UniSFA was formed in 1978 with the goal of scamming money out of the Guild for books and to "encourage and facilitate science fiction and fantasy in all its forms", and remains true these goals to this day. UniSFA is a social club for people with an interest in SF, Fantasy, Fandom and associated madness, though we also tend to accumulate SF groupies, only using the the club for its assets. We use the clubroom to waste time between and during lectures, and we're also responsible for a continuous stream of events and parties throughout the year.

The room itself is a cosy little dwelling where you'll find yourself surrounded by ominous towering shelves containing well over 4,000 books and hundreds of comics and graphic novels. All the books are free to be borrowed by members at any time. The constitution dictates that a large percentage of our income be used to expand the library, so there are a couple of Book Buys and GN Buys every year. What's bought on these runs is largely up to the club members through recommendation.

To the south lies an entertainment system comprised of an 82cm TV, Stereo, VCR, DVD player and modest library of videos and DVDs. To the west lives our main source of income - a fridge filled year-round with coke, other soft drinks and much... much chocolate. The fridge/freezer also stocks goods for our microwave, such as chicken rolls and pizza pockets. Purchases can be made by either paying money into a "fridge book" account, or giving the cash to a committee member.

But wait, there's more! By the door is our library computer, running Linux and the KOHA library database. We have a whiteboard where people can make suggestions for screenings and fridge stock, along with a list of upcoming events. The rest of the room is stuffed with almost annually changing couches, chairs, crates and cushions. On said seating contraptions are the Fans, entertaining and embarrasing each other with conversations ranging from the fantastic to the perverse.

Of course, the clubroom itself is just a small part of the UniSFAn culture. Being located directly above the UWA Tavern, excessive drinking has become a large part of the experience for many. Not all, of course. The spectrum of people getting along around UniSFA is amazing.

The membership of all the clubs around Cameron Hall tends to intersect and interact. Directly across the hall from UniSFA is the University Computer Club where much time can be spent learning and playing games, and much email may be checked. UniGames is also nearby, where much role-playing and board-game-playing is partken of. So if you haven't seen it all close up yet, we invite you to come and play.

For a start, UniSFA is located above the UWA (35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley) Tavern. If you don't know where that is, just ask anyone you can find, wandering anywhere on campus. From standing in front of the Tavern, facing the Tavern, walk left and follow the Tavern's fence around the corner. Keep wandering around this wall of the Tavern until you hit an inset in the wall. The door facing away from the river is the entrance to all the higher parts of Cameron Hall.

Once you've found the entrance to Cameron Hall, follow the stairs up to the second floor (i.e. two stories up), walk past whatever club currently inhabits the first room, take the big doors and turn right. Keep walking... that's it... past UCC to the end of the little hall with the dumbterms and into the door on the right, at the end, into UniSFA.

If you still fear getting lost inside the endless passages and and mirrored hallways of Cameron Hall, there's a link to the left to a map of the second floor of the building, to put your mind at ease. Thanks to Lisa Green and Mark Sander for letting us use their precious map.

No one's going to stop you wandering around and associating with people in UniSFA before you join... So why join at all? Benefits of membership include subsidies at a range of SF-type venues and shops (get a copy of the Freshers' Guide to see this year's kind sponsors), and the ability to borrow books. Several events we hold are also cheaper to members by the cost of a membership - i.e. why not join? So if all you've heard sounds right to you, just come up to the room and ask for a committee member to sign you up. The cost is $6 and $7 for new members and repeat offenders respectively, and $2 cheaper if you're a member of the Guild. Note that this cost varies and goes down depending on the time of the year. You'll also get a shiny membership card!

Each year, we put together (okay, okay, slightly modify last year's - ed.) a little booklet that goes out to interested prospective-members and Freshers (first year students), to fill them with information about the club and try to get them to join. There's not a great deal you can learn about it that you won't be able to find a great deal more easily on this site, but it's provided for interested parties in PDF format, via the UniSFA logo with the furry frog on it, to the right. But be warned - it comes at a terrible price. It's around 6.3Mb. Also, thanks to the regularly updating webmaster, previous versions of the Freshers' Guide are available too =)

It's a bit of a bother and a pain in the rump to make-look-new each year, so parties interested in volunteering their time and design skills to the Freshers' Guide are encouraged to email committee.