE and WANT. Together, we will work towards building an ANU campus that embodies the principles of respect, advocacy and fairness.

VOTE [1] Olivia Yu for Gen Rep
VOTE [1] RAGE for ANUSA