Filiz Keles – Illuminate

Filiz Keles. Photo: Curtin Guild.

What sparked your interest in student politics?
Seeing the great contributions the current Accessibility officer Rey was making, I felt called to continue their great work to improve the learning environment at Curtin for students with disabilities and accessibility requirements. Particularly, as a future psychologist I care deeply about ensuring that all individuals despite their differences are given equal opportunities to succeed and thrive in life.

What’s the purpose of the role you’re running for?
This role is to represent, advocate and support Curtin students with disabilities and/or those with accessibility requirements. The role also involves fostering the Accessibility collective and listening and considering the issues that disabled students face.

If elected, what will you do for students?
I want to ensure that neurodivergent student’ concerns are visible to the university and adjustments are made for them. I want to continue to push for the CAP system to be easier to navigate and access. Illuminate’s priority focus for 2024 is to to fix Curtin counselling, from the accessibility perspective that means ensuring that counselling services are well-resourced and trained to support students who are disabled and/or neurodivergent.

I will be pushing for simplification of complex policies at Curtin to ensure that these documents meet accessibility standards. I want to ensure Guild events are set up and carried out in a manner which considers the needs of students with disabilities. I will push for the re-design of Oasis and Blackboard to include customisability and simplify accessibility.

What’s your own confession at Curtin, or what’s a Curtin life hack you’ve found?
Printing at Gmart is cheaper than anywhere else on campus!

Rohan Williams – Left Action

Rohan Williams. Photo: Curtin Guild.

What sparked your interest in student politics?
I came to campus [for the] first time on 2021 O Day and I met up with the Curtin Socialists. I was interested in what they had to say and then I was swept up in a campaign against uni management who were trying to cut some courses and pay staff less. And so within my first month of being a student I was in an occupation of the Vice-Chancellory and from there I was just very much involved in all forms of activism and politics both on and off campus. Especially recently, there was a massive staff campaign because they were getting a pay cut effectively from uni management so I was involved in that too, trying to build solidarity between students here and the staff. And that’s where I started pretty much, because in that first occupation they were also trying to cut the pay of a lot of staff like tutors and stuff, and pretty much that’s been a continual part of my uni experience.

What’s the purpose of the role you’re running for?
So I’m running for accessibility officer. I think the role of accessibility officer should be to  fight for people who have disabilities and people who need accessibility support on campus and off campus. I think that the biggest thing that needs to change on campus for that, is that there needs to be an expansion of the accessibility support. It’s just not enough. There are so many barriers to it and there’s not enough funding there and I don’t think you can get that funding by politely asking the uni management to give more money to them, because they don’t want to give more money to them. I think the only way to get that money is to fight. The role of the accessibility officer is not just to advocate for these things, but it’s to fight for it. Not to sit in the room but to organise with students outside of the uni board meetings and make some noise and say ‘What we’re getting is not enough, we need more.

If elected, what will you do for students?

I will represent students in office but I will use the office and the resources afforded to the role to try to build campaigns on campus to try to fight for increased funding and stuff like that. I think that the office can be used to make little changes around language in certain things and stuff like that. And that’s important, but I don’t think that requires someone fighting. I think that anyone who fills that role can do that and I think that uni is okay with being told that you know, for more accessible language they’re like, ‘Okay, we didn’t know that and we can change that.’ But when it comes to bigger picture things in my opinion, like access to counselling on campus, they’re gonna put up more of a fight. So if I’m elected, I’m going to be representing students in that fight and I’m going to be trying to engage students in that fight too. I don’t want there to be a separation between me as the accessibility officer and all the other students problems. I want all of us to be engaged in it.

What’s your own confession at Curtin, or what’s a Curtin life hack you’ve found? 

I don’t know if I have so much of a confession … my life hack for Curtin is pretty much just participate in classes. Be happy. Be happy with having a debate in class. I think a lot of the time when you’re in class you can just sit through it, not much happens, or someone says something at the front and you’re like, ‘Hmmm I don’t know about that.’ Just get involved and I think that should go beyond the classroom too. I think a life hack for being involved in the campus is being involved with the political life of the campus – getting involved in the elections, but also getting involved in the campaigns that are run throughout the year on social justice issues, education issues and cost of living issues – all of which effects the student life.