8-14 September 2025

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Addressing sensitive issues in the classroom

Recorded session

Queensland University of Technology  Recorded session – available anytime  Teachers cannot ignore sensitive issues. They may be circulating in the community or be part of the curriculum. For example, issues related to consent education, the Voice referendum, wars in foreign lands, climate change, nuclear power, religious discrimination and exemptions for schools, marriage equality, migration, refugees and social media influencer content can all make their ways into the classroom.  How should teachers respond: Is it best to ignore issues raised if they are not part of the curriculum? Should teachers say where they stand on particular topics? Can shutting down some debates protect vulnerable students? Does the raising of issues provide important teachable moments about engaging in civil discourse? Are there some topics which should never be discussed in the classroom? How do we determine age-appropriateness for some topics?  These and other questions were discussed at a recent Q&A panel consisting of academics from QUT’s School of Teacher Education and Leadership and experienced educators working in and with schools.   In this recorded session our panel explores ways to respond to and engage students when sensitive issues are raised in the classroom.  

Stop a Scam, Share a Story

Recorded session

Fraud affects millions of victims worldwide. However, there are many myths and misconceptions about fraud victimisation as well as negative stereotypes about who is involved. In a bid to challenge this, there are many victims who bravely share their own personal stories of financial and emotional betrayal.  In this recorded session we discuss media representations of victims, with a focus on romance fraud. Panellists, Stephanie and Tracy, share their own experiences of deception, while Cassandra, Laura and Phoebe share insights from their research into this area. The discussion provides insights into how offenders operate and manipulate their victims and showcases the reality and extent of their deception. Importantly, the discussion focusses on how media narratives of victimisation can help or hinder support of those involved. It also covers what to look out for to prevent it from happening to ourselves and our loved ones, and what can be done to better respond to this growing type of victimisation. 

Making a Difference: How Does Social Change Happen?

Recorded session

Recorded session - available on demand Policymakers confront growing challenges in areas as diverse—and often interrelated—as climate change, social inequality, artificial intelligence, work, migration, declining biodiversity, and new threats to public health. Responses require changes or modifications to deeply entrenched social and economic structures. Consequently, reform attempts often generate conflict and resistance from those with a real or perceived interest in those structures. How can such conflict be managed to deliver urgently needed reforms? This question is central to social scientists, whose work is vital to both the implementation of effective policy, and to understanding the societal implications of policy choices. A panel of six leading social scientists analysed foundations and strategies of policy change in their areas of expertise—including some of the biggest, most difficult and pressing global and national challenges. This panel highlighted the breadth, diversity, and interrelationships within and between, social scientific and other disciplines, and their central importance to addressing these challenges. Each panellist addressed three thematic questions: What is the central conflict or problem inherent to their research topic? How can this be managed or overcome? What skills or insights enable social science to make a difference to public policy—and debate thereof—in their research field? […]

National CGE Modelling Workshop

JG Crawford Building, 132 Lennox Crossing, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia JG Crawford Building, 132 Lennox Crossing, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia

The Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU, and the VU Centre of Policy Studies are hosting the National Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Modelling Workshop at the Weston Theatre in the Crawford School of Public Policy. The National CGE Workshop is an annual event that provides a forum for CGE modellers to exhibit and discuss their work. Register to be part of the audience and/or give a presentation. Students are encouraged to participate. The program will include a longer presentation from the key note speaker, and short presentations from participants of about 15—20 minutes, followed by questions The workshop will interest those new to CGE modelling, expert modellers and policy advisors who rely on modelling to analyse events with economic impacts. Link to the program: https://www.vu.edu.au/about-vu/news-events/events/national-cge-modelling-workshop Program & venue The program will be over 2 days. A draft program is now available. Draft program - National CGE Modelling Workshop The workshop venue is the Weston Theatre, JG Crawford Building, 132 Lennox Crossing, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia.

Free

Outdoor Therapies: Client Outcomes and Pathways for Change

Virtual

This presentation will examine the contemporary research and evidence-base related to outdoor therapies. Attendees will examine what works in outdoor therapy and explore how to become not only evidence-builders themselves, but evidence-informed outdoor practitioners.

Free

Harmful care, careful harm: relational entanglements in migration

Virtual

Hosted by the Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies, this timely event will bring together experts from the diverse corners of the field of migration studies to consider the complex and dynamic relationship between care and harm in international migration. Scholars of migration have documented the multivarious forms of harm that arise from the systems, institutions and interactions surrounding the movements of people across borders. Researchers have also explored the many forms of local and transnational care that are created by, or persist despite, international migration. In this event, we explore the ways care and harm are interwoven, interdependent and mutually constitutive in diverse migration contexts. Relationships of care (for example, between migrants or between migrants and ‘allies’ in civil society) may arise in response or resistance to the harms imposed by exploitative policies and practices. Equally, policies and practices that appear to be ‘caring’ may reproduce, obscure or naturalise harm, at times perpetuating the very inequalities and injustices they purport to address. Grounded in diverse settings including immigration detention, aged care, temporary labour migration schemes, the family home, and media platforms, the speakers will present brief talks drawing on their specialist research. The speakers will then come together for a panel discussion of harmful care, careful harm, and the […]

Free

Innovative methods for exploring financial abuse

Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn Campus ATC Lecture Theatre, 427-451 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn

PLEASE NOTE: Unfortunately this event is now at capacity and tickets are no longer available. Symposium series: ‘Understanding and intervening in financial abuse’ Financial abuse is an insidious, yet common, form of gendered violence. The 2024 – 2026 ARC Discovery Project ‘Prioritising women’s financial safety: Developing institutional interventions for intimate partner financial abuse’ aims to develop a framework for understanding post-separation financial violence. The Discovery Project includes funding for a four-part symposium series. The aim of the series is to bring together academics in law, criminology, sociology, economics with public policy and experts with experience of financial abuse to build a community of practice that, together, can seed collaborations and bring a wider suite of problems and reform proposals to the attention of policymakers. Expressions of interest The focus of this first symposium is to explore innovative and interdisciplinary methods for exploring financial abuse. The symposium will feature interactive panels, short academic papers, a collaborative mapping activity and time for informal discussions. To express interest in either: (1) presenting a paper, (2) contributing to a panel, or (3) participating as a delegate, and applying for a bursary if eligible, please complete this form. Please note that timeslots within the 6-hour […]

Free

BCEC|WGEA Gender Equity Insights 2024 online report launch

Virtual

Join the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC) and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) for the national online report launch for Gender Equity Insights 2024 on Monday 9 September 2024. Part-time work arrangements have traditionally provided people the opportunity to balance work with other responsibilities, enabling a broader constituency of individuals to participate in the workforce. But we also know that working part-time can limit pay and career progression resulting in long-term economic disadvantages for women, including lower lifetime earnings and reduced retirement savings. Despite its historical significance, the orthodox concept of part-time work is being re-evaluated in light of emerging work practices and employee preferences that attach increased value to flexibility, autonomy and the ability for work to align with responsibilities at home. For this ninth report in the Gender Equity Insights series from BCEC and WGEA, we take a detailed look at the incidence and evolution of part-time work in Australia, examine its relevance to the future of work, and explore the potential for part-time work options to be superseded by more fluid and adaptable work arrangements. Hear key findings from report lead authors Professor Alan Duncan, Director, and Dr Silvia Salazar, Senior Research Fellow, both of BCEC, alongside remarks from Hon. Mary Wooldridge, Chief Executive Officer, WGEA, and a […]

Power, Privilege and Place in Australian Society

008.04.013 Megaflex 3 Building 8, 360 Swanston St, Melbourne

This event will launch the book 'Power, Privilege and Place in Australian Society', by Patrick O'Keeffe. 'Power, Privilege and Place in Australian Society' contributes to urgent discussions in key areas of Australian society. At a moment in time where a more progressive, caring, inclusive and optimistic public discourse is required, this book takes up the challenge of thinking constructively and creatively about the possibilities for change. This book is based on lectures developed for the RMIT University undergraduate course 'Australian Society in a Global Context', which was a collaborative teaching effort that drew on the expertise of numerous PhD candidates who taught in this course. To support the launch of this book, past tutors in this course will speak about their research, and identify opportunities for social change that disrupt power and privilege in Australia. Dr Stefani Vasil (Australian Catholic University) will speak about their research into experiences of gender based violence among migrant women. Dr Liam Davies (RMIT University) will discuss housing insecurity and the residualisation of public housing in Victoria. Dr Tuba Boz (RMIT University) will outline the role of sport and dance in building multiculturalism from the grassroots in suburban Melbourne. Dr Rachel Goff (RMIT University) will reflect on their work in developing culturally humble approaches […]

CUTransitions Talk: Fuel prices and ambient air pollution: A study of Sydney

Virtual

CUTransitions Talks are learning sessions organised by the Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology. In this session, Professor Paul Burke will discuss fuel prices and ambient air pollution. This talk explores the short-run influence of road transport fuel prices on ambient air pollution over the period 2004–2023 for the case of Sydney, Australia. Using daily and monthly data from nine air quality monitoring stations, we find generally negative effects of fuel prices on ambient levels of several key pollutants, with inelastic effect sizes. Higher gasoline prices are also linked to improved daily visibility levels and a reduction in Google search interest in air pollution. Wind speeds, bushfire incidence, and public holidays are among other key factors affecting Sydney air quality. The findings are useful for air pollution prediction and add to the body of understanding of the environmental benefits of fuel taxes. Professor Paul Burke is Head of the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics (ACDE) and Deputy Director of the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University. His research is in energy and environmental economics, with a focus on the Asia-Pacific. We look forward to seeing you at the Talk!

Free

HDR/ECR Workshop: Scholarly publishing in the Social Sciences

Macquarie University 25 Wally's Walk, North Ryde

For Social Sciences Week 2024, Visiting Research Fellow Kirsten Bell (Imperial College London) and Professor Lisa L. Wynn (Associate Editor of the journal American Ethnologist) will host a publishing workshop discussing changes afoot in the publishing arena, including a discussion of the effects of open access initiatives, combined with practical advice on getting published. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about trends in the academic publishing space and to ask questions about publishing your own work.  Bell is a former journal editor (of Critical Public Health) and Wynn is a current journal editor (an associate editor of American Ethnologist). In addition to her experience as a journal editor, Bell has published three columns in the former Chronicle of Higher Education blog, ‘Vitae’, providing tips on getting published. She also holds a Master of Publishing from Simon Fraser University, is a former member of the Executive Committee of Libraria, a collective of social scientists exploring new models of publishing that supported Berghahn and Pluto to move their stable of journals open access under a ‘subscribe to open’ model, and has helped the editorial team and board of Critical Public Health to leave their owner and publisher, Taylor & Francis, and move to a diamond open access journal. ​​

Free

The University Accord and its implications for higher education

Macquarie University 25 Wally's Walk, North Ryde

Professor Andrew Norton is a leading analyst of the Australian Higher Education system and is located at Centre for Social Policy Research at ANU. He'll be talking to Macquarie staff about the policy implications of the University Accord and specifically commenting on the current state and future of social sciences education. This seminar is the place to get answers to your questions about the current policy framework and what it means for us as knowledge workers in higher education. Andrew Norton is Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy at the Centre for Social Research and Methods at the Australian National University. Prior to joining the ANU he was the Higher Education Program Director at the Grattan Institute from 2011 to 2019. While at Grattan, he was a government appointed co-reviewer of the demand driven university funding system over 2013-14. He also served on a expert panel advising the government on higher education reform, particularly on financial issues, over 2016-17. Before joining the Grattan Institute, he worked for three University of Melbourne vice-chancellors as a policy adviser. He also worked part-time for The Centre for Independent Studies, as a research fellow and editor of its journal Policy. He started […]

Free

UNDERCOVER: The Hidden Faces of Homelessness

RMIT Storey Hall Lecture Theatre, Building 16, Room 016.01.001, Level 1 342-344 Swanston Street, Melbourne

The Homelessness and Housing Insecurity research theme of the Social Equity Research Centre invites you to a screening of the documentary, Undercover, followed by a panel discussion, UNDERCOVER: The Hidden Faces of Homelessness Narrated by Margot Robbie and sharing the often secret lives of an eclectic group of women across Australia, UNDER COVER shines a light on the devastating reality of older women’s experiences of homelessness. UNDER COVER follows ten of these women. For these women, life hasn’t panned out the way they expected. They've lived in nice houses, worked good jobs, educated their children and then suddenly ... life unravelled and through no fault of their own, they found themselves unable to pay their rent or mortgage. The women featured in UNDER COVER, are all over 50, and are a diverse group from varied backgrounds - wealthy, poor, middle class, working, unemployed, migrant and Indigenous. Faced with the hardships of housing stress and ageing, these women are seeking to find a home to call their own, for the final chapter of their lives. Their moving but optimistic portraits reveal the struggles these women face, and lay bare the flaws in our society, as well as our economic fragility in the modern […]

West to East: The Global Rebalance

The West has always had an outsized influence in the world, but what if this trend is changing? The post cold-war era U.S. and European countries, which represent the foundational pillars of the Western system, have seen their power diminish. Shifts in demographics, economics, military, and cultural terms are indicating a more diverse global future. Wealth is moving from the West to the East, and nations such as India and Indonesia are set to reach new heights of growth and confidence. Is the West prepared for a more diverse global future? The Melbourne launch of Westlessness: The Great Global Rebalancing by Samir Puri. Speakers: Dr Samir Puri (Visiting Lecturer, Department of War Studies, Kings College London) Professor Nick Bisley (Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University) Professor Bec Strating (Director, La Trobe Asia)(Chair)

Free

Doctors with a difference? Social science insights on widening participation in medicine: Australian, Canadian and UK perspectives

Virtual

Medical schools have historically been prestigious and exclusive institutions, filled with students who come from much wealthier families than average. Elaborate and competitive selection processes and the costs involved in applying to medicine are barriers to students from low-income backgrounds, as well as the perception that medicine is out of reach. For over two decades, widening participation initiatives have focused on encouraging underrepresented groups to apply to medical school, including low-income and ‘first-in-family’ students whose parents are not university-educated, based on the assumption that a more diverse medical profession will lead to better care and health outcomes for patients. The success of these initiatives has largely been measured by statistics showing increased application and admission rates of low-income/first-in-family students. Much less attention has been paid to the experience of these students once they enter medical school, and even less is known about their experiences, aspirations and trajectories as doctors. Are there residual forms of inequity that persist within medical schools, and beyond? How do low-income/first-in-family students see themselves relating to the medical profession and to patients? This webinar presents findings from three countries on the experiences of medical students and doctors who are the first in their family to attend […]