Clubs and Societies
As well as being a place for study, UNSW has a wide range of clubs and societies.
The focus of these groups range from performance to cultural groups, sporting to academic and competitions to politics. One of the best ways to make the most of your time at university is to get involved with a club or society.
If you can't find a specific one you want, Arc will help you start your own Club. You need just 3 Arc members to start a Small Club.
For a full list of clubs, visit the Clubs List.
Clubs are doing all sorts of things out and about, so check out their O-Week stalls, have a chat and get excited about seeing all sorts of crazy and awesome things they do!
Categories of Clubs and Societies
A UNSW club or society is basically just a group of UNSW students with the same aims or interests, who get together, organise events and try and get other UNSW students involved. Arc supports around 120 student clubs with grants and resources. If you have a passion, chances are there is an Arc club whose members have the same passion. If there isn’t, you can start one by contacting Arc! The full list of Arc student clubs can be found on the Arc website www.arc.unsw.edu.au or visit the Clubs List. Clubs generally fall into the following categories; Cultural Societies, Academic and Professional Development Societies, Sporting Societies, Religious Societies, Political and Social Interest Societies, Special Interest Societies and Performing Arts Societies. Many clubs will fit in two or more of these categories
Cultural Societies These clubs generally aim to spread awareness of their members’ cultural background and help connect members with other students from their community whilst helping them adjust to UNSW and even Australia. A few of these clubs are the Chinese Student Association (CSA), Indonesian Student Association (ISA) and even the Black Swan Dance group that performs traditional Chinese dancing.
Maggie from Black Swan Dance group, "I joined Black Swan Dance group last year and it helped my dreams come true-- I danced beautifully onstage in front of thousands of people!"
Academic and Professional Development Societies Many schools and faculties have a student club that organises social and other events for students in their area. Examples of these clubs include the Students of Medical Science Society (SMSSOC) and the Law Society. There are also lots of clubs that help members improve skills that will be valuable to employers as well as link students with people from industry. Clubs like this include AIESEC, Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) and Success Accelerator Club (SAClub).
Mirna from SMSSOC, “joining SMSSOC showed me that we all contain our very own action potentials just waiting to reach their threshold.”
Katie from AIESEC UNSW , “after joining AIESEC UNSW, I got to meet inspiring and passionate youths from all over the nation who wanted to DO something about world issues as well as go on an AIESEC exchange to Shanghai, China this Summer!”
Sporting Societies As the name suggests these clubs are focussed around a particular sport or physical activity. They include the UNSW Kickboxing Society and the UNSW Cheerleading Society.
Lauren from UNSW Cheerleading, "since joining the UNSW Cheerleading Society I have performed at various events on campus, made lots of friends and competed in Australian cheerleading competitions!"
Religious Societies
These clubs connect people of the same faith and often seek to promote inter-faith awareness. Examples include Vishwaas UNSW Hindu Society and UNSW Christian Students. UNSW is also host to the first Atheist Society of any campus in Australia; the UNSW Atheist Society.
Shankar from Vishwaas, “We promote a broader understanding of Hinduism and Hindu concepts as well as celebrating several Hindu festivals throughout the year.”
Political and Social Interest Societies The political clubs are usually UNSW student chapters of political parties like the Labor Club and the Liberal Club. There are also many societies whose main interest is to raise the awareness of social issues like poverty and also do something about it such as Education Without Borders and Service Society.
Aica from Service Society, "I just got back from a really cool service project in India which I got to be a part through joining SERVESOC: it's the best way to give back to the community while having fun."
Special Interest Societies
The clubs in this category are pretty much the ones that don’t fit anywhere else. They are the clubs like Spocksoc that have a particular specialised interest that club members share a passion for.
Ravi from the UNSW Vegetarian Society, “I joined Veggie Soc. in 2009 and got to eat some delicious food, and meet some awesome people!”
Performing Arts Societies
Clubs in this category include the Music Society, the Revues and the New South Uni Theatrical Society (NUTS) that are all about giving members the skills to get up onstage and perform, whether it be in a band, in a comedy sketch or in a play.
Anon from NUTS, "My most memorable moment of 2009 - Definitely joining NUTS…I had just moved to Sydney and had no connections or friendships. So meeting new people and beginning a relationship with such a great theatre society really helped me settle into Sydney and feel at home at UNSW - the genuine support and warmth I received really meant a lot to me - something I haven't forgotten since."
A Personal Anecdote
To be honest, I didn’t do much at my first O-Week, however, the one thing I did do pretty much defined my entire university experience. As I was struggling up the main walkway to get my student card, one of the stalls along the main walkway caught my eye. It had a big sign saying “Spocksoc”. I was struck, “not the Spock,” I said to myself. I was a huge Star Trek fan and in the limited social circle of high school I had never before met anybody in the least bit interested in Spock, Kirk or McCoy (for those of you not in the know, these are the main characters from the original 1960s Star Trek television series that became a cult classic and was recently revitalised as a major Hollywood blockbuster). Even though I was in a hurry I had to investigate this “Spocksoc”. It turned out to be UNSW’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Club (yes they were talking about the Spock). I joined immediately. From initially being a club member who came to weekly club events to hang out, I progressed to being on Spocksoc’s executive, then the President, then getting involved in the committee that manages all affiliated clubs’ grants and registration, then becoming the head of this committee then finally now having a job in this area at Arc. That spur of the moment decision to join a club at O-Week has given me so many opportunities, made me so many friends and taught me so many new skills that I can’t imagine my time at university if I hadn’t done it.
