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Melbourne Social Equity Institute

Supporting interdisciplinary research for fairer societies

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The Melbourne Social Equity Institute brings together researchers to address disadvantage across social life, including health, education, housing, culture, work and transport.

  • Seed Funding 2020
    New Research Projects
  • Supporting Engaged Research
    Community Fellows Program
  • Blue Nile Masterclass Program
    Supporting African Australian Entrepreneurs
  • PhD Program in Migration, Statelessness and Refugee Studies
    Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program
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Latest News

Published: 07 Dec 2020

Research Assistant Positions – Experiences and Wellbeing of African Students

Applications are open to students currently studying at, or recently graduated (within one year) from, the University of Melbourne.  African background students are strongly encouraged to apply.

Published: 19 Nov 2020

New Seed Funded Projects Announced

The selected projects demonstrate a combination of interdisciplinarity, connection to the community and innovative research methodologies.

Published: 18 Nov 2020

Co-producing Safe, Inclusive Workplaces for Consumer Mental Health Workers

New research suggests that people in mental distress seeking help at an Emergency Department would benefit from access to peer-support workers who understand their experience

A photo of a sign against a brick wall says 'Emergency'

Published: 12 Aug 2020

New Report on the Role of Mental Health Peer Support in Emergency Departments

New research suggests that people in mental distress seeking help at an Emergency Department would benefit from access to peer-support workers who understand their experience

Published: 23 Jul 2020

New Accessibility Guide for Water Retailers Launched

A new guide and sample Easy English documents will assist water retailers to enhance access to services and support for customers with cognitive disabilities.

Published: 22 Jul 2020

Applications Now Open for Funding and Fellowships

The Melbourne Social Equity Institute is inviting applications for its 2020 funding and fellowship opportunities.

Published: 22 Jun 2020

PhD Scholarship Opportunity – The Successful Settlement of New Migrants in Regional Victoria

The Melbourne Social Equity Institute and the Ballarat EVOLVE Strategic Partnership invite proposals from applicants interested in undertaking research into rural/regional settlement of new migrants in the Ballarat, Wimmera and/or Western Districts of Victoria.

Published: 11 Jun 2020

New research to investigate food insecurity on campus

A new Melbourne Social Equity Institute research project is aiming to better understand and address food insecurity at the University of Melbourne.

Published: 10 Jun 2020

Education Supporting Mental Health and Wellbeing for Vulnerable Young People and Communities
(COVID-19 Blog Series)

Associate Professor Helen Stokes reflects on the role of educators and what lockdown has meant for both themselves and the communities in which they work.

Published: 04 Jun 2020

Lived Wisdom on Panic and Worry
(COVID-19 Blog Series)

People who have experience of mental health problems have skin in this isolation game, so how can we all tap into their lived wisdom?

Published: 20 May 2020

What Happens to Consumer Equity During a Pandemic?
(COVID-19 Blog Series)

Professor Jeannie Paterson, Digital Access and Equity Program Co-leader and Co-director of the Centre for AI and Digital Ethics, shares why consumer law should be framed in a way that is accessible to all consumers.

Published: 14 May 2020

Collaboration in a Time of COVID-19
(COVID-19 Blog Series)

The Melbourne Social Equity Institute's Foundation Director, Professor Bernadette McSherry, reflects on research and collaboration during a pandemic.

Published: 07 May 2020

How Will COVID-19 Magnify Existing Health Inequalities for Refugees and People Seeking Asylum?
(COVID-19 Blog Series)

Dr Karen Block considers the ways people with refugee backgrounds in Australia are at heightened risk during the pandemic, both in terms of susceptibility to infection and the impacts of response measures.

Published: 29 Apr 2020

Digital Access and Equity in a Time of Social Distancing
(COVID-19 Blog Series)

Associate Professor Shanton Chang's research interests include information behaviours from a socio-technical perspective. He reflects on his own experience of information, access and equity during COVID-19.

Photo of bike path. Sign reads Share the Path

Published: 23 Apr 2020

Care, Support and COVID-19
(COVID-19 Blog Series)

Senior Research Associate Yvette Maker on the need to acknowledge that relying on others, and providing support to others, are normal and valuable parts of being a human and being a citizen.

Published: 08 Apr 2020

Working from Home?
(COVID-19 Blog Series)

PhD candidate Philippa Duell-Piening's research is focused on the right to be counted for people with disabilities who are refugees or from refugee backgrounds. In this blog post, she reflects on the challenges of completing a PhD during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Published: 31 Mar 2020

Digital Mental Health Technologies
(COVID-19 Blog Series)

Today we share the first in a series of blog posts that will enable some of the researchers whose work we support to consider their research in the light of responses to COVID-19.

Photograph of four people

Published: 25 Mar 2020

Reintegration and Resettlement of African Australians Released from Prison

An interdisciplinary research team has developed a culturally responsive Ubuntu framework for supporting African Australians released from prison.

Published: 15 Jan 2020

Blue Nile African Australian Business Masterclass Program

Applications are now open for the Blue Nile Program, a masterclass program designed for African Australian entrepreneurs.

South Lawn

Published: 10 Dec 2019

Call for Papers – Borders, Identities and Belonging: Perspectives from African Migrants in the Diaspora

In March 2020, the Melbourne Social Equity Institute is partnering with the African Studies Group to present a three-day conference – Borders, Identities and Belonging: Perspectives from African Migrants in the Diaspora.

Published: 29 Nov 2019

Psychiatry, Psychology and Law: Perspectives of People with Lived Experience

The Melbourne Social Equity Institute recently sponsored a conference plenary session titled Research Co-Produced with Consumers and Peers to Combat Stigma in Health Service Provision.

Indigenous Artwork by Ammie Howell

Published: 26 Nov 2019

Media Release: New online resource enables safer relationships in Wadawurrung Country

A new online family violence resource co-designed with the First Nations peoples of Wadawurrung Country has been launched in Geelong. The project was funded by a Melbourne Social Equity Institute Seed Funding Grant.

Published: 06 Nov 2019

Doctoral Academy 2020 – Applications Now Open

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

Photograph of two people sitting in meeting room

Published: 08 Oct 2019

New Honorary Fellows

The Melbourne Social Equity Institute has welcomed Dr John Chesterman and Dr Ashleigh Haw as Honorary Fellows.

Photograph of Piers Gooding at a computer

Published: 01 Oct 2019

Piers Gooding Receives Mozilla Fellowship

Dr Piers Gooding, a Research Fellow at the Melbourne Social Equity Institute and Melbourne Law School, has been named as a new Mozilla Fellow. Dr Gooding is one of 29 researchers, technologists, activists, lawyers and scientists tasked with supporting a healthier internet, with a focus on more trustworthy Artificial Intelligence.

Published: 11 Sep 2019

Gender and Sexuality at Work Conference

The Melbourne Social Equity Institute is offering two bursaries to interstate PhD students to allow them to attend and present at the Gender and Sexuality at Work conference.

Published: 26 Aug 2019

PhD Scholarship Opportunity – In Partnership with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre

A new scholarship is being offered to investigate empowerment approaches for people seeking asylum and refugees. What are the impacts, outcomes and challenges for empowering people seeking asylum?

Photo of women behind a wire fence

Published: 19 Jul 2019

Migration, Refugees and Statelessness Interdisciplinary Conference

On Tuesday 19 November, the Melbourne Social Equity Institute will co-host a one-day conference focused on migration, refugees and statelessness.

Photograph of Stephanie Weir and Jack Hogan

Published: 08 Jul 2019

New PhD Scholarship with Scope

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.  In 2019, we are delighted to welcome Stephanie Weir from Scope to our PhD program through a unique scholarship and research collaboration, made possible by the partnership between Scope and the University of Melbourne.

Published: 12 Jun 2019

Contribute to our Review Process

In the final quarter of 2019, the Melbourne Social Equity Institute is undergoing a major review. Your contribution to this review is invited via a brief survey.

Published: 09 Apr 2019

Support for Consumers with Cognitive Disabilities: New Report Launched

University of Melbourne researchers, supported by the Melbourne Social Equity Institute, have developed guidance for retailers to improve their approach and make their processes and communications more helpful and accessible to consumers with cognitive disabilities who may have difficulties with learning, concentrating on, processing, remembering, or communicating information, and/or with decision-making.

Published: 22 Mar 2019

New Resource for Trauma Informed Practice in Education

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

Published: 15 Mar 2019

International Women’s Day and the SEREDA Project

The SEREDA Project (SExual and gender-based violence against Refugees: Experiences from Displacement to Arrival), is a major research initiative currently being undertaken in the United Kingdom, Australia, Sweden and Turkey by a multi-country research team.

Published: 20 Dec 2018

Thanks a Bundle Report Launched

A new report provides guidance for phone and internet companies to improve support and access to online telecommunications products for consumers with cognitive disabilities

Published: 11 Dec 2018

PhD Scholarship Opportunity – In Partnership with the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture

A new scholarship is being offered to investigate educational engagement and outcomes for refugee background students in Victoria. How does/can classroom and broader school practice support recovery from trauma, social inclusion and educational outcomes more broadly?

Published: 03 Dec 2018

Long-distance Peacebuilding Research Report by Community Fellow Denise Cauchi is Now Available

Long-distance Peacebuilding: The Experiences of the South Sudanese and Sri Lankan Diasporas in Australia was officially launched on Tuesday night.

Black and white headshot of Rosemary Kayess

Published: 19 Nov 2018

Disability Access to Justice Research Consortium Scoping Paper Launched

The Disability Access to Justice Research Consortium Scoping Paper was launched by Rosemary Kayess on Friday 16 November.

Photograph: Two people dancing while holding large pieces of white and green fabric

Published: 24 Oct 2018

Community Fellows Profile: Self-assessment in Creative Therapy Programs by Participants with Intellectual Disability

Through the Community Fellows Program, Tessa Hens, a dance movement therapist at Bayley House, is trialling new ways for people with an intellectual disability to reflect on, assess, and communicate their own sense of enjoyment and progress during creative arts therapies such as Dance Movement Therapy.

Published: 07 Oct 2018

Alternatives to Coercion in Mental Health Settings Literature Review Launched

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

A photo of a sign against a brick wall says 'Emergency'

Published: 03 Oct 2018

PhD Scholarship Opportunity: Peer Support Workers in Emergency Departments

A new scholarship is being offered to explore the role of peer support workers in emergency departments

Published: 10 Sep 2018

Video: Human-Centred Design for Legal Help

In this talk, Dr Margaret Hagan (Legal Design Lab, Stanford Law School) presents the work that her team has been doing over the past three years in partnership with state civil courts and legal aid group, in taking a design-driven approach to create innovations in how the legal system operates and how it can better serve the public.

Hands of a person typing on a laptop

Published: 07 Sep 2018

New Research Projects

Nine new projects have been supported as part of the Melbourne Social Equity Institute's 2018 seed funding round.

Published: 22 Aug 2018

Associate Professor Sara Wills Appointed Deputy Director

We are delighted to announce that Associate Professor Sara Wills has been appointed as the new Deputy Director of the Melbourne Social Equity Institute.

Professor Bernadette McSherry with her dog, Toby (a Border Collie)

Published: 28 Jun 2018

Professor Bernadette McSherry appointed as a VLRC Commissioner

The Melbourne Social Equity Institute's Foundation Director, Professor Bernadette McSherry, has been named as a new Commissioner at the Victorian Law Reform Commission.

Published: 06 Jun 2018

Doctoral Academy 2018 – Applications Now Open

Each year the Melbourne Social Equity Institute selects a cohort of PhD students from across the University of Melbourne to share their research, knowledge and ideas on social equity issues.

Published: 22 May 2018

PhD Scholarship Opportunity – In Partnership with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre

A new scholarship is being offered to examine the impact of values-based conversations in positively changing attitudes towards people seeking asylum.

Published: 16 May 2018

PhD Scholarship Opportunity – Sexual and Gender-based Violence Against Refugees

A new scholarship is being offered to support work on a major new research initiative, the SEREDA project (SExual and gender-based violence against Refugees: Experiences from Displacement to Arrival).

Published: 03 May 2018

Community Fellows Program – Applications Now Open

The Melbourne Social Equity Institute’s Community Fellows Program aims to meet the research needs of community organisations to conduct small research-related projects in collaboration with university-based researchers.

Published: 03 May 2018

Seed Funding 2018 – Applications Now Open

Applications are now open for the Melbourne Social Equity Institute's 2018 Seed Funding Scheme. Applicants can apply for a minimum of $20,000 and a maximum of $50,000. Up to eight projects will be funded.

Published: 27 Apr 2018

2017 Annual Report Now Available

The Melbourne Social Equity Institute's 2017 Annual Report is now available, featuring research and engagement highlights.

Published: 22 Mar 2018

Policy Briefing Paper – Facilitating Better Employment Opportunities for Refugee-background Migrants and People Seeking Asylum in Australia

In 2017 Dr Nadera Hayat Burhani and Dr Jawid Sayed were employed as Community Researchers at the Social Equity Institute at the University of Melbourne. The resulting Policy Briefing Paper aims to make specific, implementable policy recommendations to reduce barriers and facilitate improved employment opportunities for refugee-background migrants and people seeking asylum living in Australia.

Published: 14 Mar 2018

EOIs Invited – Deputy Director, Melbourne Social Equity Institute

The Melbourne Social Equity Institute invites academic staff at Level D or E at the University of Melbourne to register their interest for the role of Deputy Director.

Photo of Theresia Degener standing in front of red doors

Published: 20 Nov 2017

Masterclass with Theresia Degener, Chair of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Graduate and Research Higher Degree students are invited to express their interest in participating in a Masterclass with Professor Theresia Degener in January 2018.

Published: 07 Sep 2017

Unfitness to Plead Final Report Launched

Unfitness to plead laws in Australia have been widely recognised as requiring reform and modernisation. The Unfitness to Plead Project sought to develop practical and legal options to address the problem of people with cognitive disabilities being found unfit to plead and subject to indefinite detention.

Published: 31 Aug 2017

MAEVe Seeding Funding 2017

MAEVe (the Melbourne Research Alliance to End Violence against women and their children) is seeking applications from the University's research community for innovative interdisciplinary research projects in the area of violence against women and family violence.

Group photo of Emily Dash, Carly Findlay and Alastair McEwin and Julie McCrossin at the launch event.

Published: 30 Aug 2017

What Makes Us Healthy? A Disability Perspective

The Centre of Research Excellence in Disability and Health was launched at the University of Melbourne in June.

Published: 10 Aug 2017

Elder Abuse Scoping Study Published

Despite a growing recognition of elder abuse and the impact that it has on the lives of older people, we lack both a good understanding of the issues involved and the evidence base surrounding this.

Published: 25 Jul 2017

PhD Scholarship Opportunity in Disability and Policy

The Melbourne Social Equity Institute and the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne invites applications for a PhD scholar to work as part the Centre of Research Excellence in Disability and Health (CRE-DH).

Published: 07 Jul 2017

NDIS Research Presented to Victorian MPs

Last month the Choice, Control and the NDIS research team presented their findings to Victorian MPs at Parliament House.

Published: 30 May 2017

Supporting People with Decision-Making Impairments to be Full Economic Actors

Getting a new mobile phone plan, entering a contract for home and contents insurance, or signing up for a credit card are part of everyday life for most Australians. However, people who experience barriers to decision-making may find it difficult to engage in these consumer transactions.

Published: 24 May 2017

Choice, Control and the NDIS Report Launched

A Melbourne Social Equity Institute research team recently embarked on a project to explore the degree to which the NDIS is achieving its aims and objectives from the perspective of people with disability using these services.

Published: 28 Apr 2017

New PhD Program Launching in Semester 2, 2017

The Melbourne Social Equity Institute is launching a new interdisciplinary PhD program in semester two, 2017. The program will bring together doctoral candidates from across the University of Melbourne to focus on issues related to refugees and forced migration.

A photograph of deputy director Julie McLeod

Published: 20 Mar 2017

Professor Julie McLeod appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Capability)

It is with a mixture of pride and sadness that we share the news that the Melbourne Social Equity Institute's Deputy Director, Professor Julie McLeod, will be leaving her role with us to take up an appointment as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Capability) for the University of Melbourne.

Published: 27 Feb 2017

Consumer Transactions Pilot Study Published

A report examining consumer transactions equitable support models for individuals with decision-making impairments has been published by the Melbourne Social Equity Institute.

Published: 30 Nov 2016

Persons with disabilities: Cure or accommodate?

From a medical perspective, disability may be viewed as the result of a physical condition intrinsic to the individual which may reduce that person's quality of life and cause disadvantages. A major purpose of medical research can thus be viewed as aiming to discover ways of limiting and, if possible, 'curing' disabilities to alleviate disadvantage.

Published: 24 Nov 2016

I knew it was wrong but I couldn't stop it": Young people identify three opportunities for preventing sexually abusive behaviour

Young people who had sexually abused other children said that helping them to manage pornography and improving their sexuality education could have helped prevent their abusive behaviour.

Published: 26 Aug 2016

2016 Lecture Series for Asylum Seekers announced

The Lecture Series for Asylum Seekers returns for its third year September 2016.

Published: 25 Aug 2016

Professor Bernadette McSherry wins top Australasian award

Professor Bernadette McSherry won an Exceptional Contribution TheMHS Award in the 2016 TheMHS Awards program for service in mental health.

Published: 15 Aug 2016

Lecture Series for Asylum Seekers evaluation report released

Asylum seekers invited to a lecture series at the University of Melbourne found it to be an “overwhelmingly positive” experience, according to a new evaluation.

Published: 11 Jul 2016

Safety and Autonomy in the Mental Health Services Sector report now available

It is anticipated that this report will support mental health service reform that aspires to achieve a culture of safety, autonomy and recovery.

A picture of Philip Alston, wearing a black suit, standing at lectern next to a Melbourne Law School banner

Published: 11 Jul 2016

UN poverty expert: inequality must become a political issue

Poverty is largely ignored as a human rights violation, according to the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Professor Philip Alston.

Published: 29 Jun 2016

Job: lecture series co-ordinator

The Lecture Series for Asylum Seekers is an initiative of the Melbourne Social Equity Institute and Researchers for Asylum Seekers. The aim of the lecture series is to welcome and introduce refugees and asylum seekers to the campus, staff and students of the University of Melbourne.

Published: 22 Jun 2016

2016 MAEVe seed-funded projects announced

The Melbourne Research Alliance to End Violence Against Women and their Children (MAEVe) today announce the first round of projects to receive seed-funding.

Published: 18 May 2016

2014-15 Disability Research Initiative Annual Report now available

The Disability Research Initiative's 2014-15 annual report is now available, featuring highlights from the first 15 months of the DRI's operation.

Published: 30 Apr 2016

2015 Annual Report now available

The Melbourne Social Equity Institute's 2015 Annual Report is now available, featuring research and engagement highlights.

Published: 09 Mar 2016

Religious Prejudice, Not Racism, Main Driver Of Intolerance Towards Asylum Seekers

Negative attitudes among Australian voters towards asylum seekers are driven by religious bigotry more than by racism or economic anxieties, according to a new University of Melbourne report released today.

Upcoming Events

Past Events

  • Tuesday 1 December 2020 1pm - 1:45pm
    “Your robot therapist will see you now”: Social Equity and the Rise of Digital Mental Healthcare (Video Available)
    Event
  • Friday 30 October 2020 4pm - 5pm
    Togetherness is Strength: Conversations with People from Refugee Backgrounds about Resettling in Regional Australia
    Event
  • Wednesday 28 October 2020 1pm - 3pm
    Writing and Publishing for ECR and HDR Researchers (Video Available)
    Event
  • Friday 16 October 2020 1pm - 2pm
    Understanding Immigrants’ Diverse Employment Trajectories: The Role of Immigration Policy and Gender
    Event
  • Monday 28 September 2020 1pm - 2pm
    Men Speak out on Migration and Gender Roles (Video Available)
    Event
  • Friday 18 September 2020 1pm - 2pm
    Accountability for the Rohingya: The Relevance and Implications of International Law (Video Available)
    Event
  • Friday 4 September 2020 10:30am - 11:15am
    Community Engagement Grants Information Session (Video Available)
    A group of people sitting around a wooden table contributing to writing a report
    Event
  • Thursday 3 September 2020 1pm - 2pm
    Community Fellows Program Information Session (Video Available)
    Event
  • Tuesday 18 August 2020 1pm - 2pm
    Seed Funding Workshop 2020
    Event
  • Friday 26 June 2020 1pm - 2pm
    Field Notes from the Rohingya Emergency Response
    Event
  • Friday 27 March 2020 4pm - 5:30pm
    CANCELLED – Togetherness is Strength: Conversations with People from Refugee Backgrounds about Resettling in Regional Australia
    Event
  • Monday 23 March 2020 1pm - 2pm
    CANCELLED – Developing a Framework for Engaging Victims/Survivors of Family Violence to Influence Policy and Service Planning
    Event
  • Friday 20 March 2020 2:30pm - 4:30pm
    CANCELLED – Community Engagement in Digital Equity Research
    Event
  • 12 March 202014 March 2020
    Borders, Identities and Belonging in a Cosmopolitan Society: Perspectives from African Migrants in the Diaspora
    Event
  • Thursday 12 March 2020 4:30pm - 6pm
    Planetary Human Entanglements and the Crisis of Living Together
    Event
  • Thursday 12 March 2020 1pm - 2pm
    ‘Nothing About Us Without Us’: The Rise of Refugee Self-representation in Global Dialogue on Forced Displacement
    Event
  • Friday 28 February 2020 4pm - 5pm
    Human Geopolitics: States, Emigrants and the Rise of Diaspora Institutions
    Event
  • Friday 21 February 2020 12:30pm - 1:30pm
    Brazilian Research Endeavours in Gender, Violence and Health: Multi-sectoral Approaches
    Event
  • Tuesday 18 February 2020 8am - 6pm
    Gender and Sexuality at Work
    Event
  • Thursday 13 February 2020 1pm - 2pm
    Deciding Who Is a "Foreigner": The Situation in the Indian State of Assam from a Legal Perspective
    Event
  • Wednesday 22 January 2020 4pm - 5pm
    Are These Family Laws Good for Women? An Economist’s Perspective
    Event
  • Wednesday 27 November 2019 12pm - 1pm
    The Intersection of Sex and Sexual Safety in Mental Health
    Event
  • Tuesday 19 November 2019 9:15am - 5pm
    Migration, Refugees and Statelessness Interdisciplinary Conference
    Event
  • 5 November 20198 November 2019
    Psychiatry, Psychology and Law: Collaboration and Challenges Across the Global South
    Event
  • Friday 8 November 2019 1pm - 3pm
    Consumer Data Tracking: Social Equity Implications
    Event
  • Wednesday 6 November 2019 3:30pm - 5pm
    Is There Such a Thing as Substance-Related Intimate Partner Abuse Perpetration?
    Event
  • Monday 28 October 2019 5:30pm - 6:30pm
    Spirit: Film Screening and Discussion
    Event
  • Monday 21 October 2019 1pm - 2pm
    “Why Does She Stay?” Domestic Violence, Implicit Bias and the Legal System
    Event
  • Thursday 17 October 2019 1pm - 2pm
    The Global Compacts: A Missed Opportunity or a Promising Tool?
    Event
  • Wednesday 16 October 2019 1pm - 2pm
    Equal Justice for People with Disabilities? An Analysis of Complaints to New Zealand’s Human Rights Review Tribunal
    Event
  • Monday 30 September 2019 1pm - 2pm
    Early Engagement with Men who use Domestic Abuse and Violence: The Better Man Online Project
    Event
  • Thursday 12 September 2019 1pm - 2pm
    Banishment and the Pre-History of Legitimate Expulsion Power
    Event
  • Thursday 22 August 2019 1pm - 2pm
    Institutional Disrespect: The Structural Marginalisation of Refugee Migrants in Australia
    Event
  • Tuesday 20 August 2019 1pm - 2pm
    An Introduction to Domestic Homicide Reviews in England and Wales: Challenges and Opportunities
    Event
  • Thursday 1 August 2019 1pm - 2pm
    From Muddy Boots to Business Class: To the Emergency Frontlines and Back
    Event
  • Thursday 6 June 2019 1pm - 2pm
    Regressive, Arbitrary Identity Documentation Policies and Practices in Myanmar
    Event
  • Monday 27 May 2019 1pm - 2pm
    What does it mean to work with domestic violence when there are animals involved?
    Event
  • Thursday 2 May 2019 1pm - 2pm
    Resettlement of Refugee Immigrants in Australia: Agency and Affordances
    Event
  • Thursday 4 April 2019 1pm - 2pm
    Minority Statelessness and Racialised Citizenship: Romani Minorities and the Uneven Access to Citizenship
    Event
  • Monday 25 March 2019 1pm - 2pm
    Respectful Relationships in the Pre-school Years
    Event
  • Monday 25 February 2019 1pm - 2pm
    Domestic Violence and the Impact on Children: Refuge Work in Germany
    Event
  • Thursday 21 February 2019 2pm - 5pm
    Workshop: Responsibility for Refugee and Migrant Integration
    Event
  • Thursday 14 February 2019 1:30pm - 5:30pm
    Community Engaged Research Symposium
    Event
  • Tuesday 12 February 2019 4pm - 5pm
    Assessing Disability in Europe
    Event

Research Programs

  • Community Engaged Research

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

  • Digital Access and Equity

    Examining the impact of a connected, digitally-focused society.

  • Mental Health and Society

    Promoting mental health and wellbeing across the community.

  • Migration and Social Cohesion

    Exploring the multiple dimensions of migration and its implications for social and community cohesion.

  • 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.

  • Community Fellows Program

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

Graduate Student Programs

  • PhD Candidates

    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 Migration, Statelessness and Refugee Studies

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

Engagement Programs

Alongside its program of regular public lectures and workshops, the Melbourne Social Equity Institute seeks innovative ways of engaging with researchers and the public.

  • The Blue Nile Program

    The Blue Nile African Australian Business Masterclass Program is a subsidised program designed for African Australian entrepreneurs and corporate leaders who would like to broaden their business knowledge so that they can access and network with mainstream Australian industry, enabling them to build their own economic prosperity and that of their communities.

  • Lectures for People Seeking Asylum

    Understanding Australia was an annual lecture series presented by the Melbourne Social Equity Institute. It aimed to give recent arrivals in Australia a better understanding of Australian history and contemporary society.

  • Community of Practice

    In 2017 the Melbourne Social Equity Institute invited researchers from across the University of Melbourne, as well as from other institutions and the wider community, to join a Community of Practice focused on Community Engaged Research.

  • Podcast Series: All Being Equal

    All Being Equal is an eight-episode podcast series exploring social equity issues with University of Melbourne researchers, visiting academics and community partners.

Current Research Projects

  • Preventing violence against young women exposed to the criminal justice system

    Developing recommendations for violence prevention programs for justice-involved young women

  • Why do they do that? An investigation into the perpetrator perspective of technology facilitated abuse

    Understanding the motivations and tactics of perpetrators engaging in technology facilitated abuse

  • Understanding and improving mental health care for culturally diverse LGBTQIA+ young people

    Creating evidence with, and for, young people who have intersectional experiences of sexuality, gender, and cultural diversity

  • Understanding digital inequality in Victoria

    Combining a state-wide inequality analysis with an in-depth examination of lived experiences of digital inequality to assist community advocates and policymakers in their work towards greater digital equality

  • Invisible mothers: young Pasifika women, health inequalities and negotiating wellbeing

    Exploring the priorities and practices that constitute motherhood for young Pasifika mothers in Melbourne

  • Getting back on Country: traditional owner-led repatriation, digitisation and exhibition design of Olkola cultural archives

    Combining participatory design, mixed reality technologies, archaeological science and digital cultural heritage to deliver innovative solutions for the repatriation of Olkola heritage

  • Understanding the role of mental health in online gambling choices

    Identifying targets for law reform to reduce harm from gambling through an economic experiment that explores how mental health relates to problem gambling

  • 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 living archive of Aboriginal art

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

  • Developing a model for peer support in emergency departments

    Improving supports for people experiencing mental distress in emergency departments

  • Talking hunger: understanding food insecurity on campus

    Understanding and addressing food insecurity at the University of Melbourne

  • The Burndawan Project: Co-designing technology to support Indigenous people experiencing family violence

    A project with the Wadawurrung community

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

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

  • Experiences and wellbeing of African students at the University of Melbourne

    Understanding and improving the student experience.

  • Reintegration and resettlement: 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

  • Model laws to regulate the use of restraint on persons with disabilities

    Addressing the current lack of a common legal framework for regulating the use of restraint on persons with disabilities in mental health, disability and aged care sectors.

  • 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?

  • The WEAVERs Project

    The WEAVERs are a panel of survivors of violence against women.

  • Violence prevention and respectful relationships

    Violence prevention approaches within social policy across the life course, starting in early childhood.

  • Listening for (a) change

    Identifying strategies for preventing family violence through dialogical research with women with refugee backgrounds.

  • Supporting refugee-background students

    Supporting outreach, recruitment and retention of students from refugee backgrounds at the University of Melbourne.

  • Improving management practices to integrate refugees and people seeking asylum

    Developing effective management practices to integrate refugees and people seeking asylum into Australian workplaces.

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

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

Completed Projects

  • Co-designing business education programs with the African-Australian community

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

  • Choice, control and the NDIS

    To what extent is the National Disability Insurance Scheme achieving its aims and objectives from the perspective of people with disability?

  • Unfitness to plead project

    Practical options to address the problem of people with cognitive impairments being found “unfit to plead” and subjected to indefinite detention in Australia.

  • Count me in

    Promoting wellbeing and inclusion through sports participation for migrant and refugee-background young people.

  • Ethical fashion and preventing violence in Bangladesh

    This project examines the role of ethical fashion enterprises in Bangladesh in the primary prevention of violence against women.

  • Understanding elder abuse

    Definitions, evidence and interventions.

  • Supported decision-making for people with severe mental health problems

    Options for supported decision-making to enhance the recovery of people with severe mental health problems.

  • Who cares?

    Examining the invisibility of migrant women in care and domestic work in Australia.

  • 19 stories of social inclusion

    Lessons from the lives of everyday Australians on belonging, disability and community contribution.

  • Routes to the past

    Exploring the identity and well-being of care leavers through genealogical lifestory work.

  • Public attitudes towards asylum seekers and refugees

    What is the basis for the attitudes Australian voters hold towards asylum seekers and what role does the media play?

  • Refugee-background children in Australia

    Understanding of the complex processes required for social inclusion for refugee-background children in Australia.

  • Enabling socially-inclusive and ethical visual methodologies

  • The f word: crossdisciplinary feminist art in Australia

  • Imagining Muslim women: examining the effects of images in women’s human rights campaigns

  • Reconceptualising and supporting disaster recovery as growth: informed by people affected by the Black Saturday bushfires

  • Impact and sustainability of creative social enterprises

  • Disability and poverty in Cambodia

  • Empathy and portrayals of mental illness in Australian visual culture

  • Topographical community accessibility modelling for people with mobility impairments

  • Intimate partner violence and women's economic security across the lifecourse

  • Future Melbourne Network

  • Overcoming barriers to affordable housing

  • Place, health and liveability

  • Transforming housing: affordable housing for all

  • Getting in touch: language and digital inclusion in Australian Indigenous communities

  • Reviewing opportunities to engage with Indigenous Australian students

  • Strengthening the Victorian Aboriginal community's response to methamphetamine use

  • National seclusion and restraint project

  • How are low protection workers regulated?

  • Poverty, family chronic-stress and children's development

  • Using theatre to raise awareness of HIV and PrEP

  • Citizens at work: an investigation of the work of giving and getting welfare

  • Building the evidence: responding to the needs of recently arrived refugee and asylum seeker populations

  • Enabling pluralism: eliminating educational inequity in languages provision in Victorian schools

  • Revisiting disadvantage: supporting new strength-based approaches to belonging and social inclusion for young people in education

  • Creating a digital platform for capturing children’s and adolescent’s views of contemporary Australian childhood from the ground up

  • The bounce project: peer support training for young people leaving Out of Home Care, to improve social inclusion, mental health and wellbeing

  • The citizens' agenda: exploring ways of improving political news coverage and increasing political engagement

  • Assessing and building social investment opportunities that preserve Indigenous cultures

  • Understanding female genital cutting in inner Melbourne

  • Sharing place, learning together

  • Understanding place-based racism and fostering local interculturalism

  • Contested waterfronts: informality, floods and capital in Indonesian cities

    .

  • A novel cure

  • Title transfers and housing quality

Research Reports


To request any of these reports in an accessible format please email us.

Leading the Change
Peer Support in Emergency
Reintegration and Resettlement
New Student Precinct Report
Improving Access and Support
Thanks A Bundle
Alternatives to Coercion
Employment Policy Briefing Paper
Supported Decision Making
Unfitness to Plead
Understanding Elder Abuse
Choice Control and the NDIS
Consumer Transactions Pilot
Sharing Place, Learning Together
Islamisation and Other Anxieties
Place Matters
The Shifting Terrain of Citizenship
Researching for Social Change
Art Based Social Enterprises

Annual Reports

Stories and Profiles from the Melbourne Social Equity Institute

  • How Could Mental Health Peer Support Workers Improve Emergency Departments?

    New research suggests that people in mental distress seeking help at an Emergency Department would benefit from peer-support workers who understand their experience

  • 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.

  • A Community Acting Against Family Violence

    One Aboriginal community has co-designed an online family violence resource for their own people, prioritising the voices of Australia’s First Nations populations in positive change

  • COVID-19 Blog Series

    Researchers whose work we support consider their work in the light of responses to COVID-19.

  • 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.

  • Increasing Participant Voice in Creative Arts Therapy

    The advent of the National Disability Insurance Scheme has increased the expectations of people with disability to have choice and control over the services they access and use. People with intellectual disability, however, are often excluded from and disenfranchised in planning and funding processes.

  • 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.

  • Just Justice Through Supporting Fitness to Plead

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

  • No Safe Place to Stay

    As house prices increase in cities like Melbourne, it’s women most at risk of family violence who face potential homelessness.

  • 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.

  • Choice, Control and the NDIS

    Dave Peters was part of the research team for Choice, Control and the NDIS, a community-engaged research project funded by the Melbourne Social Equity Institute.

  • 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.

  • How Can Retailers Improve Access and Outcomes for Consumers with Cognitive Disabilities?

    Improving access and support for everyone requires change across the community.

  • 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.

  • What Is Social Equity?

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

  • 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

  • Men Speak out on Migration and Gender Roles

    Dalal Smiley and Mohajer Hameed share their research experiences with engaging men to speak out on migration, gender roles, post-settlement adjustments and family violence.

  • Can the NDIS Deliver?

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

  • 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.

  • 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.

At the Melbourne Social Equity Institute, we acknowledge an imperfect world. We realise that societies are sometimes beset by divisions of culture, economic status or creed. Chances of birth such as class, ethnicity, ability, caste or gender often lead to marginalisation and disempowerment.

We strive to identify the origins of disadvantage and develop effective solutions through high-end research and active community engagement. Our vision is to influence government policy, public opinion and social practices through the highest quality scholarship in order to create fairer societies.

Staff

  • 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.

Contact

Email
social-equity@unimelb.edu.au
Twitter
@MSEI_Unimelb
Address
Melbourne Social Equity Institute
201 Grattan Street
Carlton VIC 3053

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