Frequently Asked Questions
Registration
Is there a limit to number of slots for each institution?
There are no limits on registration of teams. Teams are required to make payment to secure their slots.
As such, teams who register for 10 slots but can't make payment, won't have those slots reserved.
How are slots allocated? Will it be on a first-come-first-serve basis?
Slots will be allocated on a first-come-first-served system, on the basis of payment made.
Payments should be made immediately upon registration or teams may choose to have an invoice sent to them where they have 7 days to make payment before their slots are dropped.
The stated team cap is 120, is there a chance that this can be increased to accommodate more teams?
While the hotel has the capacity to accommodate more guests, we will only open up more slots if we are confident of having enough qualified judges down for the event.
When does registration open?
Registration will commence on 15 January 2023.
Can teams still register after the registration deadline?
After the registration deadline, the ticketing system for Asian BP will close.
Is there an option to register to participate virtually?
This event is not a virtual event. However, participants who will not be able to travel to the venue in person due to COVID restrictions will be entitled to a Good Will payout of (US$100). Such participants will still be eligible to attend the event virtually.
Participants who are unable to make it to the venue to to personal neglect, such as failing to comply with travel requirements, will not be eligible to the Good Will payout but can still attend the event virtually.
Is there an option to register with accommodation excluded?
There is no option to register with accommodation excluded. In order to minimize exposure to non-participants, ensure punctuality, and avoid logistical problems, all participants to Australs 2023 will be accommodated at the partner hotel.
If I am applying for a scholarship offered by the event or council, do I register via the same registration channel?
If you intend to apply for a scholarship to attend this event, please apply it via the Council's designated application process.
All tickets sold on EduDrift are non-refundable.
What is the judge requirement policy of this event?
The Judge Requirement for this edition of Australs is N-1 where N is the number of teams registered.
You would fulfill the judge requirement if you paid for the judge slot and have the judge attend the event as part of your institution.
Note: The judge do not need to come from your institution to fulfill your requirement.
If we registered and made payment for the judge requirement of this event, but the judge is unable to fly in to attend the event, must the judge still attend the event virtually?
Unless the judge is unable to perform the role of an adjudicator at the event due to illness or other constraints (e.g. stuck at immigration), the registered judge will have to attend the event in the capacity of a judge to fulfil your institution's judge requirement.
Exceptions to this rule will be subject to Council's decision on the matter.
Finance
Must we pay immediately upon registration?
You may pay immediately upon registration. However, you will also have the option to request the issue of an invoice where you can pay up until seven days after the invoice is issued.
What are the available payment options?
You can pay via Visa, Mastercard, and AMEX upon registration. If you choose to request for an invoice, you may also pay via WeChat on top of the abovementioned options.
Payment via bank transfer will also be made available.
Will payment via bank transfer be allowed?
Yes. Payments via bank transfer will be permitted.
If we selected the option for an issue of invoice, how much time will we have to make payment?
7 days.
What happens if we fail to make payment for the invoice within the given time?
Failure to make payment 7 days after the invoice is issued will void the slots requested. Should this happen, participants must again register their slots and pay within 7 days after the new invoice is issued or immediately upon registration.
If our institution does not have the funds to participate in this tournament, will there be financial assistance?
Yes. The council has an allocated scholarship budget. EduDrift has also committed to waiving the registration fees for 2 teams joining the tournament.
Eligibility criteria and application process for scholarships and subsidies will be released by the council.
If our institution does not have the funds to participate in this tournament, will there be a discounted option for participating virtually?
This event is designed to be an in-person event. Hence, there will be no separate tickets sold for virtual participation.
Only participants who are able to provide official pre-departure travel curtailment documents due to Covid will be allowed to participate in the event virtually.
If we are unable to make it to the event due to travel restrictions, are we able to get a refund?
If you are unable to attend the event in person due to Covid and are able to present an official pre-departure travel curtailment document, you will be entitled to a Goodwill Payout of US$100 and still be eligible to participate in the event virtually.
For more information on cancellations and refunds, click here.
Venue
Debate competitions are usually held in colleges with classrooms for the debates to take place. This event is expected to take place entirely in the hotel, how does that work?
Up to 60 hotel rooms will be retrofitted, redesigned, and utilized as debate rooms. The 37 sqm deluxe rooms will have their beds removed to fit tables and chairs required for the Australs debate format.
The debating-in-resort concept was pioneered and executed by EduDrift in the 2017 edition of Krabi Asian BP.
Is transportation required for commute between venues? How far is the convening hall from the hotel?
No. The convening hall and all debating venues will be held in the hotel's main building so all venues will only be a couple of steps or one elevator ride away from each other.
Having hotel rooms converted into debate rooms seems like a logistical nightmare. Does the organisers have experience doing this and is there a contingency plan should this not be possible?
This debate-in-hotel-room concept was pioneered by EduDrift and was executed in the 2017 edition of Asian BP in Krabi, and also in the 2019 edition of Australs in Bali. Hence, you can be assured for sure that this will be possible for Australs 2023.
If a university or a school located in Bali is willing to offer venues for free, will the event consider having the venues at the school instead of the hotel?
While we will be immensely thankful for an offer as such, we would have to respectfully decline the offer (if any).
Having the event in a school requires us to reconsider the location of the accommodation, the duration of the travel, proximity to the airport and the cost of arranging transportation. In addition to that, participants will have to sacrifice rest time by getting up earlier to be ferried to the destination and also social venues planned for this event.
Finally, the convenience of debating in a 4-star hotel room, with an attached bathroom, 3-mins from the accommodation rooms, is the highlight of EduDrift's all-in-one-hotel style of debate competitions.
If the supporting school or college is will to provide a sponsorship of US$20,000 in addition to the free venue provided, we may consider the proposition.
If all debates are to take place on the hotel premises, where should debaters go for their 15 minutes of preparation.
Debaters can prep anywhere within hotel premises. We suggest that they utilize the hotel's spacious lobby, poolside area, and other facilities.
Can debaters go to their own hotel rooms to prepare?
Yes. Debate teams can prepare anywhere on the hotel premises as long as they are able to return to the debate room at the designated time.
Adjudication
In addition to Chief Adjudicators Sourodip and Leah, who else will be part of the Adjudication Core?
As per the constitution, all other members of the Adjudication Core will be voted in by the Australs Council of universities.
Since this event is prepared to welcome teams to connect virtually in the event that they are unable to attend, will you be open to having IA connecting virtually?
Opening up the IA pool to virtual judges will expand the quality of judges to include talents from Africa, Europe and Americas. The tradeoff, however, is the reliability of these judges in connectivity and punctuality during the event.
The Adjudication Core will make a decision on this matter when they open up the applications for invited adjudicators (IA).
This event has confirmed experienced debate specialists as advisors. Are these advisors confirmed as judges?
Yes. These judges have given their commitment to judge the preliminary rounds of Australs 2023 in person.
With the experienced Advisors in the mix, the adjudication pool will be highly competitive and inadvertently affecting the breaks for institutional judges attending the event. Does this mean that our institutional judges are unlikely to break at the tournament?
The advisors for this event will only be judging the preliminary rounds and will not be breaking to the outrounds of the tournament. Hence, making it more likely for institutional judges to break.
Based on an 120 team turnout, how much adjudication subsidy is available for Independent/Invited Adjudicators?
9000 USD will be reserved for subsidies.
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