Help Save Craccum! Sign the petition + SGM Information Evening This Friday

UPDATE: At the time of posting this, the Craccum SGM (Special General Meeting) petition has collected 150 signatures and has been submitted to AUSA; however, AUSA has not accepted the petition yet, citing that more verifiable signatures by AUSA members are needed.

Please, if you have not signed it yet, we are still seeking signatures of support for the future of Craccum's funding and Editorial Independence: https://forms.gle/zuwAUvo1sS7aBJCb8

AUSA's ongoing unwillingness to advocate for funding UOA's student magazine, its historic duty, demonstrates how out of touch they are as an organisation representing student voices and underscores the need for this SGM to see some real reform made and secure the future of this taonga of our student culture. If they cannot prove they can act as kaitiaki for Craccum, then Craccum should be given to UOA students to look after, as it is their magazine.

The primary objective of the Craccum SGM is to force AUSA to restore funding to pre-2024 levels, undoing all the budget cuts, and allowing Craccum to release as a weekly print magazine once again in 2026 and beyond.

It is critical to note that AUSA does not need us to call an SGM to take our feedback on board and reassure everyone that they plan to restore Craccum's ongoing and future funding. They could issue a press release any day now pledging to restore Craccum's funding whenever they would like. They could have chosen to take the feedback on board, but despite receiving such a volume of complaints are silent. AUSA should be Student Journalism's greatest champion, not an apathetic agent complicit in its destruction. As it stands, AUSA is not working hard to disprove or dispel the accusations that they plan to kill the magazine.

It is unclear if the current election would make AUSA change their heart, either, as several current AUSA executives have signed the Craccum SGM petition. Which begs the question: who is actually pushing AUSA's anti-Craccum agenda and why, when silencing student voices goes against their organisation's agenda? And where has Craccum's funding gone when AUSA's CSSF allocation from your uni fees and their overall income as an organisation have only increased year on year?

The SGM calls for the restoration of Craccum as a strong, independent voice for UOA students that isn't swayed by the whims of AUSA

About our Craccum SGM Information Evening

The Craccum SGM is an inevitability that AUSA will have to address. So that UOA students are properly informed about what is at stake and the changes proposed to address our concerns that will be voted on at the SGM, we are hosting an information evening this Friday. For clarity, AUSA has not set the date for the SGM itself yet. This is only a preliminary discussion evening.

Event Details: Craccum SGM Info Evening

Date: Friday 29th August 2025

Time: 5-8 pm

Location: Room 405-422 UOA City Campus

The Craccum SGM will be an AUSA Special Meeting where a referendum will be debated, and all UOA students, who are AUSA members (it is free to join), can vote on these two proposals, which could determine Craccum’s future in 2026 (and beyond). 80+ AUSA members will need to be in attendance for the vote to count.

• The first option is to set up Craccum as an incorporated society independent from AUSA: essentially a uni club. Craccum would then be governed by its own constitution, and funding would be arranged via a contract between AUSA and UOA.
• The second option is that Craccum remains under the aegis of AUSA, but a range of significant reforms are put in place that give Craccum more funding and freedom. The centrepiece is making AUSA constitutionally bound to fund Craccum at least 150k a year and restore Craccum as a weekly print magazine.

Attached below is some added context as well as the full text of the Craccum SGM reforms; however, at the Info Evening, we will unpack what these changes mean in more detail. The video will be recorded and uploaded to this article afterwards for everyone's reference.

Press Release: Craccum Magazine Moves to Establish Independence from AUSA

On July 29th, 2025, a group of 20 concerned Craccum Magazine contributors and members of the Auckland University Students’ Association launched a petition calling for a Special General Meeting (SGM) to take place to certify Craccum Magazine’s funding and independence for 2026 and beyond.

If you are an AUSA member and would like to support the petition, please consider signing! We need 100+ signatures to call the meeting. Use the link to sign our petition: https://forms.gle/JGG1Rqs1PQHcbzUp9

We are also taking signatures from outside the UOA community too. The call for independence comes primarily from 2025’s sudden budget cuts, which have seen Craccum Magazine’s circulation drop out of weekly print publication for the first time in over half a century. There was no consultation about these cuts from AUSA with University of Auckland students, nor the Editors and staff of Craccum on these budget cuts. Craccum Magazine also has no control over its finances, advertising, nor does it have its own bank account.

As of 2025, Craccum’s operating budget comes from student fees, and the University of Auckland allocates $150,000 (0.5%) of the student levy to AUSA to pay for Craccum Magazine to be a “weekly" publication (source). Resource/funding allocation is decided and signed off by the University Executive Committee. This committee consists of Vice-Chancellor Dawn Freshwater, Pro-Vice Chancellors and Deans of Faculties (source).

Now for 2026, Craccum Magazine, the University of Auckland’s student publication, is facing a proposed 22% funding cut—equivalent to $33,000—on top of previous reductions that have already gutted its budget. This latest blow would equate to reducing circulation by a further six print issues or six paid student roles. This will further erode opportunities for young journalists and leave Craccum stands empty for months.

Before 2025, Craccum paid contributors for nearly 90% of its content. In 2025, that figure has reversed—90% of content is now produced by unpaid volunteers. In a cost-of-living crisis, this reliance on unpaid student labour is ethically indefensible. Without intervention, Craccum may be reduced to a skeleton crew by 2026, jeopardising its centenary in 2027. A husk of its former self.The University of Auckland ranks last in Aotearoa for student media funding, allocating just 0.4% of the Student Services Levy to Craccum—far below Canterbury (5%), Waikato (4%), and Victoria (2.1%). Despite claiming to value “a strong student voice,” the University’s actions suggest otherwise.When asked for comment, the University stated that students’ only recourse is to respond to the CSSF 2026 consultation survey—open for 10 days of which 9 days are left. Students are urged to complete the survey and demand the reversal of proposed cuts and an increase in Craccum’s funding.Meanwhile, questions are mounting about AUSA’s role as Craccum’s kaitiaki. AUSA represents Craccum on the Student Consultative Group, yet has approved two budget cuts without consulting the editorial team or the student body. Is AUSA truly an appropriate guardian of our student media?

2025’s budget-cutting decision was made by the Craccum Administrative Board (CAB), a sub-committee of AUSA. After students raised questions about why Craccum’s staff and circulation were suddenly slashed in half, the CAB released a statement justifying their decision (source). In that press release, the CAB made several false claims justifying Craccum’s 2025 budget cuts:

The CAB claims: “Declining readership… With print circulation dropping to as low as 1,000 copies per issue, many of which remained unclaimed, our digital presence also struggled to gain traction” (source).

Debunking AUSA’s claims that Craccum Magazine is in decline:

According to Craccum Magazine’s editors from the past half-decade, the pickup rate for print issues has been more or less consistently over 90% despite COVID. In 2025, Craccum’s pickup rate was very high at 96.3% on average (source), with most issues selling out completely in a day or two, and some stands have reportedly sold out in less than an hour.

The CAB do not quantify what they considered “low”; however, in AUSA’s own advertising information, they claim Craccum has an average pickup rate of 80% (source), which would make the current pickup rate for the magazine high (96.3%). Given that UOA considers 80% or higher an A-range grade (source), such a pick up rate cannot be considered “low” or unsucessful.

Additionally, when asking the CAB for minutes dating back to its creation for research purposes, we were told that the minutes do not exist because they were never kept. This is important to note because without the minutes we cannot verify any decisions the CAB made or the agenda/business items or who was in attendance. Minute keeping is common practice for any organisational/group meeting which they have neglected. Even AUSA's Executive Meeting Minutes are published online. Why does an advisory board of AUSA and Craccum not keep minutes and follow this practice? While it is true that only 1000 print copies of each issue of Craccum are published, that is not necessarily a decline. For example, despite print being the dominant media source in the mid-20th century, Craccum only circulated 300 copies in 1950. Compared to those numbers, 2025’s 1000 copies make today’s Craccum 3x as popular and successful (source: Craccum No. 4 1957).

This does not even begin to factor in our online engagement, too. For example, AUSA’s own advertising stats conflict with what the CAB claims of decline, as the same source claims Craccum has an average readership of 5–10,000 students, or about 1 in 4 UOA students (source). Indeed, Craccum’s internal data corroborates this claim as our website receives about 25k clicks per week and we have 10,000+ online followers (7,000 from Facebook, 2.3k from Instagram, etc.). Comparatively, Craccum has similar levels of online engagement to other student magazines, like AUT’s Debate Magazine (source), and significantly more followers than most Student Clubs at UOA. This evidence quite clearly disproves that Craccum’s “digital presence has struggled to gain traction.”

Furthermore, 2025 has seen Craccum go from strength to strength, with contributions increasing sixfold, restoring the magazine to pre-COVID levels of engagement despite the budget cuts. Craccum now has a list of 260+ registered members, more than 8 times the minimum requirement to become a recognised society by the University of Auckland. Indeed, recently the University of Auckland has officially recognised Craccum as a club-like entity operating on campus, for the first time in its 98-year history.

Craccum Magazine — Waipapa Taumata Rau’s taonga of student media for 98 years — warns that recent budget cuts have silenced Māori and Pasifika voices on campus. The removal of our Pasifika Editor, Te Ao Māori Editor, Arts Editor, Features Editor, Environmental Editor, Lifestyle Editor and Social Media Editor positions in 2025 has erased more than 1,800 hours of mentoring, cultural insight, and community storytelling from students already facing systemic barriers to media opportunities. These decisions, imposed without consultation or access to funding breakdowns, halve our paid cultural‑editor roles and breach equity commitments — eroding the authentic voices that connect alumni, current students, and future generations.

Māori and Pasifika students deserve a platform that uplifts their perspectives, values their cultural expertise, and ensures they steer their own narratives. They deserve a regular place in UOA's student media, not a tokenistic gesture, like the one-off annual magazine (Taumata Rau) that AUSA thinks honours their commitment to Te Tiriti is adequate equitable representation. When the opportunity arose mid-way through 2025 to hire new staff following the resignation of our News Co-Editor, the CAB declined our request to split the role into a Te Ao Māori and Pasifika Editor.

Craccum is organising a Special General Meeting to establish independence as an incorporated society in 2026 — restoring control over our finances, editorial direction, cultural leadership, and safeguarding the representation that budget cuts have put at risk.

Yet, officially, we cannot publish the above information or criticise AUSA through Craccum anymore. As of 2024, AUSA’s constitution forbids Craccum from publishing anything that could cause reputational harm to AUSA (source). This is built into the Craccum staff’s contracts, and breaching this is a warrant for dismissal without notice. This attack on freedom of expression needs to be immediately repealed.

Simply put, Craccum is not in a state of decline, and we do not trust that AUSA can act as a good-faith Kaitiaki for the magazine without the immediate reforms our SGM moves for.

For these reasons, we call this SGM to call for the reform of AUSA’s current governance system for Craccum Magazine. Students want to take back control of their student magazine, and they want a seat at the table when key decisions are made about it. They care about Craccum Magazine. Craccum is a taonga of the University of Auckland’s student culture that needs to be protected and preserved for future generations to enjoy. We want to see Craccum restored to being a weekly print magazine, as it should be. By students, for students.

We call this SGM because students are willing and want to take back guardianship of Craccum Magazine. We want Craccum to be a self-governing incorporated society, led by a team of annually elected editors (as was the norm till 2020, now AUSA’s CAB appoints editors), with control of its own finances. We want contracts for receiving funds to via Memoranda of Understanding between AUSA and the University of Auckland. A similar relationship is already in place to fund the student-run UOA Scientific Journal, and Craccum Magazine could operate under a similar arrangement.

To that end, the SGM will vote on two key motions:

Motion 1: Full Legal Independence

Proposes establishing Craccum as an incorporated society, independent from AUSA but still recognised as the official magazine of Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland. Key provisions include:

• Direct funding from the University via quarterly Student Levy instalments
  
  
• Transfer of all Craccum assets and intellectual property to the new society
  
  
• Continued office space on campus
  
  
• A deadline of 17 November 2025 to incorporate, elect a 2026 executive, and formalise governance
  
  
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to manage the AUSA–Craccum relationship
  
  
• Permanent right for Craccum’s Editor-in-Chief to attend, vote and report on SCG and Student Council meetings

Motion 2: Constitutional Reform Within AUSA

Proposes amendments to the AUSA constitution to strengthen Craccum’s autonomy without full separation. Highlights include:

• Guaranteed annual budget of $150,000 for weekly print publication, regardless of UOA funding cuts
  
  
• Increasing the number of paid student editorial roles
  
  
• Dedicated bank account for income/advertising revenue
  
  
• Restoration of editorial independence, including the right to publish content critical of AUSA
  
  
• Mandatory consultation on budget changes and a seat at the Student Council and SCG
  
  
• Expanded Craccum Advisory Board with independent media and academic members

Together, these motions offer students a referendum choice between full legal independence or strengthened autonomy within AUSA—both designed to protect Craccum’s legacy and ensure its future as a student-led publication.

If this information has moved you, please consider signing the SGM petition. We need 100+ signatures to call an SGM, as we need to call it soon, before decisions for 2026 are made. Please see the link to sign our petition: https://forms.gle/JGG1Rqs1PQHcbzUp9.

Below is the SGM proposal:

Petition to Establish Craccum Magazine as an independent incorporated society.

To: AUSA (Auckland University Students’ Association) Secretary David Fulton (generalmanager@ausa.org.nz)

From: Concerned Members of AUSA

We, the undersigned members of the Auckland University Students' Association (AUSA), are calling a Special General Meeting (SGM) to discuss the motion to establish Craccum Magazine as an independent incorporated society.

An SGM is necessary for this motion because the Annual General Meeting has already passed, and Craccum will begin publication in 2026 before the next Annual General Meeting.

The proposed motions are as follows:

1. Motion for AUSA to permit and endorse the establishment of Craccum Magazine as an incorporated society with complete independence from AUSA and recognise this as the official magazine of Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland in perpetuity, or until a time when Craccum Magazine (Incorporated Society) is disestablished.
2. AUSA will assist Craccum Magazine (Incorporated Society) in the establishment of a new contract and direct relationship with Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland for the receipt of funds allocated by the Student Levy for the publication of Craccum Magazine as a weekly print magazine. AUSA will advise Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland to direct the funding outlined in the Student Levy for the weekly print publication of Craccum Magazine to be redirected to Craccum Magazine (Incorporated Society) in quarterly instalments. Craccum Magazine (Incorporated Society) will provide Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland with quarterly financial reports to ensure responsible spending of funding.
3. AUSA will cede any claims or rights to the assets and intellectual property of Craccum Magazine (Incorporated Society), including but not limited to the website, equipment, emails, media content, digital and print issues, as well as past, present and future publications and content made by Craccum Magazine. These rights will be handed over to Craccum Magazine (Incorporated Society) by Monday, 17 November 2025. AUSA recognises Craccum as owned by Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland students as a collective, with the elected executive of Craccum Magazine (Incorporated Society) as kaitiaki/guardians.
4. AUSA will continue to arrange the provisioning of Craccum with an office space somewhere on the city campus. The office should be lockable, with sufficient storage space and seating capabilities similar to the current office in 311-445.
5. If passed, it would be understood by all parties that Craccum Magazine has a deadline of Monday, 17 November 2025 to establish itself as an incorporated society, set up a constitution, hold an AGM, elect a 2026 executive team and create a bank account. After this date, the 2026 executive would be recognised as having all authority over Craccum Magazine.AUSA and Craccum Magazine’s relationship will be formally managed by an MoU, which will be signed between representatives of AUSA and Craccum Magazine (incorporated society). From the date of incorporation until the signing of the MoU (Deadline 2 March 2026), AUSA will direct all funding marked prior for Craccum Magazine to the Society. The finer details of the transition, such as staff wages, can be arranged in this MoU. 
6. This motion (1) will also grant the future Editor-in-Chief, as President(s) of Craccum Magazine (Incorporated Society), a right to attend and report on the proceedings of all Student Council meetings. 
7. In the alternative, a set of motions under this second motion (2) is proposed to increase Craccum Magazine’s independence and autonomy from AUSA within the current AUSA constitution (2024):
   1. Amendment to Clause 43 - Provision of Craccum as follows:

43 Provision of Craccum Magazine

• (1) The Association shall guarantee a minimum annual budget of no less than $150,000, including all allocated funding provided by Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland, to support Craccum as a weekly print publication, releasing throughout Semesters One and Two of every academic year.
• (2) All funding allocated for Craccum must be used exclusively to employ University of Auckland students and support operations related to the magazine’s publication. Leftover funds may be rolled over to the following year. The Craccum Advisory Board must make annual budget allocation decisions.
• (3) Craccum shall have the right to secure its advertising and maintain a dedicated bank account administered jointly by the Editor(s)-in-chief and the Association Treasurer.
• (4) Quarterly financial reports concerning Craccum’s independent account shall be submitted to the Craccum Advisory Board. Craccum must also be allotted time of no less than 10 minutes to report on its activities. The report must be made by the Managing Editor. In the event that the Managing Editor is not available, it must be made by the Editor(s)-In-Chief. 
• (5) Craccum is not the official magazine of AUSA. It is an independent, student-owned publication serving all University of Auckland students.
• (6) The Editor-in-Chief or Co-Editors-in-Chief of Craccum shall be elected annually by student vote during the AUSA executive elections in the same process outlined in Part V. Up to three candidates can run for joint Co-Editorship of the magazine.
  • (a) Candidates for Editor(s)-in-Chief must have contributed to or worked for Craccum and provide evidence of at least six contributions (visual/written) to the magazine in the past twelve months upon nomination. If there are fewer than two candidates by the end of the nomination period, the deadline shall be extended, and nominees without prior experience with Craccum will be accepted. 
  • (c) The candidate(s) receiving the most votes shall assume office for a 12-month term beginning January 1st of the following year, or as soon as possible in the case of a by-election.
  • (d) Editors may stand for re-election.
• (7) Removal of Editors requires a majority vote at a Special General Meeting called explicitly for a no-confidence motion. The Editor(s)-in-chief must be given two weeks' notice of such an SGM and be allowed to give an address at the meeting.
• (8) All Editors and Craccum staff must be part-time or full-time students at the University of Auckland. Craccum staff cannot hold AUSA staff positions or be a member of the Executive during their tenure.
• (9) At least 9 students must be hired to comprise the core of Craccum’s paid staff, including the following roles. Public notice must be given for the hiring of staff of no less than two weeks. The Editor(s)-in-chief will be responsible for hiring decisions for magazine’s paid staff as follows:
  • (a) Managing Editor: coordinates on campus events promoting Craccum as well as advertising, contributions and third-party outreach.
  • (b) Digital Manager: manages Craccum’s website and overall digital presence, including software, emails and accounts
  • (c) Visual Arts Editor: illustrates content for the magazine and coordinates visual arts contributions
  • (d) News Editor: primary reporter for the magazine and coordinates news contributions
  • (e) Te Ao Māori Editor: coordinates Craccum’s coverage of Te Ao Māori, honouring the magazine’s commitment to te Tiriti O Waitangi.
  • (f) Pasifika Editor: coordinates Craccum’s coverage of Pasifika Perspectives to ensure equitable representation.
  • (g) Social Media Publicist: creates or converts Craccum’s articles and content into social media posts.
  • (h) Designer: responsible for the layout of articles in the print magazine.
  • (j) Paid Intern/s: Craccum shall be allotted 8 hours of minimum wage labour (before tax) for 24 weeks which can be allocated as the Editor(s)-in-chief see fit to hire paid interns to assist with the production of the magazine.
  • (k) Should any of the staff resign before their 24 week contract expires with more than 4 weeks left of publication in that year, their job will be reoffered for a contact of the duration of the remaining weeks.

2. Amendment to Clause 44 - Craccum Advisory Board as follows:

44 Craccum Advisory Board

(1) The Craccum Advisory Board (CAB) shall provide editorial advice when solicited by the (Co-)Editor(s) and manage any formal complaints lodged against Craccum Magazine.

(2) CAB Membership shall consist of:

(a) Engagement Vice-President (Chair)

(b) Association Secretary or designated SLT member

(c) One independent journalism/media expert

(d) One University of Auckland academic staff member with communications, design or media expertise

(e) Current Editor(s)-in-chief of Craccum

(f) Previous Editor(s)-in-chief of Craccum

(3) Only listed members may vote or attend meetings. Others may only attend with the consent of the current Craccum Editor(s)-in-chief. No interim members may fill CAB roles; they must be replaced before the next meeting.

(4) CAB meetings and decisions require a quorum of four voting members to be present, with a majority vote in favour.

(5) CAB meeting minutes must be kept and released publicly upon request.

(6) CAB regulates its procedures, with all resolutions noted and governed by natural justice.

(7) Members cease membership under current eligibility/disqualification conditions:

(a)  they die;

(b) They submit a letter of resignation to the Association Secretary; in the case of being a member appointed for a term, they finish their term and are not reappointed by way of Executive Resolution.

(c) they become a mentally disordered person within the meaning of the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992; they are convicted of any criminal offence involving fraud or dishonesty;

(d) they become subject to a property order made under the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988;

(e) They are removed by the Executive, by way of a Resolution carried by majority, on the basis that they have deceived or misled the Association and the Craccum Administration Board or have abused their powers of office;

(f) In the case of a member appointed under rule 44 (2) (c), they cease to be working in the fields of journalism, publication, or content creation;

(g) In the case of a member appointed under rule 44 (2) (d), they cease to be employed by the University as an academic specialising generally in journalism, communications, or media studies.

(h) Two years have passed since their initial appointment. They must be re-appointed or a new member must be appointed.

3. Amendment to Clause 45 - Editorial Independence as follows:

45 Editorial Independence

(1) Editors of Craccum maintain full editorial autonomy, including the right to publish critical content about AUSA or any other individual/organisation.

(2) AUSA must provide written invitations to Editors for all meetings discussing Craccum with at least two weeks' notice - including Student Council, Executive meetings, and Advisory Board meetings.

(3) Proposals to alter Craccum’s operating budget, as outlined in Clause 43, must be made in consultation with the Editors and approved at an AGM or SGM by student vote.

(4) Craccum’s Editors (current and/or incoming) must be present in ALL discussions pertaining to Craccum’s operational budget allocations. Failure to implement this/to provide proper consultation in good faith, makes the choices made by the AUSA Executive (regarding Craccum’s operating Budget) invalid.

(5) Craccum’s Editor(s)-in-chief are invited to attend and report on all Student Council proceedings and will be given proper notice of all meetings.