About Us

The Tert (formerly Tertangala) was first published in September 1962, when Wollongong's university was still an external campus of the University of New South Wales. The paper was modelled on Kensington's now-discontinued tabloid Tharunka (later Gamamari). It wasn't until 1975 when the University of Wollongong was officially established, meaning The Tert is 13 years older than its institution.

The publication's original name was said to mean "smoke signals" in the local Dharawal language, to reference Wollongong's industrial history. However, editors from as early as the 1970s became sceptical of this definition, and could not verify it came from any Aboriginal language. Tertangala and The Tert were used interchangably through the succeeding decades, before the former name was dropped entirely from 2025.

The Tert was published as a newspaper from its foundation until 2010, when the masthead transitioned to a magazine, spotlighting student poetry, design, and arts criticism. In 2026, The Gala was relaunched as UOW's student newspaper after 16 years. It continues to be published alongside the magazine, The Tert.

The Tert has a radical editorial tradition and many of its former editors have transitioned into active political and artistic life. Past editors and staff members have also gone on to write for other publications, such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The Australian and Vogue.

Throughout the years, The Tert has won multiple awards, including a merit award for cover design and an investigative journalism award for a feature article about the re-opening of a copper smelter in Port Kembla. The Tert was also named one of the top five student publications in the country.

Content from both publications can now be found on this website. The Tert team is working to archive editions from decade's past, to be read on this site.

Editors of The Tert

  • 1962 P. D. Scweinsberg
  • 1963 ???
  • 1964 Kieth Plastow
  • 1965 ???
  • 1966 Dick Jongsma
  • 1967 Sue Brown
  • 1968 K. W. Baxter
  • 1969 Steward Martin
  • 1970 Tom Murphy
  • 1971 Doug Jenkins
  • 1972 Margaret Edmonds; David Lear
  • 1973 Richard Ross
  • 1974 Jac Smit
  • 1975 Penny Griffiths
  • 1976 ???
  • 1977 Martin Stanley (resigned/dismissed); James Black
  • 1978 ???
  • 1979 James Sanders (resigned/dismissed); Dan Sullivan; James Hartley
  • 1980 James Hartley
  • 1981 Pat Marsh (resigned/dismissed)
  • 1982 Jim Whitehead
  • 1983 Jim Whitehead
  • 1984 Michael Brcic
  • 1985 Michael Brcic (resigned/dismissed); C. Buecher
  • 1986 Sasheena Jagessar (resigned/dismissed); Andra Mendis (resigned/dismissed); Megan Slinning (resigned/dismissed)
  • 1987 David Brown
  • 1988 R.B.K Brown
  • 1989 R.B.K Brown
  • 1990 R.B.K Brown (resigned/dismissed); Denise Knight
  • 1991 Dean Mellor (resigned/dismissed); Lily Hamdan; Simon Steinfurth
  • 1992 Timothy Phelan
  • 1993 Jason Dickie (resigned/dismissed), Craig Wallace (resigned/dismissed), Kathryn Goldie
  • 1994 Kathryn Goldie
  • 1995 Damien Cahill
  • 1996 Ronika Joukhador
  • 1997 Van Badham
  • 1998 Stu Hatter
  • 1999 Stella Chambers (resigned/dismissed), Ben Langford
  • 2000 James Beach
  • 2001 Ariane Lewis
  • 2002 Dan Morgan
  • 2003 Siobhan Christian
  • 2004 Anneliese Constable
  • 2005 Kristen Kalkman
  • 2006 Grant Coleman (Jan-Aug) [resigned/dismissed]; Beth Patchett (Aug) [resigned/dismissed]; Adam Knobel (Aug-Dec)
  • 2007 Adam Knobel
  • 2008 Allison Jeffares
  • 2009 Tim Rouen
  • 2010 Charly Lindsay
  • 2011 Charly Lindsay
  • 2012 Claire Johnston
  • 2013 Andre Charadia, Chloe Higgins
  • 2014 Belinda Quinn, Brittany Carter
  • 2015 Rebecca Wiggins, Gemma Mollenhauer
  • 2016 Claudia Poposki, Jake Cupitt
  • 2017 Aisha Sini, Kurtis Hughes, Meg Powell
  • 2018 Laura Thomas, Jarrett Wall
  • 2019 Co-ordinator: Alec Hall; Magazine Editor: Emily Jenkins; Digital Editor: Sarah Gore
  • 2020 Co-ordinator: Kal Slater; Magazine Editor: Caleb Connolly; Digital Editor: Grace Crivellaro
  • 2021 Co-ordinator: Eliza Lourenco; Magazine Editor: Lia Stamatopoulos
  • 2022 Co-ordinator: River McCrossen
  • 2023 Co-ordinator: Alec Hall; Magazine Editor: River McCrossen
  • 2024 Co-ordinator: Will Olteanu
  • 2025 Co-ordinator: Serena Emanuele; Editor in Chief: Emma Cranby; Head of Graphics: Jade Grimson and Hannah Harper; Head of Socials: Molly Duggan
  • 2026 Co-ordinator: Serena Emanuele; Newspaper Editor: Aleksandar Sekulovski; Magazine Editor: Asher Wood; Head of Graphics: Jade Grimson