Image: Entries from the 2013 ANU Twilight Festival Bake Off, circa 2013. 

Don't miss out on the opportunity to let your culinary imagination soar in the ‘Great Brian Bake Off’ next Friday 15 December.

Whether you're a seasoned pro, a kitchen experimenter, or just getting acquainted with the art of boiling an egg, everyone is welcome to participate. No need to be a professional baker—just bring your enthusiasm. Exciting prizes await, so don't miss out.

Register your intent to bake by Monday 11 December

This event is part of the Vice-Chancellor's End of Year Garden Party. 

The University's Smoke-Free Policy prohibits the use of all smoking products (tobacco product, herbal product, personal vaporiser or personal vaporiser product) on all ANU residences, campuses, including buildings, properties, grounds and study and work spaces. 

In maintaining a smoke-free campus, ANU is seeking to encourage and support staff and students to quit smoking and to protect vulnerable members of our community from incidental exposure to tobacco smoke and vaping by-products. 

People who choose to smoke are encouraged to be considerate of their colleagues and classmates by only smoking off campus, and to also consider their own health by accessing support to reduce, or ideally quit, their use of tobacco products. For further information, please visit our FAQs. 

There is also a range of support services available to assist in reducing or quitting smoking. You can also access counselling services through ANU, visit the ANU Medical Centre for smoking or vaping cessation appointments or talk to your own health care practitioner for support.  

Read Professor Emily Banks' research on the dangers of smoking and vaping among young Australians

Wednesday 6 December, 4-5.30pm 

In recent years, the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has transformed people's daily lives and had profound effects on various professional fields. Hosted by the Australian Centre on China in the World, this talk will delve into the existing resources and methodologies of digital humanities in Chinese history. It will reflect critically on the achievements and shortcomings of current digital humanities, explore their intersection with the discipline of history, and address the challenges that they currently face. 

Register now

Thursday 7 December, 5.30-7pm 

In an immersive exploration of how neuroscience shapes our understanding of responsibility within the legal system. The law makes assumptions about how people think—how we reason, why we act, and what it takes for us to be responsible. Advances in neuroscience constantly challenge these assumptions. How should advances in our understanding of the brain and mind affect classic legal questions? 

Register now 

The ANU Library has added an exciting new resource from GALE’s Primary Sources collection as part of the material included in these series offers a significant, contemporary insight into the official processes and activities of British officials during the periods Britain colonised a significant proportion of Asia.  

Read more

Tuesday 6 February 2024, 9am-4.30pm

Begin your year with a day of in person learning and teaching enrichment including practical workshops, knowledge sharing and networking.

Gain insight and skills to add to your teaching toolkit while engaging in professional discussion with colleagues from across the university.

The program will be structured around four streams - Assessment Renewal, Curriculum and Graduate Attributes, Student Careers and Employability and Digital Learning Renewal. 

Would you like to be involved by presenting a workshop or being available to talk about your work during a showcase segment? Please email clt@anu.edu.au to express your interest.

Since the announcement of the Professional Staff Pathways by the Vice-Chancellor in February, the People and Culture Team have been working to articulate and develop a program that ensures professional staff thrive, feel empowered and supported to grow and develop at ANU. 

Supporting staff development is a key focus area at ANU and we heard this through our ANYOU Staff engagement survey. Establishing Professional Staff Pathways and ensuring staff have long and rewarding careers at ANU is an important element of this focus area. 

To date, input and feedback on the Professional Staff Pathways has been received from the ANYOU Staff Survey, ANU Enterprise Agreement negotiations and the Professional Services Leadership Forum. As we continue to build our Professional Staff Pathways roadmap, we would love your input.

We will be running a series of focus groups next week to learn more about how to ensure the Professional Staff Pathway needs the needs of our community.

You are invited to register your interest to participate in one of the focus group meetings. If you are unable to participate next week, please still register your interest and we will invite you to a session in the new year.

This section has been updated to reflect correct deadlines and information. 

As we approach the end of the calendar year, please keep in mind the important ANU Finance deadlines. This information has previously been circulated to Colleges and Portfolios. 

Accounts Payable

To ensure that accounts payable invoices are processed prior to closure of the University for 2023:

• Invoices for goods or services received from existing suppliers are to be submitted to invoice.workflow@anu.edu.au by Wednesday 13 December 2023.
• Reimbursement requests to be submitted in Finance Self Service by Wednesday 13 December 2023 to enable sufficient time for approval. 
• Invoices and reimbursements to be approved in ES Financials by Monday 18 December 2023 to ensure payment in 2023.
• The last payment run of the year will be Thursday 21 December 2023.
• The first payment run of 2024 will be Friday 5 January 2024.

Please note that any invoices due for payment after 4 January 2024 will be paid in 2024. 

Purchase Cards

Please acquit and approve purchase card expenses by Saturday 30 December 2023 to ensure expenditure is properly recorded in the year it which it is incurred. Any un-acquitted or unapproved purchase card expenditure will be posted against your 2024 business unit budget.

If you have shared any different dates with your suppliers due to the incorrect On Campus edition (sent 5 December) or previous communication from the University Procurement and Contracts Office (UPCO), please provide your suppliers with the correct dates as listed above. UPCO can assist you with providing an updated email for your suppliers that contains the correct dates. If you would like to request this, please contact contracts.office@anu.edu.au.

Last month, Kate Lawrence, Climate Program Manager at the ANU Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions (ICEDS) talked about an opportunity to stand up for the right of young Australians to a healthy and safe future, through the Duty of Care Amendment to the Climate Change Act. 

In 2021, a group of Australian children challenged the Federal government in court, on the grounds that the Government should not approve a coal mine expansion because it would exacerbate climate change, causing harm to young people. Ultimately, the Federal Court of Australia established that the Australian Government does not currently have a legal duty of care to young people, and that this would need to be established by the Parliament. Senator David Pocock has proposed an amendment to the Climate Change Act, known as the Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity Bill, that would see this duty of care established.

ICEDS has worked with experts from around The Australian National University to provide recommendations to strengthen this Bill, and better protect young Australians.

For more information, watch Kate's video and check out the ICEDS submission.

The Australian National University acknowledges, celebrates and pays our respects to the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people of the Canberra region and to all First Nations Australians on whose traditional lands we meet and work, and whose cultures are among the oldest continuing cultures in human history.