The Best Clubs and Societies Initiative Award is proudly named in honour of Jaqueline Out from RMIT University Student Union, recognising her extraordinary 30-year dedication to students and student organisations, most of which was spent at RUSU. For 15 years as Clubs Officer, Jacq championed student clubs with passion, integrity and unwavering care, mentoring thousands of student leaders and empowering them to build vibrant, inclusive communities. She was especially committed to enhancing the international student experience, supporting cultural and spiritual clubs and helping lead major celebrations such as Chinese Cultural Week (Mid-Autumn Festival), Indian Independence Day and RUSU’s Multicultural Festival. A fierce advocate for women in STEM and a tireless innovator, Jacq’s legacy lives on through the confident, capable leaders and thriving clubs she helped shape.
Successfully run Clubs and Societies provide a vital link to a connected student experience. They offer opportunities to develop extracurricular skills and help create vibrant, healthy student communities. They can be like a family away from home, bring students closer to like-minded people, and often become an important part of their university experience. They are also the perfect platform to learn lifelong skills.
Most clubs and societies face common challenges to success such as good governance, executive succession planning, running effective meetings, managing finances, applying for grants, hosting events and activities, managing relationships, understanding risk management, driving memberships, and engaging and supporting their members to name a few!
Effective support for clubs and societies, and their executives, is vital and can make or break their success.
This award recognises excellence in a Club or Society Initiative, run by a SEN member organisation, that supports the essential and critical elements of running and maintaining a successful club or society, as listed above. It can be a new initiative or a recurring one that has been held on or off-campus, or online during 2025/26.
Initiatives can include but are not limited to; Clubs and Societies’ training & development programs, executive socials, networking or other events, or the introduction of tools and processes to further enable clubs and societies to activate the student community and ensure their continuity.
