About Us

Who we are and what we do

The Sydney University Amnesty International Society is a group of students who are concerned about abuses of human rights that occur both overseas and within Australia. Our aims are thus identical to those of Amnesty International itself, although we are more than just a branch of AI.

We receive information from AI in the form of campaign kits, urgent action notices and reports on human rights abuses. We also search for information on human rights issues ourselves, in the media for example. We then decide which campaigns and issues we will focus on, and formulate our own agendas on how best to publicise the issues, generate debate, and hopefully provoke positive change, working within the environment of the university and our local community.

Since we are a university group, we try to promote human rights issues in a way which appeals to students, by helping them to educate themselves about the issues. One way in which we do this is by inviting well-known figures to speak for us. We also try to hold regular ‘fun’ AI events such as stalls, barbecues and parties, to generate interest and encourage our members to enjoy themselves. When the occasion merits it, we participate in demonstrations. We also try to keep up a steady stream of correspondence to foreign governments, the Australian government, the student media and the wider media to lobby for AI’s demands to be met.

The group is registered with the University of Sydney Union and is eligible to receive funds from this body.