Equity

What is equity?

Equity is the set of rules by which the society is governed in relation to student wellbeing. Our Code of Conduct requires a high standard of behaviour of our members in relation to potentially discriminatory, offensive, unwanted, sexual or harassing behaviour that impacts on the mental wellbeing and happiness of others. Our equity policy is enforced by our Equity Officers, Ansh Deo Singh and Auguste McNally (you can learn more about them at our Meet the Executive page)

Roles of the equity officers

In our society, our Equity Officers are here to listen to your concerns, including but not limited to:

  • Instances of discrimination by a member of the society, or at a tournament or UNSW Debating Society event, based on an individual's perceived or actual race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, medical condition, debating ability or other personal characteristic.

  • Anxiety and issues with mental wellbeing whilst at one of our events, relating to an incident within the society or members within the society.

  • Issues relating to harassment, sexual assault and non-consent during or in relation to a tournament hosted or attended by the UNSW Debating Society.

  • UNSW Debating Society policy in regards to the advancement of women, gender and sexually diverse persons (concerns relating to policy can also be forwarded to our Womens Officer or the Executive as a whole).

  • Any other sensitive concerns of our members.

They are also required to:

  • Regularly assess the environment of the Society in relation to the wellbeing of female identifying or gender diverse members, as well as members of minority groups.

  • Be visible Executive members who can be approached by any member of the society who has concerns about Womens or Equity issues, which may include sexual harassment, discrimination, or any other offensive behaviour.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Please note that whilst our Equity Officers are not trained psychologists or counsellors, our Equity Officers are important people who can direct your concerns and take action including but not limited to:

  • Doing no actions, but being here to listen;

  • Discussing the issue amongst the Executive or the Equity team;

  • Organise a mediation session between the alleged offender regarding the incident;

  • Removing a member from the society;

  • Removing a subsidy for a person to attend a tournament, or prohibiting the person involved to attend future tournaments on behalf of the Society;

  • Alerting tournament convenors to the behaviour of the accused;

  • Providing guidance to the victim as to details of counselling or psychological services on or off campus;

  • Alerting authorities as to the incident or possible future incidents, including the police, health authorities or the university.

Our equity team will not take action without your affirmative consent of whatever you would like to do. However, we take all concerns seriously and keeping our society an inclusive, welcoming, and enjoyable space for everyone — regardless of their personal circumstances — is our utmost priority.

CONTACT DETAILS

If you wish to raise an equity concern, no matter how small you think it may be, never hesitate to contact us.

You can contact the equity officers at unswdebsocequity@gmail.com, or if you would prefer to remain anonymous, you can fill out a totally anonymous form here. 

If you wish to contact the Executive about society policy or you have any questions, head over to our contact page. 

Diversity

our commitment

The UNSW Debating Society prides itself on its commitment to diversity within the society regarding the advancement of all minority groups, and recognises the structural barriers that often prevents members of those groups from achieving personal success and recognition.

Our Executive is comprised of 5 non-cis male identifying members out of a total of 10, and we also members from diverse ethnic backgrounds. At tournaments, our 2022 Easters contingents succeeded in our goal of achieving 50/50 gender representation.

However, we recognise that there are still barriers that face women & minority groups, and our Womens Officer (Lara Fosbery) and Equity Officers (Lara Fosbery, Ansh Deo Singh and Auguste McNally) are committed to making our society a better place for minority groups. If you have concerns, feel free to contact them at unswdebsoc@gmail.com or if it is an equity related issue, unswdebsocequity@gmail.com.

Pronoun introductions

Recently on the university debating circuit, pronoun introductions have become a norm at debating tournaments in most competitions. This aims to recognise that transgender and gender diverse individuals face significant barriers to entry  in debating in a largely binary world, and face consistent prejudice and oppression. In a pronoun introduction, debaters and adjudicators politely and quickly state their pronoun before a round to prevent mis-gendering individuals which can be intrusive and upsetting. UNSW Debating Society greatly supports this norm, and requires it at all of our mini tournaments and round robins throughout this year. We take this process seriously, and those that intentionally misgender others, or harass, insult or discriminate against someone with regards to their pronoun is in breach of our code of conduct. 

Our Equity Officers

Debsoc’s Equity Officers for 2023 are Lara Fosbery, Ansh Deo Singh and Auguste McNally. If you have any issues, comments, or questions regarding Equity, you can email them at unswdebsocequity@gmail.com. Alternatively, you can message our Equity Officers on Facebook.