Macquarie University takes students to court to dissolve MUPRA union

Sydney : A Sydney university is taking seven of its own students to the NSW Supreme Court in a bid to dissolve an independent student association and seize more than half a million dollars in funds.Macquarie University will seek to forcibly close the postgraduate representative association (MUPRA) and absorb $500,000 in its reserves, according to court documents. The university has also flagged its intention to claim legal costs against the seven students, all current or past elected members of MUPRA’s voluntary executive if it wins the case due to be heard on Thursday and Friday.The case could set a dangerous precedent for student unions, and ramps up a worrying trend among Australian universities, according to a peak student representative association.Vice-president of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations and Macquarie student Mia Kwok​ said the case could open the door for other institutions to forcibly close student unions.”We haven’t seen anything like this before. A university has never tried to use the courts to wind up a student organisation in this way,” Ms Kwok​ said.She said the council had seen a “bullying culture” emerge among some universities when it came to their dealings with student associations.”Many student unions are concerned that this is the tip of the iceberg and that, if Macquarie is successful, other universities will view this case as a precedent allowing them to close their own student unions,” she said.Tensions between Macquarie University and MUPRA have been building since 2012, and intensified in December 2013 when the university had MUPRA’s bank account frozen.