The Student Leader

The Student Leader was an online student newspaper published in Sydney, Australia between 2004 and 2005.

Drawing inspiration from Britain's National Student, the publication was established in late 2004 to create "a nationwide, independent and privately-funded student newspaper"—one free from political interference by student politicians.

History

Australia's first national student newspaper was National U, published in the 1970s by the then Australian Union of Students.

The Student Leader began publishing in February 2005 with contributions from students at the University of New South Wales, the University of Technology, Sydney and the University of Sydney. The project received strong support from the contributor base of Tharunka, the UNSW student newspaper. Former Tharunka editor Joe Stella served as editor of the Leader.

The publication contained student and higher education related news, reviews and opinion. A particular editorial focus was voluntary student unionism, a controversial government proposal that became law in 2005.

After publication failed to launch a planned print edition in July, relations between the principals soured. "The chief executive officer and the editor-in-chief of The Student Leader both claim to have removed the other," the Australian reported.

The Student Leader has since ceased publication.