Student union Arc @ UNSW Limited is the
student organisation at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and is a
not-for-profit public company. In 2005, the
Federal Parliament passed legislation making membership of student unions voluntary for the first time. This policy, known as
voluntary student unionism (VSU), threatened the funding model behind the four UNSW student organisations with compulsory membership provisions. A report commissioned by the university administration recommended that three of those organisations – the Student Guild of Undergraduates and Postgraduates, the University of New South Wales Union and the College of Fine Arts Students' Association – merge into a single student organisation, a structure in use at the
University of Melbourne. Arc was established on 15 August 2006 and launched early the following year, taking over the functions of three existing
student organisations, the UNSW Student Guild, UNSW Union, and COFA Students' Association. The organisation supports the activities of student clubs, student volunteer programs such as orientation week, student publications, two student galleries (Kudos Gallery and AD Space), and houses an elected
student representative council. Arc operates the
Roundhouse entertainment venue, the Graduation & Gift Store on UNSW's main campus in
Kensington, and until recently, The Whitehouse bar and café which shut down permanently on 23 April 2021. Arc also operates a student support service, providing legal and academic advocacy. Arc@UNSW exists independently from UNSW. Arc has three constitutional student bodies: • the Student Development Committee (SDC) – supporting clubs, volunteer programs, courses and activities, • the Postgraduate Council (PGC) – representing the postgraduate community at UNSW and • an elected Student Representative Council (SRC) The student organisation is a major service provider on campus, running a number of retail outlets, student media such as
Tharunka and an entertainment venue, the
Roundhouse. The Arc Student Representative Council represents students to the university and nationally and fights for their rights. Arc also provides support and funding to university clubs and societies and runs student volunteer programs such as Orientation Week. In 2007, the University of New South Wales Sports Association and UNSW Lifestyle Centre merged to become UNSW Sport and Recreation then later absorbed into Arc @ UNSW to become Arc Sport. It runs the external sporting facilities and services and supports the 30 UNSW affiliated sporting clubs that compete both at home and abroad.
Student media Blitz Blitz is a student publication, published online by Arc @ UNSW, based at the University of New South Wales.
Blitz under this name first appeared in session 2, 1988, but a similar "what's on" style publication had been issued by the then
University Union since the early 1970s. Initially it consisted of a simple sheet or two of paper, but it evolved into a magazine style format in session two 1994 when a former editor from another student publication on campus,
Tharunka, was hired to found a weekly "what's on" magazine.
Blitz sometimes pays casual contributors for submitted articles and photographs, and employs a student online editor, a student designer, a student TV producer and a student radio producer.
Blitz typically covers the goings-on around campus and conducts interviews and publishes stories relating to current student activities. It widely publicises Arc services and activities on campus. Due to its non-partisan policy, it does not cover political issues, with the exception of
voluntary student unionism. However, in 2004 an edition of
Blitz was withdrawn by the student union because it contained a guide to rolling a
joint. The editor Janet Duncan claimed there had been censorship of her editorial in the following issue. Arc @ UNSW announced that the organisation would continue to publish the magazine after the introduction of voluntary student unionism in 2007.
Gamamari Tharunka, thought to mean "
message stick" in an
Aboriginal language, is a
student newspaper originally published by the UNSW
Students Union from 1953 until 1992, when that body was replaced by the
University of New South Wales Student Guild. The Guild published
Tharunka from 1993 until 2006 and the successor student organisation, Arc @ UNSW Limited, continued the publication of
Tharunka from 2007. The publication changed its name in mid-2024 to
Gamamari, meaning “talking for a purpose” in the
Dharawal Language.
Noise@UNSW Noise@UNSW is an independent student publication established in early 2024, following the shutdown of
Tharunka, with the aim of fostering a more informed student body.
Noise publishes articles weekly on their website and Instagram page, focusing on university news, student politics and activism, student journalism, and other issues that affect students, as well as running a twice-monthly podcast called
Make Some Noise. Noise@UNSW also produces print editions distributed to students on campus featuring student writings and art. Due to its independent nature,
Noise@UNSW is run by an entirely volunteer editorial team and relies on donations. All current UNSW students are able to publish their works in
Noise. Student accommodation The university has a number of residential accommodation options, including
Philip Baxter College,
Basser College,
Goldstein College, Fig Tree Hall,
Colombo House,
UNSW Hall, International House,
New College and New College Village,
Warrane College;
Shalom College, and
Creston College, and UNSW Village.
Exchange programs The university has overseas exchange programs with over 250 overseas partner institutions. These include
Princeton University,
McGill University,
Penn State University,
University of Pennsylvania (inc. Wharton),
Duke University,
Drexel University,
Johns Hopkins University,
Brown University,
Columbia University (summer law students only),
University of California Berkeley,
University of California Santa Cruz (inc. Baskin),
UCLA,
University of Michigan (inc. Ross),
New York University (inc. Stern),
University of Virginia,
Mississippi State University,
Cornell University,
University of Connecticut,
Alfred University,
University of Texas at Austin (inc. McCombs),
Maastricht University,
University of Padua,
University College London (law students only),
University of Nottingham,
Imperial College London,
London School of Economics and
ETH Zurich.
Student projects , a student-built solar-powered car, won the 2023
World Solar Challenge Cruiser Class Students of the university are involved in a number of projects, including: • AtomCraft aims to deliver the first fusion tokamak entirely designed, built and operated by students. Started in 2024, aims to complete the first iteration of the device by 2027. •
Sunswift Solar Racing Team, who hold the
FIA world record for the fastest electric car over a distance and whose car Sunswift 7 won the 2023
Bridgestone World Solar Challenge Cruiser Class. • rUNSWift, the university's team in the international
RoboCup Standard Platform League competition, is the most successful team in the world with wins in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2014 as well as coming second in 1999, 2002, 2006 and 2010. •
BLUEsat Satellite (development in progress) • Impact Engineers are a group of cross disciplinary humanitarian engineers aspiring to make a difference to the world's developing communities. Impact Engineers currently focus their efforts in rural Sri Lanka however over the next three to five years, they will expand to launch projects across multiple developing countries • UNSW Redback Racing UNSW's entrant into the SAE-Australasia Formula SAE-A Competition (National winners in 2000) • The MAVSTAR (Micro Aerial Vehicles for Search, Tracking And Reconnaissance) project to develop a team of cooperative micro aerial and unmanned ground vehicles. • The Developing Country Project Second year thesis students doing Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering are able to get involved. The project aims to assist villagers in
developing countries to gain access to electricity to satisfy their energy needs in a clean and sustainable manner. • iGEM (
International Genetically Engineered Machine) a worldwide synthetic biology competition. BABS UNSW entered their first team in 2015. == Athletics ==