A community development program for disadvantaged children and young people aimed at boosting child wellbeing and preventing crime is proving the adage ‘it takes a village to raise a child’.
Communities for Children, a national program for children and families in 52 disadvantaged areas and run by the Department for Social Services, uses a ground-breaking model developed by Griffith University.
Professor Ross Homel and his team from the Griffith Criminology Institute developed the capacity-building CREATE model as part of the Creating Pathways to Prevention project that builds on the Pathways to Prevention Project that operated in a disadvantaged region of Brisbane from 2002-2011.
CREATE is an acronym for Collaborative, Relationships driven, Early in the pathway, Accountable, Training focused and Evidence-driven.
Professor Homel said the Creating Pathways to Prevention program aims to strengthen the development system for children with a long-term view to reducing youth crime and promoting both human and community development.
“The basic focus is policy pathways as the project aims to reorganise government, as well as societal priorities and practices and move punitive responses to social problems such as youth crime and substance abuse to primary prevention.
“The exciting thing is that we have great enthusiasm from a wide range of partners, including education departments across Australia, to put the science into practice and measure child and parent wellbeing.
“This measure can be used to evaluate services as well as plan new ones, tailored to the measured needs of children in the local area.”
Professor Homel and Drs Kate Freiberg and Sara Branch from the Griffith Criminology Institute will discuss Communities for Children partnerships at the Applied Research in Crime and Justice Conference at Rydges Hotel on February 19.
A Gold Coast start-up collaboration at Griffith University — the App Foundation — is indicative of a new entrepreneurial spirit sweeping Australian universities.
Through the development of mobile phone apps and technology-based services, students and investors are coming together to drive innovation and develop new digital products and services.
This is especially evident on the Gold Coast where, on the third floor of the G39 Science building and overlooking the light rail and other components of a growing Health and Knowledge Precinct, Griffith University students are hoping to develop the next Twitter, Uber or fitbit technology.
They are excited about how debate has changed regarding this formally fringe business sector.
The successful multi-billion dollar listing of Australian software firm Atlassian on the American NASDAC exchange has provided further impetus, as have supportive statements by the Federal Government.
The new industry
Start-ups might be the “new black” in business, but Studio 39 at Griffith University — created by the University’s commercialisation arm, Griffith Enterprise — already has a significant track record.
Griffith Enterprise hopes Studio 39 acts as the catalyst for a culture of entrepreneurship among the students, several of whom recently visited Silicon Valley where they met with start-ups and employees of Facebook, Google, Twitter and other companies.
App Foundation co-founder Tommi Sullivan is a 23-year-old PhD student with a background in IT and robotics. He believes start-ups are very different to other businesses.
“Partly it’s the emphasis on digital solutions and partly it’s the start-from-nothing nature of the businesses, but it’s also the risk and reward nature of the investment offering that sets them apart,” he says.
Like traditional businesses, start-ups follow a path of identifying a need, creating a product or service and building a clientele, followed by investment for expansion.
Risk and reward
However, start-ups also face great uncertainty. Tommi says the key is to balance risk and reward by taking quick and decisive action.
“We need to start finding out much earlier, when the risk is small, so when we have a more significant offering it is based on customer feedback. Start-ups are like learning to ride, the more you do it the more you improve,” he says.
“The development of apps over the past four years has sped up this process even more. It wasn’t exactly fringe technology when we started, but it wasn’t huge either.
“The iPhone was still new at the time and so were the business models. Now it is massive, a thriving industry worth billions, and it literally didn’t exist 10 years ago.”
Tommi and his colleagues have already developed apps for health services and power companies and are hoping other expansive technologies find local and national support.
“In the US, the average age of people establishing start-ups is much younger than in Australia, mainly because of a more supportive business environment,” he says.
“That’s why I started the App Foundation with Griffith Enterprise, to act as a catalyst for a similar culture on the Gold Coast.
“I see no real impediment to the Gold Coast becoming a central hub for start-up development and investment.”
Hosted by the Griffith Criminology Institute and the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, the conference will showcase Australian and international research in the areas of policing, offender rehabilitation, situational crime prevention, corrections, early-intervention and criminal justice administration.
Griffith Criminology Institute Director Professor Ross Coomber said the conference will demonstrate how research can make a positive difference to those affected by crime and those who have to manage crime and criminality.
“From prisons and sentencing to protecting young people and victims, it will demonstrate how first-class research can be applied to real-life issues and help make Australia a safer and more just place for its communities.”
Todd Clear (Rutgers) The Great US Prison Experiment
Gloria Laycock (University College London) How to prevent crime — a message for policy makers, practitioners and academics
Belinda Lloyd (Monash) Mental health and AOD are core business in health, law enforcement and welfare: the role of big data, linkages and cross-sector approaches
Don Weatherburn (NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research) Decarceration in an Age of Zero Tolerance
Recognising the outstanding contribution of Australian and New Zealand academics to the field of Industrial/ Employment/ Labour Relations and Workplace education and research, Glendais Griffith University’s first recipient of this honour.
“A major focus of my research has been the position of women in the workforce. Prior to the 1980s there was not much [academic] literature on women in labour relations and trade unions: the worker was seen as homogenous, yet only men were studied. Part of my research has been putting women back into the story,” explains Glenda.
The Vic Taylor Award recognises the outstanding contribution of Australian and New Zealand academics to Industrial/ Employment/ Labour Relations and Workplace education and research.
Bringing equity legislation and policy into the spotlight has likewise been a major area of research for Glenda, although she concedes that Australian workplace studies are still trying to get these matters seen as a part of the employment relationship alongside classical industrial regulation.
Announcing the 2015 Award’s recipient, AIRAANZ President, Dr Johanna Macneil highlightedProfessor Strachan’s influence upon the field, having cemented the place of industrial relations (IR) scholarship at Newcastle and Griffith Universities, and feminist IR research particularly, alongside her significant mentoring efforts.
A frequent collaborator, WOW’s Associate Professor Janis Bailey spoke also of Glenda’sbroad reaching impact:
“Professor Strachan’soutstanding research has both breadth and depth, and contemporary and historical strands, with a commitment to feminist ideals.…She has influenced scores of researchers, many of whom are now making their own distinctive contributions… She has contributed actively to public policy. She is always generous with her time, and is a quiet and self-effacing contributor to IR scholarship, encouraging others to take the limelight. …”
Reflecting herself on thirty years of equity research and advocacy, Glendastill desires to see however:
“….equity, diversity and gender be a part of the central issues we grapple with as a part of the workplace/ worker-employer/employment relationship/ industrial relations debates and studies, in the same vein as we worry about wage policy, for example.”
Vic Taylor was a founding member of AIRAANZ. Sadly, Vic became ill and died in September 2004.This peer-nominated Award, alongside the Vic Taylor Most Promising Paper Award, was established in his honour by Dr Doreen Tan, his widow, andin consultation with some of Vic’scolleagues and friends in AIRAANZ.
Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University graduate Timothy Munro has received his third Grammy Award — the only Australian to have won this year.
The 37-year-old and his sextet eighth blackbird took out the Best Chamber Music Performance category at the 58th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
The Chicago-based musician was flautist and co-artistic director of the ensemble from 2006 to 2015, where he performed at major concert venues in 40 US states and abroad, worked as soloist with America’s finest orchestras, curated three music festivals, and premiered more than 100 new works.
He says he is thrilled by the honour and could not have achieved such international success without crucial early encouragement from Queensland Conservatorium, the University of Queensland and the National Academy of Music.
“I am now a solo as well as orchestral and chamber music performer, arranger and presenter – in the US and Australia – and my career in the adventurous world of new music feels suddenly very busy, challenging and above all exciting.”
Tim says his goal is to draw audiences into an engrossing and whimsical musical world — one he continues to achieve through his diverse work as a flautist, speaker, writer and teacher around the world.
An exceptional homegrown talent
Queensland Conservatorium Director Professor Scott Harrison said the third-time winner was an exceptional musician and one for the State to be proud of.
“It’s incredibly inspiring to see one of our graduates on the world stage, celebrated among the very best in the industry,” he says.
“It’s testament to the hard work and passion that pervades everything Tim does and shows just what can be achieved from Brisbane-born musicians.”
Tim accepted an adjunct appointment with Queensland Conservatorium in 2014, which sees him conduct masterclasses, lessons, side-by-side performances and talks both in person and online for staff and students.
As part of the last Brisbane Festival, he premiered Pulitzer Prize winning composer John Luther Adams’ new work Sila, The Breath of the World, alongside 80 of the Conservatorium’s finest musicians in 2015. He will return to work with woodwind students later this year.
According to Professor Harrison, such visits form part of an ongoing commitment to ensure students receive access to international artists of the highest calibre.
“Bringing visiting artists such as Tim to our campus each year ensures international perspective is always part of the learning environment that students experience.
“It’s a vital component of their growth as professional musicians, which gives them great insight into the minds of some of our greatest exports.”
Tim has upcoming collaborations planned with Chicago composer Dave Reminick and Pulitzer Prize-finalist Chris Cerrone (a 20-minute work exploring the emotional potency of extreme acoustic spaces, funded by a New Music USA grant).
He is also co-music director for a large-scale musical project, involving 1000 performers, planned for its US premiere in Chicago in 2017.
It’s more than an amazing opportunity for the Moroccan-born student, who has always dreamed of finding a career where he can combine his two passions of sport and engineering.
“This is something close to my heart to combine sport with engineering as it’s just what I love to do,” he said.
“When you arrive at GOLDOC, you read the motto ‘share the dream’ and for me I’m really living a dream now — it’s amazing.”
Adil, who will join the Engineering Services team, is the first Griffith student intern to be offered employment at GOLDOC.
He is one of six Griffith students placed in internships in the areas of Digital Media, Venue Overlay Design, Accommodation and Communication, and Engagement, since December.
More than 250 students will have the opportunity to work as interns across a range of areas at GOLDOC in the lead-up to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
During his initial 12-week internship, Adil has been tasked with assisting in the development and coordination of overlay engineering work for venue overlay design purposes, including mechanical, electrical and hydraulic load assessments. He has also been investigating design requirements for GOLDOC functional areas and visiting sites such as the new velodrome at Chandler, in Brisbane, to view work in progress.
“It really is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to work on the Games and with people who have so much experience that I can learn from,” he said.
Adil will start part-time work first while he completes his final subject of a Bachelor of Engineering at Griffith, before continuing in a full-time job at GOLDOC.
Griffith University Deputy Vice Chancellor (Engagement) Professor Martin Betts said Adil’s employment offer highlights the extraordinary opportunities available to Griffith students through the University’s partnership with the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
“As the leading and largest university at the Gold Coast, Griffith is dedicated to creating possibilities for our students and the community,” he said.
“This is a great example of how Griffith’s industry connections are successful in preparing students for the workforce and an amazing career.”
GOLDOC Head of Workforce Ms Jessica Platts said the timing was perfect to provide Adil with a graduate opportunity and further his experience working alongside some of the most highly qualified people in the multi-sport Games and event industry.
“Adil showed a great passion and enthusiasm during his internship with GOLDOC and while there won’t always be a graduate opportunity for interns, on this occasion it suited both parties,” she said.
“GOLDOC is delighted with the Griffith University internship program thus far, and we are enjoying the eagerness and curiosity the students bring to the organisation.
“It means our team members are genuinely sharing their vast knowledge in a very meaningful way, which is a legacy from GC2018 of which we are very proud.”
Combatting racism within a multicultural society is the focus of new Griffith University research.
The large-scale project is led by Dr Fiona Kate Barlow from the Menzies Health Institute Queensland, following the award of a Future Fellowship from the Australian Research Council valued at just over $800,000.
One of only 50 Future Fellowships awarded to scientists nationally, the research will see Dr Barlow drawing on established social psychological theories of prejudice, aiming to combat racism by ascertaining how it is maintained and how its damaging consequences can be diminished.
A pervasive problem
“Racism is a pervasive problem worldwide, and its harmful effects on the health of those facing it are estimated to cost Australia billions of dollars a year,” says Dr Barlow.
The project plans to investigate how small negative interracial interactions can perpetuate racial hostility and segregation; how negative interracial interactions might lead to extremist identification and sympathies; and how prejudice and discrimination develops between different minority groups.
It also plans to investigate how small positive intergroup interactions might reduce racism, as well as promoting wellbeing and health.
“There has no doubt been an incredible process of positive steps taken in challenging racism over the past few decades, however it still remains a huge problem in society,” says Dr Barlow.
“For example, there is still much evidence to suggest that racism affects people in terms of access to education, employment and even housing.
“This is to say nothing of the physical and emotional toll that exposure to racism takes.
“The aim is that the study’s outcomes may lead to solutions that promote social cohesion in Australia.”
Former White House executive Ms Melody Barnes, who was just eight years old when she “launched” her political career selling cupcakes for George McGovern’s 1972 US presidential campaign, will be a guest of Griffith University in Brisbane next week.
Ms Barnes was appointed by President Barack Obama as Director of the White House’s Domestic Policy Council and held the role from 2009-2012. She is currently on a speaking tour of Australia.
A special event, A Conversation with Melody Barnes, Global view: Lessons from the Obama Administration, will be held on Tuesday, 23 February, from 6.30-7.30pm at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University.
Born in Richmond, Virginia, Ms Barnes’ political engagement began early.
“I sold cupcakes for McGovern when I was eight. That’s kind of my earliest memory of being politically active in some way,” she said in an interview.
“But I think my interest in politics really comes out of my love for history.
“Even when I was little, I was always reading biographies and reading about historical figures who were involved in government, involved in shaping the nation.”
Ms Barnes played her own part in shaping the American nation during her time as Director of the Domestic Policy Council, the principal forum used by the US President for considering domestic policy matters, excluding economic matters.
As well as providing policy and strategic advice to President Obama, Ms Barnes worked closely with members of the Cabinet to coordinate the domestic policy agenda across the Administration.
Upon her departure from the role, President Obama said Ms Barnes had “left a lasting legacy, developing and implementing policies that have helped remake our education system, spurred innovation, and fostered opportunity and equality for millions of Americans”.
Ms Barnes received her law degree from the University of Michigan and her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
She began her professional career as an attorney with New York-based multinational law firm Shearman & Sterling. She is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar Association and is on the Board of Directors of The Constitution Project.
As assistant counsel to the United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, Ms Barnes worked with Congress to pass the Voting Rights Improvement Act of 1992.
Then from 1995 to 2003, she served as chief counsel to Senator Edward M Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee, having previously served as the Director of Legislative Affairs for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Ms Barnes is now chair of the Aspen Institute‘s Forum for Community Solutions and serves on the board of Ventas Inc, an S&P 500 company.
Please click here to register by Monday, 22 February, 2016.
How the National Disability Insurance Scheme is going to change housing options for people with disabilities in Queensland.
This is the focus of the seventh Griffith University-led NDIS Symposium where people with disabilities, their families and carers, service providers, government personnel, academics and disability researchers, will come together to share knowledge and experiences around the core elements of the NDIS.
From July this year, the NDIS scheme — a generational reform which aims to deliver a national system of disability support-focussed on the individual needs of people with disability — will be progressively rolled out in Queensland with completion by July 2019.
The event on February 15 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, follows the success of the university’s last symposium in November and is themed ‘Housing for people with disability: a place to call home.’
Amongst the speakers is Mr Ilan Wiesel, from the University of New South Wales who will be discussing his research paper ‘Moving to my home: housing aspirations, transitions and outcomes of people with disability’.
“By providing individualised support funding, the NDIS is likely to trigger movement of people with disability out of institutions andcongregate accommodation, out oftheir parents’ home, out ofgroup homes and out ofhomelessness,” he says.
“People with disability will require housing that is affordable, secure,accessible or adaptable, close to family and social networks, close to public transport and services.
“There will also bean estimated unmet need in affordable housing for about 110,000 NDIS participants when the scheme is fully rolled out nationally.
“The NDIS will fund specialisthousing for only about 6 per cent of its participants, therefore other sources of funding will be necessary to addressunmet housingneed for many others.
“While there is capacity in the social housing system to accommodate some of these (thanks to tenancy turnover), over-concentration of people with disability in social housing can be very problematic.
Shared equity
“ ‘Shared equity’ would be a useful housingmodel -more cost effective for government compared tosocial housing; and offering choice, security, capital gains and a sense of ownership for people with disability. This model willbe suitablefor people whoare able to contribute part of the cost of purchasing a home (e.g. 25-50%), for example with assistance from their families.”
“The symposium has been a sell-out which is an indication of the real interest in this issue for people with disabilities,” says Dr Marg Ward from Griffith’s School of Human Services and Social Work.
“Griffith is very keen to work in conjunction with the State Government to develop housing strategies that work well for this group, and in turn Griffith is very grateful for the support that the State government is providing in support of this event.”
Where: Plaza level, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, South Bank (enter from Grey Street, South Brisbane).
​“I CHOOSE GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY”.
Yuho Okitagraduates this month with a Bachelor of Exercise Science, after commencing in 2013 in the QIBT (now “Griffith College”) Diploma of Health Science.Yuhowas one of the first students to choose the Diploma of Health Science. So how did it go??
Yuho’s study went so well he has been accepted to stay at Griffith University to start an honours program in 2016 with the plan of researching or perhaps doing a PhD in the area of neurodegenerative diseases (like Parkinson’s or Alzheimers disease). “I actually have the academic results now at the end of my degree to switch to older universities in Queensland or Australia but I prefer to stay at Griffith due to the high level or research and the health faculty facilities on the Gold Coast campus”.
It wasYuho’s parents who encouraged him to leave Japan and study in an overseas university. “My father is a professor in a university in Kyushu and he thinks the quality of education for overseas is high, particularly for a career in academic research. I might end up completing a full Phd in Australia or the UK and then who knows, perhaps work overseas long term, or back in Japan”.
Yuhofound time to chat during the lunch break of his shift at the Sushi Train restaurant in the Harbour Town shopping complex, located a few kilometres north of the Gold Coast campus of Griffith University. Like many Japanese students,Yuho has a relatively a well paid part time job (over $20 per hour), and the many shops and restaurants on the Gold Coast offer a variety of job opportunities. In addition to part time work,Yuhoplans to spend the summer break assisting other PhD students at Griffith with their research projects, including live animal testing of therapies. His schedule sounds very busy but he has time to spend with many friends from countries including Australia, Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia. “I am very happy, I have many friends, a car to get around, and a girlfriend. I live in a share-house with other students which is a cheaper option.”
I askedYuhoif he had advice to help future students decide which university to study at. Should they go for the famous one, the best ranking one and so on? “It depends on the major. With the new Gold Coast Hospital right next to the university, Griffith Gold Coast campus has become the superior university for many health-related majors for a start. Griffith University is the best university for my area of research”.
It is impressive to see how the QIBT/Griffith College and Griffith University programs help Japanese students evolve into confident adults, focused on their careers and mixing comfortably with people from many cultures and backgrounds.
*Adapted from original article from Peter Anderson, Navitas Japan
