Picture this. You are at uni and you’ve had such a long day. You didn’t pack lunch, and your stomach is talking. You reach into your pockets to find nothing. No coins, no notes. You reach for your wallet, and there it sits, your wonderful key card. You smile, and head for the cafe “Sorry, we don’t accept eftpos, cash only”.

She breaks your heart. You search and search for an ATM machine, but it’s nowhere to be found. You go hungry, your stomach curls.

The day is over, you’ve lost your train ticket. You need cash to buy a train ticket. You remember you have no money. So you have no choice but to jump the train. You’re angry – what a crap day at uni.

Have you ever found yourself in this situation? In need of an ATM machine? How inconvenient it is for university students to have no ATM. Here at Werrington South campus, they only accept eftpos in one place. And that’s the cottage. The cottage, however, seems to be on it’s own island, for some students it’s a trek to walk to.

The pro’s of the cottage is that there’s no limit to your eftpos transaction. But wouldn’t it be nice for the university to provide convenient services such as an ATM machine? There have also been complaints about the types of ATM’s provided. Not providing Commonwealth or Westpac services. Students would rather spend $2.00 elsewhere, than being charged for ATM services, knowing that us poor uni students are tight asses.

Well  there are both positives and negatives of having no ATM machines around. Such as saving a butt-load of money from impulse buys. But there are times when students do need an ATM, especially when buying food from the cafe, and buying travel tickets to and from uni.

Here’s what one of the students, John Principe, had to say:

How do you feel about the absence of ATM’s at Werrington?
“I guess slightly disappointed, since Kingswood has..I think one?”

Do you think it’s essential for a university to provide such services?

“No, not necessarily because other than uni fees, there should be a focus on learning and a free environment. If there were ATM’s, it might diminish the whole atmosphere – besides, sth werro has eftpos with no limit (WOO!). I guess it would be more convenient but im content either way.. it helps me save my mullas”.

Have your say! Should the university provide more ATM services for students?

-Laura Ranola-