VC ALCOHOL SPONSORSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT

Dear students, 

UNE is moving away from alcohol-related sponsorship. From 1 January 2019, alcohol companies and licenced premises will no longer be able to sponsor University entities, including sporting clubs and junior common rooms of residential colleges.

There are three major reasons for UNE making this move:

1.     Alcohol has been found to be a factor in the majority of behavioural incidents including sexual assault and harassment cases on and off UNE campus in the last two calendar years.

2.     We want to remove any obligation on students to consume alcohol as a result of sponsorship agreements.

3.     We want to support and promote a healthy lifestyle for our students.  Alcohol sponsorship, particularly of sporting teams, we believe hinders this objective.

This decision has been made as part of UNE's ongoing commitment to the safety and wellbeing of our students and is only one aspect of a number of initiatives. We are awaiting additional advice on this area from the College Audit report conducted earlier this year by the Australian Human Rights Commission. The report is due by the end of 2018.  

Obviously, nearly all UNE students are adults, and these arrangements will not interfere with your legal rights around alcohol consumption.

UNE appreciates the financial and other support that Armidale's licenced venues have supplied to our UNE teams and Colleges over the years.  We know that students will continue to support these venues, but they will no longer be obligated to do so because of sponsorship arrangements.

UNE does not want this decision to affect the functioning of its entities. To ensure sporting teams and student activities are not financially impacted by this decision, the UNE Sports & Culture Fund has been created.

The fund will enable students to source alternative funding for sporting activities and cultural events.  

Guidelines for the Sports & Culture Fund are being finalised. Advice on how to apply to the fund for activities in 2019, and beyond, will be issued in the near future.

If you have any questions in relation to these changes please email Respect Now Always respectnowalways@une.edu.au. 

Kind regards,

Annabelle Duncan
Vice-Chancellor
University of New England