Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations

The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) is the peak representative body for postgraduate students in Australia. CAPA's members are 33 postgraduate associations and the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Postgraduate Association (NATSIPA). CAPA provides member associations with representation to the Federal government, and peak bodies such as the Australian Research Council and Universities Australia, on issues affecting postgraduate students in Australia. In 2017, Australia had over 400,000 postgraduate students, representing one quarter of all tertiary students in Australia.[1]

Recognising the dual roles of many postgraduate students, CAPA works in collaboration with the National Union of Students where matters impact on all students (such as voluntary student unionism and funding for higher education), and with the National Tertiary Education Union regarding issues of employment in the tertiary education sector, particularly on the casualisation of the academic workforce.

CAPA has an office located at the NTEU National office in Melbourne, Victoria. Its Annual Council Meeting (ACM), where organisational issues and policy directives are decided, is hosted by a different constituent organisation each year.

History edit

CAPA was founded in 1979 by a coalition of ten postgraduate organisations in order to protest taxation on postgraduate research scholarships.[2] Historically, CAPA has been concerned with lobbying around fees on postgraduate degrees.

In 1998, a separate organisation, the National Indigenous Postgraduate Association (NIPA) was formed within CAPA.[3] This association became the National Indigenous Postgraduate Association Aboriginal Corporation (NIPAAC) in 1999, and was later restructured as the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Postgraduate Association (NATSIPA) in 2015.

Structure edit

CAPA consists of elected representatives on three committees: the governing Executive Committee, the Equity committee, and the Engagement Committee. The NATSIPA President sits on all committees. Each committee meets on a monthly basis. New committee members are elected at the Annual Council Meeting, which is held in November.

2023 National representative committee [4]

National President- Nidzam Shah

Vice President-

General Secretary- Muhammad Bilal Shaikh

NATSIPA President - Dr Sharlene Leroy-Dyer

Media Officer-

Policy and Research Advisor-

International Officer- Vineet Prabhakar

Women's Officer-

Queer Officer-

Disabilities Officer-

2023 Board of directors [5]

Chair of the Board-

Secretary of the board-

Member of the board-

Member of the board- Member of the board-

Member of the board-

Member of the board- NATSIPA Board Representative- Dr Sharlene Leroy-Dyer

Past office bearers edit

National presidents edit

National President
Year Name
1979 Andrew Pik
1980 Robert Biggins
1981 Suw Hatherly
1982 Russel Jacobs
1983 Russel Jacobs
1983 Hal Swerissen
1985 Catherine Cuthbert
1985 Anne Seitz
1986 Anne Seitz
1987 Anne Seitz
1988 Tony Ryan
1989 Monica Carroll to Katw le Strange
1990 Paul Dworjanyn
1991 Teresa Tjia
1992 Teresa Tija
1993 Shane Ostenfield
1994 Oliver Simmonson
1995 Simon Vanderaa
1996 Danielle Brown
1997 Danielle Brown to Bronwyn Fredericks
1998 Robert Jansen to Jill Thorpe
1999 Tom Clark
2000 Bradley Smith
2001 John Byron
2002 Leisa Ridges
2003 Benjamin McKay
2004 Stephen Horton
2005 Stephen Horton
2006 Jason Hart
2007 Nigel Palmer
2008 Nigel Palmer
2009 Nigel Palmer
2010 Tammy Jonas
2011 John Nowakowski
2012 Chamonix Terblanche to Meghan Hopper
2013 Meghan Hopper
2014 Meghan Hopper to Vino Rajandran
2015 Harry Rolf
2016 Jim Smith
2017 Peter Derbyshire
2018 Natasha Abrahams
2019 Natasha Abrahams
2020 Romana-Rea Begicivic
2021 Errol Phuah

Vice presidents edit

Vice President - National Operations Committee (Discontinued)
Year Name
1981 - position created Russel Jacobs
1982 Mike Lawson
1983 Hal Swerissen
1984 Katherine Ingram
1985 Gary Baker
1986 William Renfrew
1987 Willian Renfrew
1988 Adele Milne to John Frame
1989 Kate le Strange to Tracy Cross
1990 -
1991 -
1992 -
1993 Oliver Simmonson
1994 Ramona Mitussis
1995 Danielle Brown
1996 Joe Brennan & Phil Reid
1997 Bronwyn Fredericks to Sali Bache
1998 Jill Thorpe to Tom Clark
1999 Steve Warren
2000 Harriet Baillie
2001 Angela Pratt
2002 Jasmina Brankovich
2003 Svetia Petkova
2004 Benjamin McKay
2005 -
2006 -
2007 -
2008 Katherine Barnsley
2009 Tammi Jonas
2010 -
2011 Philippa Hunter
2012 Harry Rolf
2013 Harry Rolf
2014 David Nowak
2015 Jim Smith
2016 Zhao (Joe) Lu
2017 Dylan Styles
2018 Anish Saini
2019 - Discontinued -
Vice President - Equity (Discontinued)
Year Name
2009 - position created Katherine Barnsley
2010 -
2011 Meghan Hopper
2012 Angelus Morningstar to Areti Metuamate
2013 Alex Chung
2014 Sadie Heckenberg & Vino Rajandran
2015 Mia Kwok
2016 Alyssa Shaw
2017 Vibol Hy
2018 Mick Fox
2019 - Discontinued -
National Vice President
Year Name
2019 - position created Rachel Brisbane
2020 Bojana Klepac then Errol Phuah
2021 Adam Scorgie (resigned May 2021)
2022 Muhammad Bilal Shaikh
2023

General Secretary edit

General Secretary (National Secretary & Treasurer position merge in 2015)
Year Name
1980 - position created Geoff Prince
1981 Paul Wormell
1982 Catherine Foley
1983 Rita Hermus
1984 Harold Thornton
1985 Brenda Biggs
1986 Paul Lewis & Rick Moore
1987 Steven Harvey
1988 David Albrecht
1989 Lorraine M Elliot
1990 Sue Weston
1991 Barbara Murray
1992 Barbara Murray
1993 Christine Beveridge
1994 Craig Meer
1995 Jane Fischer
1996 Paul Vince
1997 Steven Warren
1998 Steven Warren
1999 Alana Chinn
2000 Alana Clohesy
2001 Alister Air
2002 James Taylor
2003 Gavin Hazel
2004 - Gavin Hazel
2005 - 2007 -
2008 - Bronwyn Crowe
2009 - Bronwyn Crowe
2010 - -
2011 - Joseph Provenzano
2012 John Nowakowski
2013 James Searle
2014 Eduardo Jordan
2015 Andi Deane
2016 Peter Hurley
2017 Natasha Abrahams
2018 Dylan Styles
2019 Rachael Brisbane
2020 Bojana Klepac then Errol Phuah
2021 Saira Khan
2022
2023 Muhammad Bilal Shaikh

International Officer edit

International Officer
2019 Devendra Singh
2020 Devendra Singh

Treasurer edit

Treasurer (discontinued)
Year Name
1981 - position created Tim Dabbs
1982 - Ken Straham
1983 - Ken Straham
1984 - Elizabeth Kerr
1985 - Elizabeth Kerr
1986 - John Frame
1987 - John Frame
1988 - Timothy Littlejohn
1989 - Jane Murfett
1990 - Brian Jardine
1991 - David Smith
1992 - David Smith
1993 - David Smith
1994 - Richard Matejic
1995 - Ken Taylor
1996 - Andrew Grienke
1997 - Andrew Grienke
1998 - Andrew Woolf
1999 - Rod Jarman
2000 - Rod Jarman
2001 - David Coffman
2002 - David Coffman
2003 - Prem Legha
2004 - Kristen Thuy Hunyh
2005 - 2007
2008 - Nick McCarthy
2009 - Melissa Lovell
2010 -
2011 - Pricilla Rogers
2012 - Adrian Soh
2013 - Sharangan Maheswaran
2014 - Arjuna Mohattala
2015 - Discontinued

Executive and Research Officer - Policy and Research Officer edit

Executive and Research Officer - Policy and Research Officer
1982 - position created Marion Zaunbrecher
1983 Linda Barwick
1984 Jan Macintyre
1985 - 1994
1995 Mark Frankland
1996 Mark Frankland
1997 Mark Frankland
1998 Mark Frankland
1999 Mark Frankland
2000 Mark Frankland
2001 Mark Frankland & Karen Mann & Hilary Pearse
2002 - 2010
2011 - re-introduced as Policy & Research Advisor Tammi Jonas
2012 Meghan Hopper
2013 Angelus Morningstar
2014 Sharangan Maheswaran
2015 Peter Derbyshire
2016 Vikraman Selvaraja
2017 Simon Burnett
2018 Simon Burnett
2019 Owen Miles
2020 Errol Phuah
2021 Eve Walker (resigned May 2021)

Media & Communications Officer edit

Media & Communications Officer
2015 - position created Caitlin Bruty
2016 Natasha Abrahams
2017 Damilola ayeni
2018 Zoe Tulip
2019 Zoe Tulip
2020 Anushka Kapoor
2021 Anushka Kapoor
2022
2023 Elsa Chew

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "2015 First half year student summary tables". Australian Government Department of Education and Training. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  2. ^ "Twenty five years of CAPA – the fight is far from over" (PDF). Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  3. ^ "About NATSIPA". NATSIPA. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  4. ^ "Announcement: CAPA Office Bearers Elected for 2018 - Capa".
  5. ^ "Announcement: CAPA Office Bearers Elected for 2018 - Capa".

External links edit