Griffith Law School alumnus Blaise Itabelo has been awarded the 2014 Migration Institute of Australia Student of the Year Award.
Blaise, a CAMS (Community Action for a Multicultural Society) Community Development Officer with ACCESS Community Services, was recognised for his work in assisting new migrants’ transition to Australia, at the MIA national conference on October 30.
After spending more than 15 years in a refugee camp in Tanzania where he completed primary and secondary school, Blaise won a highly competitive UNHCR scholarship to study a Bachelor Degree in Industrial Relations in Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania. He came to Australia in 2011.
Blaise completed the Graduate Certificate in Migration Law and Practice while working full time and supporting his wife and threechildren, one a newborn.
Since graduating in 2013, he has been in negotiations to establish a pro bono immigration and refugee practice in collaboration with his employers at ACCESS.
“Winning this award means a lot to me,” he said.
“Being part of a huge community of people from refugees and migrant backgrounds, this is proof that our efforts are being recognised not only locally, but nationally.”
Blaise has dedicated his award to all the young refugees around the world.
“There are a lot of young people out there with the same background as me.Awards like this are lifting up our hopes in our new country.”
His motivation to become a migration agent was to help those in need.
“We paid an agent for our application, but I know there are alot of people in the community who cannot afford the fee and are in need of migration advice and/or service.
“Working with a settlement agency, I constantly come across people going through depression and stress because they do not know what to do to bring their family members to Australia. This motivated me to study at Griffith.”
Griffith University Migration Law convenor Kate Van Doore said the Law School nominated Blaise for exceptional life story and work since arriving in Australia.
“We believe that Blaise exhibits extraordinary personal qualities which make an exceptional asset to the migration industry.”
Blaise’s work with community organisations include:
Community Development Officer for ACCESS Community Services Ltd as CAMS (Community Action for Multicultural Society)
Member of Consumer Engagement Advisory Group of Logan and Beaudesert Hospitals Member. (Volunteer)
Public Relations Officer, Congolese Community Association of Queensland (Volunteer)
Secretary, Emo ‘ya Mmbondo(Volunteer)
Coordinator at Access Men’s shed (Volunteer)
The preliminary analysis of a May-June 2012 survey, and subsequent report, commissioned by the Australian Department of Immigration around why employers use the Temporary Work (skilled) visa (subclass 457) scheme, and the impact of doing so, was the subject of a 15 October WOW seminar delivered by Research Fellow, Dr Chris F. Wright (University of Sydney). Surveying 1600 employer-sponsors of 457 visa holders from a range of industry and state representations, the Social Research Centre received a 90.3% response rate.Dr Wright has taken these results to specifically ask whether the four largest industry sponsors in 2013 — health care, hospitality, information and communication technology, and construction — are in fact recruiting skilled migrant workers to address skills shortages.
So just how do you measure a ‘skills shortage’?
“Commonly, and as Richardson defines it (2007), it is a shortfall in the supply of skilled labour relative to demand at the prevailing condition,” says Chris. “The supply, demand and prevailing conditions are all very slippery concepts however. Research from the UK’s Centre on Migration, Policy and Society at the University of Oxford reports labour demand and supply to be in fact mutually conditioning.”
The moving goal posts also led Dr Wright to further ask whether these four categories of industry employers experienced difficulties in recruiting workers from the local labour market, how the scheme was used to address job vacancies, and whether industry dynamics play a role in the responses to such questions.
“[The survey revealed] just over eighty per cent of employers within the four industries found it difficult to hire or employ workers from the local market; forty-four per cent of these found it very difficult,” highlights Chris. “Independently, sixty per cent of hospitality employer-sponsors found it very difficult to do so. Why? Well I suspect the prevailing conditions, the image of the industry — as a stepping stone and not a career path — and [worker] retention makes it difficult. Training may also play a role,” he adds.
Interestingly though, around fifteen per cent of respondents claimed that they did not have difficulty in recruiting workers.
“The use of 457 visas in the IT industry for example is a symptom of the labour problems in the industry”, Chris comments. “The pathway between the Temporary Graduate visa and subclass 457 visas started in the early 2000s and has become quite well established. There is a high link between 457 [visa holders] and higher education students, and the policy is encouraging this: they don’t have to go back to their home country and reapply like they did in previous years.”
Dr Wright also discussed findings around potential skilled migrants’ and employers’ satisfaction with the 457 visa scheme, revealing that employers were, overall, four times more likely to express satisfaction with 457 visa workers; hospitality employers were twelve times more likely to do so.
In concluding,Chris noted that across all four industries, approximately fifty-one per cent saw the scheme as advantageous for addressing skills vacancies although different industries used it for different purposes. Most employer-sponsors surveyed, however, did not use it to address shortages because of the aforementioned difficulties and a preference for domestic labour recruitment.
AsChris takes further time to analyse the data he will delve into the implications of the scheme, asking whether it is actually doing what it sets out to do — address skills shortages — and the micro-foundations of this.
Contact the Centre Manager for a copy the PowerPoint presentation from the seminar: [email protected] or phone 07 3735 3714.
Managing Director of Tourism Australia, John O’Sullivan, has been named the 2014 Griffith Business School Outstanding Alumnus.
The 2014 Young OutstandingAlumnusis David Morgan, CEO of City Venue Management.
The awards were announced at the Griffith Business SchoolAlumniGala Dinner and Awards Night on 31 October, at theBallroom Le Grand,Sofitel Brisbane Central.
Pro Vice Chancellor (Business) Professor Michael Powell said the Outstanding Alumnus and Young Alumnus of the Year awards provided an opportunity to, not only to honor this year’s recipients, but also to celebrate more broadly the remarkable achievements of GBS graduates.
“These annual awards are a celebration of the diverse achievements of our alumni in their professional life, as well as the significant contribution they make to the community both here in Australia and abroad,” Professor Powell said.
John O’Sullivan graduated from Griffith in 1993 with a Bachelor of Leisure Management, majoring in Marketing and Event Management, and he has remained an active member of the Griffith alumnus community ever since.
As Managing Director of Tourism Australia, John is a driving force behind implementing Tourism 2020; a plan to grow international demand for Australia’s tourism experiences to between $115 and $140 billion annually by the end of the decade.
John was in Shanghai to launch the latest Tourism Australia campaign and therefore was unable to attend the presentation ceremony. He did, however, send a video expressing his gratitude to Griffith, not only for the award but also for launching his career.
“I am so very proud of my time at Griffith, I am so very proud to be called a Griffith Alumnus and to accept this Outstanding Alumnus award for 2014,” John said.
“Griffith University has been, without question, one of the most profound influences on my career.”
The 2014 Young Outstanding Alumnus of the Year Award recipient is David Morgan, CEO City Venue Management.
2014 Young Outstanding Alumnus of the Year
The 2014 Young Outstanding Alumnus of the Year Award recipient is David Morgan, CEO City Venue Management and Chair of the Griffith Business School Alumni Advisory Group.
David completed a Griffith MBA in 2007 and he is now CEO of City Venue Management, Queensland’s fastest growing leisure facility management company. The sport and leisure management group operates 16 facilities including multi-million dollar sport and aquatic centres, health clubs, and private learn-to-swim centres and employs more than 500 staff members.
David is both proud and humbled by the award.
“I have known a number of the previous winners and their achievements are remarkable, so to be included among them is very humbling,” David said.
“Education has the ability to change people’s lives, and that doesn’t end at graduation. Continuing to be an active of the GBS alumni community has been a valuable experience for me for two main reasons.
“Firstly, it has provided me with the opportunity to give back to the institution which has given me so much.
“Also, from a purely pragmatic point of view, by staying in touch with my MBA cohort I have access to friends who can provide me with valuable industry insights from their respective fields.”
Emerging Australian photographic talent, Raphaela Rosella, has touched down in Amsterdamthis month to take part in the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass.
The 25-year-old Queensland College of Art, Griffith University Honours graduate was one of only 12 chosen worldwide,selected from a long list of entries from 53 countries.
Growing up in Nimbin, New South Wales, and with two artists for parents, it’s no surprise Raphaela has “wanted to be a photographer for as long as I can remember”.
It was during high school however, that she discovered her passion to document her community and use photography as a catalyst for change.
“A passion for social change is the driving force behind my practice – to see another side outside of stereotypes and to hear the voice of those rendered voiceless is what powers my desire to be a visual storyteller,” she says.
It is this desire that has propelled Raphaela’s investigative documentary work, examining relationships between social class, stigma and gender among young women and men experiencing social disadvantage in Australia.
She hopes to expand upon her photographic, theoretical and conceptual practice during her time in Amsterdam, which comes at a pivotal point where she finds her work “at a crossroads”.
“Over the past four years, I’ve made it my priority to document my own community and personal experience through an exploration of poverty, disadvantage and stigma through the stories of young mothers,” she explains.
“While it is my aim to continue documenting these issues, I’m now looking for guidance in expanding the work and exploring new voices and approaches.
“I feel I’m ready to have my ideas and approach challenged and to work hard at locating and refining my photographic voice.
“To work with masters and peers seeking similar goals, whose experience collectively cannot be matched, is an ideal that I aspire to be a part of.”
During her time at the QCA, Raphaela was on the editorial board of The Australian Photojournalist; a non-profit publication dedicated to giving voice, celebrating the human condition and casting a critical eye on journalism and mass media practices.
“The opportunity to be a part of this publication as an elective in my degree was unrivalled,” she says.
“The inspiration and knowledge gained from my lecturers, tutors, contributors, supervisors and peers during my studies was invaluable.
“The whole experience has contributed significantly to my professional growth, confidence and maturity as an emerging visual storyteller.”
In the same year she graduated from the QCA, the stellar young talent joined leading Australian photography collective Oculi; was named Australia’s Top Emerging Documentary Photographer by Capture Magazine; and travelled to France where she attended the photography festival Les Rencontres D’Arles and a workshop with Magnum Photographer Alessandra Sanguinetti, courtesy of Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards (SOYA).
Raphaela is now represented throughout Europe by Agence Vu, and post-Amsterdam she plans to explore yet another aspect of her life.
“I have an Italian father so I’ve always dreamed of visiting Italy and meeting my family over there,” she says.
It’s a dream that will come to fruition when she touches down on Italian soil with her partner and young son in late November.
Following her arrival back home in Australia, Raphaela plans to continue investigating relationships, focusing closely on the cyclic and complex nature of poverty in Australia.
“With many disadvantaged communities experiencing entrenched poverty, racism, trans-generational trauma, violence, self- harm/suicide, addiction and a range of other barriers to health and wellbeing, the mistreatment of women is easily fuelled and normalized,” she explains.
“Rather than looking at the complexities of poverty and the realities of domestic violence for abused women, society blames poor families and poverty for deviating from the nuclear family image.
“As a result, women often shoulder the blame for being homeless, beaten, young or addicted to drugs.
“It’s this readiness to pass judgment, stigmatize and to stereotype that has driven me to broaden the issues I have been exploring throughout my work.
“I seek to connect an audience with the people I work with, providing a platform for their stories, choices, achievements and struggles to be heard,” she says.
This year’s World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass participants include: Bego Antón (Spain); Bryan Denton, Isadora Kosofsky and Bryan Schutmaat (USA); Meeri Koutaniemi (Finland); Giorgio Di Noto (Italy); Emilie Regnier (Canada); Raphaela Rosella (Australia); Naman Protick Sarker (Bangladesh); Akos Stiller (Hungary); Andrejs Strokins (Latvia); and Ilona Szwarc (Poland).
Griffith University’s inspirational teachers will be officially recognised at this year’s Celebrating Teaching Gala Nights.
The two celebrations and award ceremonies will be held on Monday, November 3 at the Gold Coast campus and Thursday, November 6 at the Nathan campus.
The Gala Nightscelebrate the achievements of winners of national Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, and national learning and teaching fellowships and grants and winners of Griffith Awards for Excellence in Teaching.
At the second event, the 2014 winner of the Vice Chancellor’s Award for the Griffith University Teacher of the Year will be announced.
Academic Provost Professor Adam Shoemaker offered his congratulations to the staff nominated by their students and peers.
“The scheme is always highly competitive and the quality of applications this year is nothing short of outstanding,” he said.
“As colleagues would be aware, Griffith is one of only two Australian universities this year which had a 100% success rate in its OLT national teaching citation applications.
‘The same stellar standard of achievement will be on show at our Gala Nights.
“May I take the opportunity to congratulate every recipient, for their dedication, talent and transformative achievements.”
The talents and achievements of Griffith Sciences personnel have been recognised with the presentation of the 2014 Pro Vice Chancellor’s Griffith Sciences Excellence Awards.
Pro Vice Chancellor Professor Debra Henly has praised the contribution of researchers, teachers and general staff, saying: “Griffith Sciences has made a very significant contribution to the rise of Griffith through the world university rankings in recent years, and to our reputation as a provider of distinctive and quality higher education.”
Professor Henly said she was particularly proud of the group’s Learning and Teaching achievements in 2014.
“This draws on our strengths in multi-disciplinary programs and the use of capstone courses and Work Integrated Learning to develop ‘work and world ready’ graduates.”
Highlights during the year included Dr Giovanna Di Trapani (School of Natural Sciences) receiving an Australian Award for University Teaching citation and Dr Tim Stevens (School of Environment) receiving the Award for Excellence in Teaching (Griffith Sciences).
Professor Henly presents Dr Tim Stevens (School of Environment) with the Award for Excellence in Teaching (Griffith Sciences)
Professor Henly said the University’s commitment to sustainability has been showcased outstandingly by Griffith Sciences in 2014.
“The inaugural Griffith University Sustainability Awards were held this year with Griffith Sciences staff figuring prominently,” she said, acknowledging the School of Environment’s Professor Catherine Pickering and PhD candidate Mark Ballantyne for winning the Group award, Dr Michael Howes for winning the Individual award, and Ms Delwyn Langdon (EcoCentre) as the recipient of the Lifetime Recognition award.
This year the Sciences group received a number of major funding allocations for research, topped by a grant of more than $8 million from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to Griffith’s Institute for Glycomics.
Led by Professor Mark von Itzstein and Professor Michael Jennings, the project Proteins and glycans in host-pathogen interactions: targets for novel drugs and vaccineshas brought together a team of researchers from Griffith, the University of Adelaide and the University of Queensland.
Funding in 2014 also included seven successful ARC Discovery grants totalling $2.9 million; two ARC DECRA grants ($761,949); four ARC Linkage Projects ($1.9 million) and an ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities grant ($2 million).
The group was also awarded two NHMRC Projects grants ($972,573); two NHMRC Early Career Fellowships ($609,192); one NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship ($601,689) and an NHMRC Australia/EU Collaborative grant totalling $266,353.
Recipients of the 2014 Pro Vice Chancellor’s Griffith Sciences Excellence Awards are:
Research
Early Career Researcher Award: Dr Benoit Gilbert, School of Engineering.
Midâ€Career Researcher Award: Dr Francesca Iacopi, Queensland Microâ€and Nanotechnology Centre.
Research Leadership Award: Professor Huijun Zhao, Environmental Futures Research Institute.
Research Supervision Award: Dr Steve Drew, Griffith Sciences.
Excellence of a Research Group Award: SEQ CARI Team comprising the School of Environment’s Professor Darryl Low Choy, Dr Silvia Serraoâ€Neumann, Dr Marcello Sano, Dr Oz Sahin, Ms Gemma Schuch, Professor Scott Baum, Professor Rodger Tomlinson, Associate Professor Rodney Stewart and members not currently employed by Griffith — Florence Crick, Rudi van Staden and Ben Harman.
Learning and Teaching
Australian Award for University Teaching Citation: Dr Giovanna Di Trapani, School of Natural Sciences.
Griffith Sciences Learning and Teaching Citation: Dr Jason Byrne, School of Environment; Dr Sarah Cresswell, School of Natural Sciences; Associate Professor Ann McDonnell, School of Natural Sciences; Dr Benoit Gilbert and Associate Professor Hong Guan, School of Engineering.
Griffith Award for Excellence in Teaching: Dr Tim Stevens, School of Environment.
Griffith Award for Excellence in Teaching — High Impact Strategies for Progression, Retention and Attainment: Dr Caryl Bosman, School of Environment.
Griffith Sciences Grants for Learning and Teaching: Dr Jahangir Hossain, School of Engineering; Dr Ivan Gratchev, School of Engineering; Dr Wayne Pullan, School of Information and Communication Technology; Associate Professor Karine Dupre, School of Environment; Dr Jun Jo, School of Information and Communication Technology; Associate Professor Junhu Wang, School of Information and Communication Technology.
General Staff Service
Outstanding Contribution in Service, Individual: Mr Daniel Tonzing, School of Environment.
Health and Safety
Health and Safety Initiative Award: Dr Carieâ€Anne Logue, Institute for Glycomics.
Sustainability
Sustainability Excellence Award: Professor Lex Brown, School of Environment; Ms Delwyn Langdon, EcoCentre.
Sustainability Excellence Award in a Group: Dr Wayne Hall and Professor Andreas Oechsner, School of Engineering; Professor Catherine Pickering and Mark Ballantyne, School of Environment.
Queensland College of Art (QCA) Masters research student, Hadieh Afshani has been awarded the 2014 St George Art Award for her stirring oil painting Motion of Light.
Hadieh emigrated from Tehran to Australia in 2006 and her most recent works explore the journey of self-discovery experienced by migrants.
Motion of Light considers the moment when a space becomes a place of meaning. The warm glow emanating from the centre of the image, with the faintest silhouette of a figure, hints at acceptance of transformation in a new, unknown place.
The winning painting forms part of Hadieh’s research body of work for her Masters degree.
“This work is heavily influenced by the study I’m doing at the moment. It’s great that it’s also receiving attention from outside of the University,” she said.
As a finalist and winner of numerous Australian art awards and competitions recently, Hadieh is thrilled to gain further recognition for her work.
“It makes me hopeful to see the appreciation for my work, as I wouldn’t consider it ‘mainstream art’ in Australia at the moment. It’s truly surprising and makes me hopeful for future,” said Hadieh.
Find out more about the St George Art Awards and view the winning and highly commended artworks online. They’re also on display at the Hurstville Museum & Gallery in Sydney until 14 December 2014.
Visit Hadieh’s website for more information about her work and achievements.
The Griffith team members were Braydon Garde (Bachelor of Commerce), Michaela Emingerova (Bachelor of International Business), Daniel Roos (Bachelor of Commerce), Sonja Kobinger (team captain, PhD candidate) and Benjamin Coulthard (Bachelor of Commerce).
This is just the latest success for Griffith which has participated in the Challenge over the past three years, making it into the local final each time and winning it last year.
Competing universities are permitted to enter just one team which must provide an in depth research report, and in 2014 there were more entries than ever before. Four teams were selected to progress to the final which was held at the Macquarie Bank in Sydney’s Martin Place on 13 October 2014.
Each of the finalist teams was required to make a ten minute presentation followed by a Q&A session with the judges.
The judges were Emilio Gonzalez, CFA (BT Investment Management), Ian Myles, CFA (Macquarie Securities Group), Matthew Reynolds, CFA ( Colonial First State Global Asset).
Academic mentor of the Griffith team for this year’s Challenge, Dr Neda Todorova, said she was very proud of the students’ achievement.
“Although University of Sydney was able to prevail, the Griffith team put in an amazing effort and gave an outstanding performance,” Neda said.
“The team’s written report received the highest score, which is further evidence of the very high quality of our team’s contribution to the challenge.
“I am also very grateful for the contribution made by our industry advisor Ken Howard from Morgans who has supported the Griffith teams with excellent mentoring over the last three years.”
Pro Vice Chancellor (Business) Professor Michael Powell added his congratulations to the team for their outstanding effort.
“I am extremely proud of the consistently high standard of work submitted by students from the Griffith Business School,” Professor Powell said.
“This latest result is again evidence of the dedication of GBS students and teaching staff.”
Robots made from recycled materials, ingenious systems for smarter homes and vehicles, improved waste reduction techniques and pollution monitoring systems — there’s no limit to the possibilities inspiring students competing in a technology challenge that started at Griffith University this morning (October 31).
The Creative Technology Challenge for a Clean Environment is a competition and symposium with a G20 focus.
For Years 7-12 students, it is being held at Griffith’s Gold Coast campus today and tomorrow (November 1).
As South-East Queensland readies for the G20 World Leaders Summit, the Gold Coast secondary students — as well as a contingent of 17 from South Korea — are being encouraged to demonstrate their own leadership and ingenuity in finding solutions for a better world.
Visiting students from the Seoul International School in South Korea, from left: Seo Yoon Oh, Gyumin Park and Sungbine Cho
The challenge will see competing students invent products and share creative ideas that apply technology to environmental issues and outcomes.
“Like the G20, our event is about ideas, meeting challenges and working towards positive goals,” says Dr Jun Jo, from Griffith’s Schools of Engineering and Information and Communication Technology.
Students hard at work at the Creative Technology Challenge
“There’s no limit to the type or scale of the materials the students bring to the competition, and there are no limitations on their ingenuity or field of interest. Who knows what they might come up with?
“As long as they use technology directed towards positive environmental outcomes, this should be a fascinating and rewarding exercise for all the participants.”
The students will present their inventions at the International Student Symposium at Griffith tomorrow.
Law and the ethics of media use of drones will be the focus of two free public presentations by international media law expert Dr David Goldberg at Griffith University next week.
Dr Goldberg was co-author (with the ABC’s Mark Corcoran and Oxford’s Robert G. Picard) of the Oxford Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism report ‘Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems and Journalism’ in June 2013.
In the public symposium, Drones, Privacy and Journalism on November 4, Dr Goldberg will focus exclusively on using ‘drones’, technically remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs) for newsgathering, aka ‘dronejournalism’ or, ‘dronalism’.
Increasingly RPAs have taken over from primarily military use to civilian applications. Cheap, light and portable, RPAs can easily be moved to locations where reporting needs to take place or production is most desirable and, crucially, can keep journalists safe.
“Drone journalism is simply 21st century photojournalism deploying a newish platform for aerial photography for the purpose of news gathering,’’ Dr Goldberg said.
“However, this category of use by mainstream media and citizen journalists is being frustrated by regulatory and legal restrictions as well as so-called ‘ethical’ gaps and challenges.”
Hispresentationwill defend the public’s right to receive information from journalists who use ethical sources including RPAs.
Former ABC Foreign Correspondent reporter (now with ABC News Online) Mark Corcoran and The Australian’s legal affairs editor Chris Merritt will form a panel responding to Dr Goldberg’s address.
Dr David Goldberg
Following his address, Dr Goldberg will officially launch Griffith’s journalism students’ coverage of the G20 summit from its Media Centre at South Bank.
Preceding the Brisbane symposium, Dr Goldberg will present the seminar –From Glasgow to Gold Coast — the challenge of drone journalism in news and sports coverage – at the Gold Coast campus on November 3.
He will discuss drone technology focusing on media usage in major events like the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Cameras on drones were visible in many shots broadcast from the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014. By the time the Gold Coast hosts the Commonwealth Games in 2018 drone technology will likely be central to media coverage of such a major event – with its accompanying legal pitfalls of security, surveillance and privacy issues
Former Gold Coast Bulletin editor and Griffith University communications and marketing director Dean Gould and media law expert Professor Mark Pearson will be panellists for this Friends of the Library event at Griffith’s Gold Coast campus on November 3.
Attendance at both events is free, but registration is required at the links detailed here for the Brisbane event (Nov 4) and here for the Gold Coast event (Nov 3). Both presentations start at 6pm, with guests asked to arrive from 5.15pm for the Brisbane event and from 5.30pm for the Gold Coast presentation.
