Bags, Cups and Hoodies: The Freebies at the Start of Uni

A guide to maximising free stuff

Three weeks in, and Melbourne has already taught me two crucial lessons. First, a 30kg suitcase barely holds enough essentials. Second, regardless of how meticulously you plan, the need for stuff—the right stuff—hits you fast. A keep cup for those 9am lectures, a water bottle for the scorching summer days, and maybe a notebook or two to make studying feel official.

For the budget-conscious student, the start of university is a gold mine of freebies—enough to fill more bags than you can carry—conveniently, there’s no shortage of free tote bags to help.

O-Week is a perfect place to start. Between the bustling atmosphere of Market Hall and the tree-covered shade of the ERC lawn, you’ll find plenty of stalls from clubs, societies, and organizations filled to the brim with merch. Engage. Strike up a conversation, and try your hand at a few games. The reward? A potentially impressive haul of goods. You might score hoodies, socks, or even—as I witnessed—a full-sized computer monitor courtesy of one particularly ambitious club.

Don’t overlook the corporate stalls at the top of the Student Pavilion either. Throughout the week, I managed to snag everything from free bubble tea to premium student licenses for study software I still use every day, and who can forget all cans of free energy drinks for the inevitable all-night cram sessions? If you’re feeling especially lucky, you might even win some big-ticket items, like an iPad or a shiny new smartphone.

If luck isn’t on your side, and you’d much prefer a more guaranteed reward, attend your faculty’s Commencement Ceremony. That’s where the coveted, faculty-specific hoodie awaits. You might also pick up a few other welcome additions while you’re there, like key chains and UoM-branded playing cards.

But freebies aside, there are plenty of reasons to dive into O-Week—especially during UMSU’s Summerfest (or Winterfest, for mid-year starters). That’s when the Clubs Expo is in full swing; it’s a chance to meet new friends, discover your perfect club, and ease into university life before lectures begin. If you’re on the fence about joining any clubs and looking for slightly more incentives, club memberships can also lead to many more vouchers and freebies throughout the year that more than make up for the small sign-up fee.

O-Week might come and go in what feels like a blink of an eye, but that doesn’t mean the freebies end there. While you get lost trying to figure out where your lecture at PAR-192-L2-L108 is in the 35.2 hectares campus, keep an eye out for the many other events that could be running between your lectures.

If you’re ever feeling hungry, go to the south lawn by the iconic Old Arts Building. There, every Thursday, the Science Students Society or the Melbourne Arts Student Society hosts free lunchtime BBQs for members (NOTE: membership is $5). Relax on the grass, savour a freshly cooked snag, and wash it down with a complimentary soft drink.

For Summer Starters, March is employability week at the University of Melbourne; which means career fairs. While it’s easy to put aside the question of careers as a problem for future-you—after all, three years feels like forever—Getting a head start on your future is never a bad idea. Even if you’re not ready to think about internships just yet, the companies are practically throwing free merch at you: T-shirts, laptop bags, playing cards, stickers, and, yes, even more water bottles.

At the end of the day, The start of Uni isn’t just about the freebies. It’s about settling in, finding your community, and making this sprawling campus feel a little more like home. So sign up, show up, and say yes to new experiences—you never know what you might walk away with.

The freebies are still very nice, though.

— Alex