Zayed Tabish
Faculty/Degree Held
Arts/Law
Year of Studying/Conferring
III
USU Positions
Vice President of Events, Diplomats Society 2025 - 2026
Vice President, Sydney University Trade Union Society 2025 - 2026
LLBII Cohort Representative, Sydney University Law Society 2025 - 2026
VTeam Volunteer 2025 - 2026
Debater and Judge, USU Debating 2025 - 2026
Member, Sydney University Muslim Students' Association 2025 - 2026
Member, Sydney Arts Students Society 2026
Member, University of Sydney Chocolate Society 2026
Member, University of Sydney Science Society 2026
USYD Positions
Councillor, Students' Representative Council 2025 - 2026
Peer Mentor, Sydney Law School 2025 - 2026
Reporter, Honi Soit 2025 - 2026
Other Interests
Hey all, I’m Zayed and I’m a third-year Arts/Law student! In my free time, I (badly) play cricket, plan fun events for my societies (I think they’re fun at least…), and have 100% totally COMPLETELY niche interests (I moot and debate like every other law student)... Between club exec roles, VTeam volunteering, and being a regular at USU outlets, I've seen the USU from every angle. Growing up Muslim and from an immigrant background has also shaped how I see campus life and what an inclusive USU should look like, and that’s what I want to bring to the board.
Candidate Policy Statement
GET AHEAD with ZAYED
GET AHEAD with EFFECTIVE ADMINISTRATION
- Ensure the USU responds to all enquiries within 5 business days
- REVAMP MyUSU: Improve navigation and accessibility!
- Simplify C&S event approval and allow greater autonomy over grants
- Regularly publicise board meeting minutes and reports
- Advocate for stronger partnerships scrutiny and BDS principles
GET AHEAD with INCLUSIVITY
- Collaborate with the SRC to maintain safe spaces and ensure portfolio holders engage with autonomous collectives
- Replace online only SASH training with ConsentLabs workshops
- Incorporate the ReciteMe assistive toolbar into the USU website
- Improve halal adherence including cross-contamination measures and clear labelling
GET AHEAD with CAMPUS LIFE
- Extend USU outlet hours to 9pm
- Increase monthly Wednesday Markets to fortnightly
- Expand multicultural food options on campus; particularly Indian cuisine
- Free venue bookings for all C&S including Revues
GET AHEAD with a GREENER CAMPUS
- Compost waste from USU venues and C&S events with Chester the Digester
- Reusable mugs at all outlets 10% discounts when you BYO cup/container
- Revive Enviro Week
GET AHEAD with AFFORDABILITY
- Expand $5 meal options to all USU outlets
- Return to an unticketed Foodhub without ‘sessions’
- Expand FoodHub product variety
- Subsidise health services with campus GPs, psychologists, and the pharmacy
Get to know Zayed
Describe the key roles and responsibilities of a USU Board Director.
A USU board director’s primary responsibility is to represent the student body and ensure members’ interests drive every decision the Union makes. Directors hold the Union accountable to its mission, exercising sound governance over its finances, venues, autonomous spaces, staff, and C&S. With the USU’s transition to an incorporated body, this responsibility now carries stricter fiduciary obligations. Directors must also advocate for transparency, making sure members understand what the board decides in monthly meetings and why. Above all, the role exists to serve students, and a good director is one who never loses sight of who put them there.
How will you ensure that you can commit the time required to be an effective Board Director?
In balancing multiple C&S executive roles, USU VTeam volunteering, paid work and full-time uni - time management has become one of my greatest strengths. I also plan to lighten my study load next year, which will allow me to devote more time and effort into board responsibilities and projects. I’ll make time to manage the workload, just like how I’ve already been making time to speak with students in all corners of the USU to ask how it can improve. I am committed to becoming an effective board director and will continue investing the time and effort to achieve this.
How will you represent the best interests of the student community, while also representing the best interests of the USU?
The USU exists to serve its members, so its interests should reflect theirs. When the two appear to conflict, it's usually because the demands of running a complex organisation can shift the focus from what students actually want and value. My job is to keep the Union grounded in its purpose. That means putting members first when decisions risk prioritising profit or partnerships over people, and making sure the USU operates as the democratic, member-run organisation it is. Where genuine tensions arise, I’ll push for solutions that serve the USU without losing sight of who the Union is for: students.
Identify an area of the USU where you would like to see improvement and explain how this will be of benefit to the organisation and/or students.
Nobody knows what's going on. Clubs are being unregistered and receiving their grant money three months late, Safe Space users are begging for regular cleaning and maintenance services to no response, and students don't know what goes on in board meetings because the minutes and reports aren’t being published on the USU website. The clearest area needing improvement is the systems and processes that connect the Union to its members. Fixing them would rebuild trust, make the USU feel functional, and give the students a reason to actually engage with the institution that exists to serve them.