It provides free welfare services, academic advocacy, grants for clubs and societies, and funding for the student newspaper, Empire Times.

When the Howard government introduced voluntary student unionism in 2005 the organisation lost the vast majority of its funding and soon collapsed.

In 2023 student elections, FIRE-UP had a landslide victory with Activate and Left Action only gaining one General Council member each.

[6] In 2015 FUSA and the National Tertiary Education Union organised an extended campaign against the Abbott government's plans to create a $4 million policy center at the university run by climate denier Bjorn Lomborg.

The organisers claimed that the proposal was done with no consultation with staff and students, and threatened the academic reputation of the university.