As the last century closed, and a bright new millennium dawned, the concept of "student voice" within education emerged as something to be "identified" and "captured." In effect, it became reified and driven by a raft of government and institutional policies and strategic initiatives; initially within the compulsory sector, but soon followed by the post-compulsory sector as the 2000s moved on. In an increasingly quasi-consumerist environment, a mechanism had emerged with potential to "measure" student satisfaction. Institutions quickly took up the "call to arms," assigning responsibilities to ensure there was evidence of "student voice" engagement; but there was no conversation with the "students" about how this was experienced by them. This concept had become a "portmanteau" term; a "catch all" competing between two narratives--student voice as democratic and transformational; and student voice as "policy" and strategic initiative. Formal research that could contribute to this discussion has been sparse and this paper takes a critical stance to the literature and policy, exploring the current "status" of student voice and proposing a research focus that has the potential to involve students in a discussion about "how" their voice is heard, and for what purpose.