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.
Melbourne Social Equity Institute
Supporting interdisciplinary research for fairer societies
The Melbourne Social Equity Institute brings together researchers to address disadvantage across social life, including health, education, housing, culture, work and transport.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Insititute 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.
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.
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
Research Programs
The Melbourne Social Equity Institute supports interdisciplinary research on social equity issues across the full spectrum of social life including health, law, education, housing, culture, work and transport. Research is currently focused on the following key themes:
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Community Engaged Research
Community decision-making about the purpose, design, conduct and use of research.
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Refugees and Forced Migration
Resettlement of refugees and people seeking asylum is essential to ensuring a humane and equitable future.
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Strengthening Institutions
Ensuring institutions are effective, accountable, and responsive to the diverse populations they serve.
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Universal Access and Design
Access for all, regardless of age, ability or status.
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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.
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.
Current Research Projects
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Community Fellows Program
Supporting research collaborations between community organisations and university-based researchers.
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Support for consumer transactions
Working with consumers and industry to develop practices and processes to improve access for consumers with disabilities.
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The SEREDA Project
Sexual and gender-based violence against refugees: experiences from displacement to arrival
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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?
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Developing a model for peer support in emergency departments
Improving supports for people experiencing mental distress in emergency departments
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The living archive of Aboriginal art
Developing a digital living archive where Indigenous artists can connect their work in ways reflecting Indigenous worldviews.
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Is zero-tolerance to violence a zero-sum game?
Perceptions of 'dangerousness' and issues of equity in mental health settings.
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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
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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?
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Co-producing safe, inclusive work places for mental health consumer workers
How should we change the mental health system to safely include consumer workers?
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Co-designing technology to support Indigenous people experiencing family violence
How can we use technology to support help-seeking among Wadawurrung people experiencing violence?
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Narrating neighbourhood
How do communities of difference narrate their neighbourhood? Can storytelling be a tool for building social capital and cohesion?
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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.
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Who cares?
Examining the invisibility of migrant women in care and domestic work in Australia.
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The WEAVERs Project
The WEAVERs are a panel of survivors of violence against women.
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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.
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Listening for (a) change
Identifying strategies for preventing family violence through dialogical research with women with refugee backgrounds.
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Violence prevention and respectful relationships
Violence prevention approaches within social policy across the life course, starting in early childhood.
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Supporting refugee-background students
Supporting outreach, recruitment and retention of students from refugee backgrounds at the University of Melbourne.
Completed Projects
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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?
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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.
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Count me in
Promoting wellbeing and inclusion through sports participation for migrant and refugee-background young people.
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Understanding elder abuse
Definitions, evidence and interventions.
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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.
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19 stories of social inclusion
Lessons from the lives of everyday Australians on belonging, disability and community contribution.
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Routes to the past
Exploring the identity and well-being of care leavers through genealogical lifestory work.
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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?
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Refugee-background children in Australia
Understanding of the complex processes required for social inclusion for refugee-background children in Australia.
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Title transfers and housing quality
Examining the effect of title transfers on housing quality and tenant outcomes for Aboriginal Victorians.
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Contested waterfronts
Informality, floods and capital in Indonesian cities
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A novel cure
A pilot study examining the health and well-being outcomes of creative practices in ageing.
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Enabling socially-inclusive and ethical visual methodologies
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The f word: crossdisciplinary feminist art in Australia
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Imagining Muslim women: examining the effects of images in women’s human rights campaigns
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Reconceptualising and supporting disaster recovery as growth: informed by people affected by the Black Saturday bushfires
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Impact and sustainability of creative social enterprises
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Disability and poverty in Cambodia
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Empathy and portrayals of mental illness in Australian visual culture
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Topographical community accessibility modelling for people with mobility impairments
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Intimate partner violence and women's economic security across the lifecourse
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Future Melbourne Network
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Overcoming barriers to affordable housing
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Place, health and liveability
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Transforming housing: affordable housing for all
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Getting in touch: language and digital inclusion in Australian Indigenous communities
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Reviewing opportunities to engage with Indigenous Australian students
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Strengthening the Victorian Aboriginal community's response to methamphetamine use
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National seclusion and restraint project
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How are low protection workers regulated?
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Poverty, family chronic-stress and children's development
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Using theatre to raise awareness of HIV and PrEP
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Citizens at work: an investigation of the work of giving and getting welfare
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Building the evidence: responding to the needs of recently arrived refugee and asylum seeker populations
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Enabling pluralism: eliminating educational inequity in languages provision in Victorian schools
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Revisiting disadvantage: supporting new strength-based approaches to belonging and social inclusion for young people in education
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Creating a digital platform for capturing children’s and adolescent’s views of contemporary Australian childhood from the ground up
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The bounce project: peer support training for young people leaving Out of Home Care, to improve social inclusion, mental health and wellbeing
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The citizens' agenda: exploring ways of improving political news coverage and increasing political engagement
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Assessing and building social investment opportunities that preserve Indigenous cultures
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Understanding female genital cutting in inner Melbourne
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Sharing place, learning together
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Understanding place-based racism and fostering local interculturalism
To request any of these reports in an accessible format please email us.
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
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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.
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Research staff
Research program leaders steer the research direction, commission projects and champion outputs.
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Governance
The Melbourne Social Equity Institute is guided by its reference group and advisory board.
Students
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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.
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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.
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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.
Contact
- social-equity@unimelb.edu.au
- @MSEI_Unimelb
- Address
- Melbourne Social Equity Institute
201 Grattan Street
Carlton VIC 3053