Interview with Artie Ho | AUSA Queer Rights Officer

What do you study? 

I’m in my third year of my Bachelor of Law degree 

What is your position at AUSA, and what kind of things do you do?

I’m the Queer Rights Officer, and I do a lot of things! The core of my role is looking after Queerspace (including the Queerspace Community Pantry I set up, cleaning, decorating, hosting events), running events (TRK AUSA Pride Week, Big Gay Out), and chairing the Queer Student Council (my subcommittee, made of one representative from each of our 10 Rainbow Clubs). I’m also the Co-President of the UoA Queer Students Association, starting it was one of my campaign promises last year. It’s now up and running as an independent club that serves its 300+ members through fortnightly events and resource sharing. Pastoral support is another aspect of this role, I often have one-on-one chats with students who are struggling or just need someone to chat to. There’s a bunch of miscellaneous tasks I do for student engagement - I spoke at the International Orientation, helped coordinate Sweat with Pride teams, and I’m often answering SO many emails from staff and students looking for info or advice. I also do a bunch of advocacy - I’ll talk more about it in this next question. 

How is your voice heard within AUSA, and what type of advocacy work do you regularly do? 

As with every other TRK AUSA exec, I meet with the rest of the exec team and Student Council regularly, which is an opportunity for me to make my voice heard and to listen to the other student leaders. I also work alongside the TRK AUSA permanent staff members, which is a two-way street - they provide invaluable help with some of my events/causes, and I provide input into their work where appropriate. On the UoA end, there’s a lot of advocacy to be done! I am often talking to staff members who do important work in the queer equity space, bringing problems to their attention and working together where I can to try and fix them. For example, I’ve been pushing for University Health & Counselling Services to initiate hormone replacement therapy, investigating avenues for UoA to administrate & fund a gender-affirming fund for students in financial need, and the absolute state of the Quad building where Queerspace is located is an ongoing problem. I also sit on the Sustainability Management Board, sharing my student perspective on the state of sustainability within UoA. Outside of UoA, there are plenty of issues which affect students. One particularly close to me is the state of gender-affirming chest reconstruction/’top surgery’. While I was fortunate enough to receive it earlier this year, new referrals have been stopped in Auckland and around the country, reflecting the underfunded & overworked state of healthcare in general. The opacity of information was concerning to me, so I discussed what to do with key members of our transgender community and I wrote a detailed OIA request to see what was going on, what the plan was for the future, and why these decisions have been made. Over the last several months I’ve been going back and forth, getting clear answers for our community. 

What were you involved with at UOA prior to AUSA? 

Before I became QRO, I was a Trans on Campus exec (2023-24), I sat on the AUSA Queer Student Council 2023-23, I was a Horticulture Club marketing exec, I worked for UoA as a Summer Start Leader (summer 2023-24) and then a Student Ambassador (2024-25). 

What advice would you give to first year students about making the most of their Uni experience? 

It’s okay to not know what you’re doing! The important thing is that you try your best to figure out what you want, what you like, and what works for you. It’s going to look different for everyone, and that’s okay. Uni can be a pretty steep learning curve - I know I haven’t really got my time management skills down and I’m in my third year! 

What made you decide to run for AUSA exec? 

The short and corny answer is that I love my queer community. It genuinely is what keeps me going and working so hard, because it’s meant I’ve gotten friendships and support and resources, and I want other queer students to get that too (or better!). But that applies to all of the volunteer work that I’ve also done. With TRK AUSA specifically, I ran because of the support of my Rainbow Club colleagues. Queer equity is not a one-person job. It was clear to us as Rainbow Clubs that we had lots of potential, and having an ally in TRK AUSA would best help us reach it. Ahead of last election, I met with every Rainbow Club to hone in on exactly what all of our goals were, and what I specifically could achieve within the TRK AUSA exec team. The vast majority of my work would not be possible without the strong community of Rainbow Clubs execs I’m lucky to be part of, they are the reason I’m able to do what I do. 

How would you describe your experience working at AUSA so far? Would you recommend it, and if so, why?

It has been an exciting, terrifying, joyful rollercoaster ride. There’s so much thrown at you from all angles - uni, students, clubs, other TRK AUSA execs, external bodies… if I listed all the tasks I’ve been asked to do I think Craccum would never ask me to say anything again for the sheer printing costs (jk). The QRO role is one that I’ve had a lot of control over in terms of scope, which means I’ve been able to tackle advocacy that I personally care about and do events that I’ve wanted to see for ages. It’s unique in the relationships I get to have with other people - I’m someone the uni can come to for advice, I can support and call on Rainbow Clubs, I can link up with external parties to benefit students. I think TRK AUSA is a solid way to step up and get things done, and I’d recommend it to any student willing to put in the hard work to make things happen! 

How many hours do you work a week on average? How do you find balancing Uni work and AUSA? 

To be honest, I think the work never truly stops with a community-focused role like this. I wear several hats, as the TRK AUSA Queer Rights Officer and Co-President of the Queer Students Association. There’s also the fact that UoA hasn’t had a Rainbow Support Worker since January, which has meant a gap in support for queer students I’ve done by best to fill. That means this year has been exceptional, and exceptionally busy! By my count, I average around 20 hours in a normal week - more during busy times (I think I did 40+ during Pride Week…). Please don’t ask how behind I am on my course work… it’s a bit scary. To be honest, I really struggle with my time, it’s hard to do this role and uni and literally anything else. But I recently got my ADHD diagnosis so let’s hope being medicated will help! 

What are some key skills you've learnt over the last year at AUSA? 

How to work through complex problems with other people. How to delegate tasks and stop trying to do everything myself (work in progress). How to chair meetings. How to send a decent email. Owning up to mistakes and doing my best to fix them. How to manage a team. Learning how to pick my battles. How to talk to people who I’m actually really intimidated by even though they’re really nice! 

Any campaigning tips for prospective candidates? 

Be honest and realistic. While ambitious goals are worth pursuing, it’s also really important to keep in mind what you can actually do. As students and outsiders to the inner workings of the university (and the council, and the government, and private entities), there are real limitations on what we can do. Being upfront about those limitations shows you’ve done your homework on what’s achievable. Be yourself and have fun with it! 😊