ANUSA Student Assistance Team Report - Quarter 1 2026 (Jan-March)

Sep 14, 2026

Quarter 1 2026 (Jan–March) report from the ANUSA Student Assistance Team describes increased caseload and sustained demand despite reduced staffing during most of the period. Advocate case management improved access, driving a major rise in total cases and faster assessment and payment processing within 2–3 business days. Academically, SAT handled 163 matters, while critical support included disclosures of SASH, domestic and family violence, complex mental health, suicidal ideation, and substance abuse. Financial grants and programs accounted for the majority of cases, supported by expanded program access and new initiatives including textbook reimbursement and Skill Up.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Overview

Academic matters

Critical and complex cases

Program delivery and grants

Textbook reimbursement and Skill Up

Financial programs

Casework spotlight areas

Case volume and Advocate impact

Financial support and other categories

Student cohort breakdown

Demographic data challenges

University processes

Show cause appeals

ANUSA Student Assistance Team Report Quarter 1 , 2026 (Jan-March) ** Content Warning: our report has mentions of SASH and suicidal ideation** Overview In this quarter, the SAT team did more with less. While we were operating at a reduced staffing capacity for the majority of the reporting period, we saw our total caseload rise significantly. The broad trend of improved access to the SAT team via our Advocate case management system has continued. This is now our third full quarter since Advocate initially went live in 2025. Academically, SAT recorded 163 academic matters during the quarter. The most frequent academic issues included late withdrawal applications, followed by ECA assistance, show-cause appeals, and ‘other’ matters, reflecting the deferred exam period and the two rounds of show-cause appeals that took place in semester 1. Although smaller in number, HDR matters remained particularly complex and resource-intensive. We also assisted students with critical matters, including disclosures of SASH, domestic and family violence, complex mental health, suicidal ideation and substance abuse. Alongside critical and academic casework, SAT continued to administer a range of grantsand programs. Expenditure on financial grants and programs increased from $45k in Q4 to $64k in Q1 2026. We attribute this rise to the improved accessibility of the new case management system, Advocate, and the introduction of new financial programs throughout the previous year. The ANUSA Assistance Grant remained the most accessible grant, while the Grocery Voucher Program and Birth Control Subsidy remained the most utilised programs. SAT maintained efficient service delivery, with almost all applications assessed and payments processed within 2–3 business days. While few new initiatives progressed this quarter, we successfully rolled out our new Textbook reimbursement Program following the closure of Harry Hartog. We have also launched Skill Up and are currently assessing applications to support students in developing employability-related skills. Casework spotlight areas Overall data by report type-Q1 2026. Total = 858 cases. Total cases created in Q1 = 838 The team continues to see a high uptake of student cases relative to previous quarters. This change is primarily driven by the ease of access to SAT services via the Advocate case management system. To illustrate this point, in Q1 2025 , ANUSA SAT (prior to the implementation of Advocate) received a total of 391 cases. In Q1 2026 , this number spiked to 838 cases, which represents an increase of over 114% from Q1 2025. Q4 2025 had a total of 741 cases, meaning there was a 13% increase in overall cases received by the SAT team between Q4 2025 and Q1 2026. Considering that the SAT team was operating at 2.8 FTE (out of a standard 3.8 FTE) for the entirety of February and March, Q1 2026 represented a huge workload for each staff member of SAT. Financial programs continued to account for the majority of SAT cases. While these are relatively simple compared to other ANUSA SAT cases, their consistently high volume was a challenge for the team. The broad uptake of SAT support is reflected in the high number of cases marked in the system as ‘Financial (support other than grant programs) and ‘Other’. These cases reflect demand for SAT’s support in areas that we have traditionally not seen high uptake in (hence the broad categorisations) . Examples of these questions were issues with ANU accommodation, ANU facilities and access to professional, community-based support. Student cohort breakdown In previous reports, the SAT team has provided a demographic breakdown of the students that SAT has assisted. In the Q4 , 2025 report, we provided a breakdown based on the 188 students for whom we had this data recorded in Advocate. This represented 25% of students assisted in the quarter, making it impracticable to infer any meaningful trends or inferences. As of Q1 2026 , we

FAQs

What drove the increase in SAT caseload in Q1 2026?

Access to SAT services improved through the Advocate case management system, contributing to a large jump in total cases during the quarter.

How many academic matters did SAT record in Q1 2026 and what were the most common issues?

SAT recorded 163 academic matters. The most frequent issues were late withdrawal applications, followed by ECA assistance and show-cause appeals, reflecting the deferred exam period and two rounds of show-cause appeals in semester 1.

What critical matters did SAT assist students with during Q1 2026?

SAT supported students with critical disclosures including SASH, domestic and family violence, complex mental health, suicidal ideation, and substance abuse.

Sep 14, 2026

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