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You thought $27.50 was bad

24/9/2019

 
Issue 9, Semester 2, 2019

JIMI MUIRHEAD

The De Minimis editorial team revealed the other week that LSS committee members are rewarded annually with a party worth an average of $27.50 per head. It’s important to note how this remuneration compares to other societies representing law students. 
 
The Graduate Student Association declares that it provides ‘enrolled graduate students at the University of Melbourne with representation, events, training and support’ and that the organisation is ‘the heart of graduate student life’.The GSA received over $2 million a year in SSAF funding, the student services and amenities fee we all pay each year, as opposed to the reliance on corporate sponsorship by the LSS.[1] The students who sit on the GSA committee, many of whom have been law students in recent years, have been provided ‘honoraria’ payments. It is understood these have been upwards of $8,000 per member in recent years.  The GSA admit committee members are paid on their website but fail to disclose how much. The most recent available financial statements show the GSA spend roughly $130,000 on these payments every year. De Minimis contacted the GSA committee for comment recently, however they have not yet responded. 
Picture
In contrast, LSS volunteers can dedicate over one hundred hours in a semester and receive a fairly average dinner or party in return. So, while the LSS spends the money of corporate sponsors on initiatives for law students, the GSA spends the money of law students on themselves.
 
If you want to cash in on a luxurious event for volunteering, join a journal! MJIL and MULR both hold multiple lavish evenings to reward their volunteers. These events are much more than $27.50 per head and are held at venues such as the National Gallery of Victoria.
 
The amount of money that sponsors are willing to provide to the MULSS is astounding. It enables the committee to do some pretty incredible things. You’d be hard pressed to find a student who has not reaped a benefit from any of the LSS initiatives. 
 
Whether it’s free tutorials, snags, beers, yoga, netball, or guest lectures. Whether it’s the parties, balls, camps, networking events, which all run at no profit. Whether it’s ongoing advocacy for Indigenous Australians, women, queer groups and general equity. Whether it’s any of the other societies or initiatives the LSS chooses to fund. Whether it’s the funding of smaller societies, donations to charity or the dozens of competitions, run both internally and externally, or the covering of the costs for MLS students to attend competitions interstate and overseas. 
 
Beyond the cost, these events depend on the thousands of hours of volunteering put in by LSS committee members each year. The thousands of cumulative hours of volunteering is done on top of all other study and work commitments. I hardly think a dinner to celebrate those efforts (at a lower cost than a burger, chips and beer) is excessive.
 
You are privileged to reap these benefits. They are not available at all law schools. At the Australian Law Student Association conference in 2018, I was a little embarrassed when students from other schools would ask us how the LSS could produce things such as glossy careers guides, student tutorial services and career networking events. It is simply not possible without the large corporate sponsorship Melbourne Law School attracts. The above initiatives don't come for free, but you don't pay for them either. And it's due to the hard work of an LSS volunteer that literally any of those initiatives exist.
 
If, in providing all this, the biggest scandal De Minimis can rally up about the LSS is that its volunteers are rewarded with some wet dumplings and crackling karaoke, I say the LSS is doing a damn good job.

 [1] Admittedly, the LSS derives a small portion of its budget from SSAF fees granted by the GSA.

​Jimi is a former JD Student and was 2018 Vice President of MULSS, 2017 Activities Director and 2016 First Year Rep, spending 3 years on the Committee.
Shrek
24/9/2019 06:01:07 pm

Get rid of SSAF

So wages basically?
24/9/2019 06:01:19 pm

Ok so the GSA actually pays its staff so people unlike the LSS which is unpaid pricing everyone out other than the rich kid clique got it

You are misinformed
24/9/2019 06:15:25 pm

“Rich kid clique?” You’d be surprised by how many LSS committee members work 3+ jobs to support themselves

Gabriel, seeker of knowledge
25/9/2019 02:13:31 am

Which elected LSS members work 3+ jobs? Do they so out of necessity? Did they get their first job from daddy?

Jimi
25/9/2019 06:11:44 am

I did Gabriel. Trivia host, law library, and towards the end a paid gig at a CLC where I'd been volunteering. Add Centrelink and I got by. Can confirm daddy got me none of those jobs.

Henry
25/9/2019 06:20:34 am

Jimi, they definitely mean me when they say rich kid clique. They must have seen dad's twin-cab; V6, fibreglass tray cover, only 200,000ks... All the trimmings

Pop the question
25/9/2019 08:39:38 am

Maybe you should ask committee members what they have got on their plate rather than assuming they are rich?

surplus
24/9/2019 06:09:03 pm

the real question is what happens with the ~$50k surplus?

Equally stupid
24/9/2019 06:24:07 pm

I heard that it was used by Scomo to get back in the black

Thank you
24/9/2019 06:14:00 pm

This is what I felt was lacking from last week’s DM article tbh. By all means, scrutinise LSS expenditure, but if you’re going to do that you may as well examine and criticise other student societies and organisations for the way they choose to reward their volunteers.

you're welcome
24/9/2019 08:58:50 pm

the obvious difference is that, in MLS, there is no other student org that is supposed to represent the students and act in the students interest.

Anytime!
25/9/2019 06:12:54 am

There is. It's the GSA.

President of Vice
24/9/2019 06:36:59 pm

But you would say that wouldn't you

Yes because he actually knows what goes on
24/9/2019 07:00:53 pm

Well ... Yeah. He’s more than qualified to speak about the value and operation of the LSS, having been involved in it for years and knowing about the events and initiatives it runs.

What value are you adding to the law school community (apart from a clever pseudonym in a De Min article)?

Gus Viola
24/9/2019 06:48:31 pm

Thanks for this article, Jim.

As a former LSS President, I’m one of the few people whose efforts were public enough to be met by thanks. LSS volunteers spend countless and often thankless hours working for the student body, from the leadership team down to co-opt positions.

Regardless of remuneration paid to other societies (who also do fabulous work), MULSS volunteers are exceptional in their work, and are viewed nationally as such.

The end of year party is a very appropriate token of thanks. As a recent graduate, I’m happy to make my first ever (and last ever) De Minimis comment one to thank the LSS for their extremely hard work.

H dog
24/9/2019 07:15:34 pm

27.50 is a slight misrepresentation since people in the LSS have stated it's mostly just directors that go, so the average cost per person is higher.

The comparison to MJIL and MULR is unwarranted since neither of those have a mandate to represent the student body.

Saying De Minimis 'rallied up' the drama is also misleading because it was actually a member of the LSS who decided it was something that the rest of the student body should know about.

But the real issue was with transparency, it's not a great look to be appropriating student funds for a private party without the other students knowing. Calling it 'End of Reign' is pretty bad taste too.It's a shame that so many people have attacked the LSS so viciously for this since it is relatively small issue, but at the same time so many LSS people have gotten way too defensive instead of trying to figure out why people are annoyed by the party in the first place

Much ado about nothing
24/9/2019 07:52:33 pm

1. Everyone on the Committee was invited. It’s completely incorrect and disingenuous to suggest that it’s ‘mostly just directors’ who attend EOR parties. Idk who said that but they’re either lying or don’t know what they’re talking about. Co-opts attend EOR Every. Single. Year. And this year will be no different. At the end of the day, the event still works out as $27.50 per committee member.

2. The event is called End of Reign as a joke. That’s what it’s been called for years. Maybe the next committee should change the name, but it was and remains a joke name. Payment in the form of a lousy $27.50 dinner and drinks doth not a royal remuneration make.

3. True, the original article stemmed from an LSS committee member coming to DM about the event. I personally think DM did a good job of covering it. But the party (or its name) is nothing new. I think some frustration stems from the fact that the event happens every single year and it isn’t a secret - the amount of criticism leveled at the LSS was disproportionate and generally pretty misinformed.

4. It is completely valid and important to point out how the LSS rewards its members and spends its money. But the LSS isn’t hiding its decisions from you - the minutes and financials are accessible to anyone who cares to ask.

When DM focuses exclusively on the LSS end-of-term parties (when other organisations throw far more lavish parties or actually, y’know, pay their reps from student fees) it feels like a bit of a cop out and a pile on. That’s why I really appreciate this article for context.

H
24/9/2019 08:56:52 pm

I understand the name is a joke but it is a bit tone deaf since some people find the lss to be exclusive.

I don't have a problem if people on the the committee were to be paid, but still think transparency is the issue. While minutes are available on request this relies on people knowing there is something wrong in the first place, realistically students are not going to do it.

Nancy Drew
24/9/2019 09:59:03 pm

Plz explain the student funds being appropriated here? The ticketed events all run at a loss and most of the remainder of the LSS money comes from firm sponsorship money? A small amount would come from the GSA in comparison which I’d imagine would cover important initiatives such as book fairy and the new scholarship.

Let me make it clearer for you :)
24/9/2019 10:17:14 pm

Firm sponsorship money is not a gift to the LSS committee, it would otherwise be spent on the other stuff the LSS does for the student body, so the firms get exposure.

Troll Hunter
25/9/2019 08:22:54 am

If you have so much beef with it ‘let me make it clearer for you’, then I look forward to seeing you tout your reformative policy ideas during next year’s election season...oh wait

Let me make it even clearer for you :)
25/9/2019 01:11:11 pm

If you had actually read and understood my comment you might have realised that I don't have 'so much beef'. It's sad that you've leapt to attack me instead of grappling with actual constructive criticism.

I can only hope most of the new committee is nothing like you.

Georgia
24/9/2019 07:18:15 pm

I have to say I find the fixation on payments made to students who sacrifice their time and effort working for these committees and student groups really saddening. As someone who was very much on the low end of the MLS SES scale, I would never have been in a position to get involved in any of these groups without payment.There's an abundance of research that shows students from poorer backgrounds are locked out of involvement with student groups because they literally can't afford to give their time away for free. I got involved in GSA over LSS for this exact reason. It's not a race to the bottom of who spends the least money recognising the work done for them- and it is work. I personally really respect that organisations with the budget to pay volunteers for their work do so. It's not self indulgence, its respect and inclusivity. It allows students to trade hours they would have had to spend working in for hours doing things on campus they care about. I think it's elitist and reductive to say that because some students can find the time and money to volunteer for free that this is the only ethical model.

LSS doesn't do anything if you have social anxiety and cant attend events
24/9/2019 08:03:58 pm

cant you graduate already?


cue the outrage at this comment in 3 .. 2.. 1 ...

Old man
24/9/2019 08:12:13 pm

Grrrrrrr....

Does attending STS count?
24/9/2019 08:12:34 pm

What about getting Book Fairy textbook reimbursements? What about the guides that you read (like the Clerkship guide or careers guide)? Lol

Misappropriation Fairy
25/9/2019 02:20:23 am

The same easily defrauded Book Fairy program where you can declare your income to be non-existent without any proof?

Should have gone to the AGM
25/9/2019 07:44:21 am

Doesn't the LSS have a heap of money? Not sure how this is event is depriving students of opportunities.

whataboutism
25/9/2019 04:10:08 pm

"The technique or practice of responding to an accusation or difficult question by making a counter-accusation or raising a different issue."

This is true
30/9/2019 03:58:19 pm

This

What is a ‘JIMI’?
25/9/2019 09:37:56 pm

Rustling.

Tom M
30/9/2019 02:12:26 pm

While the initial point of this article might be up for debate it does raise some questions … but probably more important are the questions about the GSA that the author does not ask. In light of the GSA President’s response to this article, it might be opportune for her invocations of transparency and accountability to be tested.

In the first instance it’s probably good to clarify that the payments to members of the GSA’s committee are not share equally between all members – far more significant payments are made to office holders such as the President and most of the GSA’s committee members will receive no payment.

The author cites the GSA’s annual University funding as $2 million when the actual figure is more like $3 million – and graduate students should be asking what does the GSA deliver, how does it benefit graduate students, and how can this funding arrangement be justified? A quick scan of the GSA’s website does not provide any intuitive sense of where the money goes or what the GSA actually does. Equally, the information available about how decisions are made at the GSA and what those decisions are is opaque at best.

To be sure the LSS is one of the major beneficiaries of the GSA’s financial situation as it is eligible to receive an up-front cash transfer of $12 000 per semester!

Perhaps, De Minimis might also want to ask some questions of the GSA about the hundreds of thousands of dollars of SSAF grant funding it has received over the last few years? In particular, the grant to support a governance review and the drafting of a new constitution. This process was covered in the page of De Minimis and the proposed constitution did not attract sufficient support from graduate students – so, given the new constitution was justified on the basis of the significant deficiencies that were discovered in the GSA’s internal governance arrangements, what else has been done to fix these problems? If the proposed constitution is to be abandoned will the GSA be returning these funds to the University?

And there are certainly question marks over the GSA’s governance!

The University awarded the GSA a grant of over $200 000 to fund the operation of a leadership program for graduate students – not only did this completely cover the $4 000 per person cost for all fifty participants, it seems that the GSA also entered into some kind of arrangement with its then CEO, for the CEO to deliver part of the program to the GSA on a fee for service basis at the same time as being an employee of the organisation …

There certainly are questions that the GSA needs to answer … it just needs someone to have the courage to ask them!

what conflict??
30/9/2019 02:34:17 pm

Oh, I heard a rumour a while ago that the CEO had a role in the same consultancy which was providing the training for a fee and was to continue after he left. It seemed a bit far fetched so I looked up his Linked In profile and it is there in plain view. H is listed as MD of a company - Graduate Services or something. So it seems that he is also managing director of that company at the same time as being CEO of GSA. In this context that is sounding more and more suss, eh? Doesn't the Uni check on this stuff??

Quick HIDE
30/9/2019 02:51:39 pm

Correction - just checked and it's not on his profile anymore. Looks like it all went south - GRADUATE SERVICES COMPANY PTY LTD was registered on 6/9/2019 and was de-registered on 20/9/2019. This is triggering my "follow the money" lawyer feels. This just seems so suss. Anyone else seen Andrew Cameron's Linked In profile when it had him listed as MD of this company?


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