Community Engaged Research

Community decision-making about the purpose, design, conduct and use of research.

Refugees and Forced Migration

Resettlement of refugees and people seeking asylum is essential to ensuring a humane and equitable future.

Strengthening Institutions

Ensuring institutions are effective, accountable, and responsive to the diverse populations they serve.

Universal Access and Design

Access for all, regardless of age, ability or status.

Violence Against Women and their Children

Melbourne Research Alliance to End Violence Against Women and their Children (MAEVe) brings together researchers from across the University.

PhD Students

Each year the Melbourne Social Equity Institute gives Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarships and other scholarships to students whose interest in social equity issues aligns closely to our research agenda.

Doctoral Academy

For each Doctoral Academy, the Melbourne Social Equity Institute selects a cohort of research higher degree students from across the university to share their research, knowledge and ideas on social equity issues.

Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies

This program program brings together doctoral candidates from across the University of Melbourne to focus on issues related to asylum-seeking, forced migration and statelessness.

Lectures for People Seeking Asylum

Community of Practice

Podcast Series: All Being Equal

Community Fellows Program

Supporting research collaborations between community organisations and university-based researchers.

Support for consumer transactions

Working with consumers and industry to develop practices and processes to improve access for consumers with disabilities.

The SEREDA Project

Sexual and gender-based violence against refugees: experiences from displacement to arrival

The Blue Nile African Australian Business Master Class Program

What are the barriers to success for African-Australians in business and how can we address them?

Developing a model for peer support in emergency departments

Improving supports for people experiencing mental distress in emergency departments

The living archive of Aboriginal art

Developing a digital living archive where Indigenous artists can connect their work in ways reflecting Indigenous worldviews.

Is zero-tolerance to violence a zero-sum game?

Perceptions of 'dangerousness' and issues of equity in mental health settings.

Post-release family and community support for African-Australians in Victoria

Investigating the post-release support needs of African-Australians who have been imprisoned in Victoria

Exploring the value of rhythm-based support with children who have experienced trauma

How can drumming and hip-hop be used to support young people in out of home care?

Co-producing safe, inclusive work places for mental health consumer workers

How should we change the mental health system to safely include consumer workers?

Co-designing technology to support Indigenous people experiencing family violence

How can we use technology to support help-seeking among Wadawurrung people experiencing violence?

Narrating neighbourhood

How do communities of difference narrate their neighbourhood? Can storytelling be a tool for building social capital and cohesion?

Trauma Informed Practice in Education

A new resource to support trauma informed practice in education has been published by Rebecca Harris, a Melbourne Social Equity Institute Community Fellow from Carlton Primary School.

Just Justice Through Supporting Fitness to Plead

Accessing justice on an equal basis is a major issue for many people with disabilities.

Children Speak Out on Family Violence

Young people who have experienced family violence have a lot to tell us, says Dr Katie Lamb, but too often there’s nobody listening.

Understanding Diaspora Peacebuilding

Achieving lasting peace takes more than just the absence of war, says Denise Cauchi, and diaspora communities can make significant contributions toward it.

What Is Social Equity?

A blog post by Professor Bernadette McSherry, Foundation Director of the Melbourne Social Equity Institute

Ending the Exploitation of Refugee and Migrant Workers

Getting work is the most important step to successful settlement in a new country, says lawyer Catherine Hemingway, but for people who have recently arrived in Australia it can also be the start of a lot of new problems.

Circus as a Tool for Social Change

“For people who have found that they don’t always have agency over their bodies – people across the gender spectrum – circus can be a really lovely space for them to learn how to reclaim it, surrounded by positive people and support.”

Diversity in Decision-Making

Co-designing informed choice under the National Disability Insurance Scheme

Making Information Accessible – For Everyone

Essential but often complex services like banks, utilities and phones need to be accessible for all, including those with cognitive disabilities. Here’s how you do it.

Can the NDIS Deliver?

As the signature National Disability Insurance Scheme rolls out nationally, a research project questions its ability to address systemic inequality.

Making Music Accessible for Young People with Disability

Mel Murphy saw the benefits of music for both young people and adults in her years as a music therapist. She had been thinking about doctoral study for a long time when she began her PhD.

Religion, Not Race, Driving Fear of Asylum Seekers: Survey

Anti-Muslim sentiment is even more important than racial prejudice when it comes to perpetuating negative attitudes about asylum seekers, new research has found.

Coercion in Mental Health Care: Finding a New Way

Secluding, physically restraining or overmedicating people experiencing mental health crises still happens, but countries around the world are trialling successful alternatives.

Directorate

The Institute's directorate is responsible for allocating funding, coordinating communities of like-minded researchers and engaging with external partners, policy makers and the public.

Research staff

Research program leaders steer the research direction, commission projects and champion outputs.

Governance

The Melbourne Social Equity Institute is guided by its reference group and advisory board.