What is university debating?

University debating is made up of student-run university debating societies that host regular debate sessions and training for their members, and compete against each other nationally and internationally. Debating is an organised argument, usually between two teams on a pre-arranged topic. 

What style of debating is done? Is it the same as high school?

The university debating year is split into three parts; Before Easters, debating is done in Australasian 3 v 3 debating style, which is the same as NSW high school debating; Australs is done in Australs style; Worlds is done in British Parliamentary style.

Do I need to have experience to join the debating society?

Not at all! Debating welcomes newcomers, and there are plenty of resources to help you get started. We run little seminars at most internals sessions on our monday nights, that go over skills for novices as well as different topic areas. If you are new to debating completely, our friends at the Monash Association of Debaters have a great introductory video that gives you a taste of how it all works, and their youtube channel has plenty of examples of other debates.

What topics do you debate?

Anything and everything! We mostly focus on topical policy issues, like social issues, economics, politics, international relations and anything that most ordinary people would reasonably be expected to know about. Sometimes there are more crazy and out-there topics that delve into philosophy, the meaning of life and more for more experienced debaters at some tournaments.

What are tournaments like?

Tournaments are amazing experiences to meet new people, visit crazy social events, travel to places you never would otherwise and develop your debating skills. They are between 4 (Easters/AWGMDC) and 8 (Australs/Worlds) days long, and we send both debaters and adjudicators. We send plenty of novices/newcomers to tournaments, and we host trials to send teams that we are allocated. There are 4 major tournaments each year, two of which are usually held in Australia each year. Find out more at our competitions page.

How do I get involved?!

Check out our getting involved page. The best way is to keep an eye on our social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) or attend one of our Internals events each Monday during the university semester which you'll hear about on our social media. Give us a like to never miss an event!