There are more ways to exercise your democratic right than just electing Officers! You can also petition to create a Referendum.
This is a process built into our governance so that students can have their voice heard.
What is a Referendum?
A referendum is an all-student vote on a particular topic. It’ll usually be a yes/no question that gets voted on, and is often about whether CSU should take a stance on a particular topic, or stay affiliated to an external organisation.
How is a Referendum called?
Referenda can be called by a few different methods.
- A majority vote by Union Assembly (or a committee within Union Assembly)
- A majority vote at the Annual Student Members Meeting
- A majority vote at an Extraordinary Members Meeting
- A resolution of the CSU Board of Trustees
- A petition to the President with 200 or more student signatures
If you’d like to enact a Referenda with a petition, you can use our Petitions webpage. You’ll need submit a form (linked on that page) with the title of your Petition and a description. The Democracy & Campaigns Coordinator will then contact you to finalise the wording and it’ll be published on the Petitions page for all students to see. You can then publicise your petition however you would like to. Once you reach 200 signatures, a Referendum will be held in accordance with our Bye-Laws.
Previous Referenda
- There haven’t been any recent Referenda, but we will update you if that changes. Any current Referendum will be advertised widely via email, our website homepage, and social media.