The Graduate Union May Newsletter

T he

G r a duate U nion N e wsle tter — May 2016 —

Welcome to the May 2016 Newsletter

3 4

Graduate House Winter Ball

GU Collegiate Monthly Luncheon with Paul Southwick Twilight Lecture with Alistair Urquhart College Tables with Professor Stefan Arndt

32

Academic and Professional Development Meetings Listings for March 2016

34 36

Puzzles

GU Flu Day The Graduate House Project

The Annual General Meeting and Dinner with Leigh Clifford AO

14

Stories at Graduate House

A Winter Palace Ball Back at Graduate House

Features Notes from a diplomat

Social Education Victoria Conference 2016

Discovering Melbourne

Feedback

Professor Profiles with Associate Professor Hans Meij

20

Reviews

24

Resident and Member News:

42

April Monthly Luncheon

Grounded

by Mac Nicoll How Sustainable is Graduate House?

Member profile: Dr David Wilson Resident Research: Yuliia Velichenko Opinion: Sustainable Development

30

University Sector News Innovation: our new fiver Extracurricular: Nostalgia

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Graduate Hous e Winte r Ball

July 22nd2016 There will be a set sit down menu dinner. The menu itself will be announced closer to the date.

6:30pm until late Resident Members $45 Graduate (non-resident) Students $55 Non-Resident Members $65 General Public $120 Concession $110 For booking information, contact Graduate House by phone on (03) 9347 3428, by email at admingh@graduatehouse.com.au, or visit us in person at 220 Leicester Street, Calrton 3053.

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GU Collegiate We invite you, Members and non-members, to attend the coming events.

MAY I TA L I A N CO N V E R S AT I O N D I N N E R

6:00pm

Tu e s d a y, 3 r d , 1 7 t h Come along to dine while learning to speak Italian with an experienced teacher.

Me mb e r s $ 1 5 , n o n - m e mb e r s $ 2 0 .

M O N T H LY LU N C H E O N

12:00 midday for 12:30pm

We d n e s d a y, 4 t h Our May speaker is Paul Southwick who will talk about New Challenges Old Wisdom in Organisational Evolution.

R e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 1 0 , n o n - r e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 3 0 , g e n e r a l p u b l i c $ 4 0 (concession $35).

BRIDGE NIGHTS

7:20pm for 7.30pm

We d n e s d a y, 4 t h , 1 1 t h , 1 8 t h , 2 5 t h Join a game or learn to play the card game Bridge. Enjoy a shared platter for supper, as well as tea and coffee.

Me mb e r s $ 2 , n o n - m e mb e r s $ 5 .

S P E C I A L M O R N I N G B R E A K FA S T

7:30am to 8.30am

Tu e s d a y, 1 0 t h Non-resident members are welcome to join Resident Members for a hearty breakfast .

Fr e e f o r R e s i d e nt m e mb e r s , n o n - r e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 1 5 .

T W I L I G H T S E M I N A R A N D TA S T I N G S

Ta s t i n g s 5 : 3 0 p m Seminar 6:30pm

T h u r s d a y, 1 2 t h Sample great tastings of food and wine, along with GU canapĂŠs, and stay for the lecture from Alistair Urquhart of Affairs of State.

R e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 1 0 , n o n - r e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 3 0 , g e n e r a l p u b l i c $ 4 0 (concession $35).

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Book Now via our website, by phone 03 9347 3428, by email to admingh@graduatehouse.com.au or at the venue, 220 Leicester Street, Carlton.

F R I D AY D R I N K S a n d D I N N E R a n d RESIDENTS MaG

6:00pm onwards

Fr i d a y, 1 3 t h Join us in welcoming new and returning Resident Members to Graduate House over drinks and dinner as we share our collegial approach.

Fr e e f o r R e s i d e nt m e mb e r s . No n - r e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 1 7 .

WOMEN’S FORUM

10:00am for 10:30am

We d n e s d a y, 1 8 t h The topic for May is “Suicide is Catching.” Join the ladies for the discussion and stay for lunch if desired.

CO L L E G E TA B L E D I S C U S S I O N E c o s y s t e m a n d Fo r e s t s c i e n c e s

12:00midday for 12:30pm

Fr i d a y, 2 0 t h Professor Stefan Arndt from the School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne will lead the discussion.

Lu n c h i s at d i n i n g r o o m p r i c e s .

G U A N N UA L G E N E R A L M E E T I N G ( A G M ) AND DINNER The 104 th Annual General Meeting (Members only) is followed by the AGM dinner with guest speaker Leigh Clifford AO, Chairman of Qantas.

R e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 1 0 , n o n - r e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 3 0 , g e n e r a l p u b l i c $ 4 0 (concession $35).

JUNE highlight M O N T H LY LU N C H E O N

12:00 midday for 12:30pm

We d n e s d a y, 4 t h Guest speaker Dr Judith Paphazy is one of Melbourne’s best known Consultant Psychologists and a member of the International Council of Psychologists.

R e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 1 0 , n o n - r e s i d e nt Me mb e r s $ 3 0 , g e n e r a l p u b l i c $ 4 0 , (concession $35).

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The Monthly Luncheon with

Paul Southwick New Challenges - Old Wisdom in Organisational Evolution

Wednesday May 4th Resident Members Non-Resident Members General Public Concession

12:00 noon for 12.30pm $10 $30 $40 $35

ABN 55610664963

220 Leicester Street, Carlton, 3053 (03) 9347 3428 admingh@graduatehouse.com.au www.graduatehouse.com.au

IAR No. A0023234B

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Paul Southwick New Challenges - Old Wisdom in Organisational Evolution Paul Southwick is a Melbourne based corporate writer, author, consultant and widely published journalist (business, culture and aviation), in CEO Magazine, Acuity Magazine – business magazine of the year 2016 – Spark Magazine, The New Zealand Herald, Flight Safety Magazine, The Item of Milburn NJ and Australian Flying.

Before becoming a journalist, Paul had an executive career in finance, commercial, marketing and general management roles with some of the world’s best companies and with government in New Zealand, Australia, Asia, Europe and the US. Paul is the editor of a monthly business magazine and former listed company Chief Financial Officer / Company Secretary. He is an active member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Institute of Chartered Accountants, Institute of Governance, and the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance.

Being from humble beginnings, as chair of a registered charity, board member of a church, mentor to many young professionals, father to a four-year-old, and freelance journalist, Paul’s feet are very much on the ground.

ABN 55610664963

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Successful Graduate Pathways

Lecture Series and GU Tastings are proudly brought to you by the Rotary Club of Carlton and The Graduate Union of The University of Melbourne Inc

from 5:30pm

GRADUATE UNION TASTINGS The

T WILIGHT Lectures PRESENTS

ALISTAIR URQUHART The Very Basis of Serendipity

T H U RSDAY, MAY 1 2 th from 6:30pm

Resident Members Non-Resident Members Adults Concession

FREE $20 $25 $22.50

ABN: 55610 664 963

Book by Wednesday, 11th May via our website, telephone (03 9347 3428), email admingh@graduatehouse.com.au or in person at the venue, 220 Leicester Street, Carlton IAR No. A0023234B

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INTRODUCING OUR SPEAKER: ALISTAIR URQUHART Alistair Urquhart tutors in Sustainable Infrastructure at the Engineering School of The University of Melbourne. With an early life in farming, and Geelong, he graduated from the Australian National University in Canberra, in Law, History and Politics. He may hold the record for miles rowed on Lake Burley Griffin.

He remains a (non-practising) member of the Law Institute of Victoria. Previously, he graduated from high school in Bethesda, Maryland, and had many opportunities to become aware of the workings of Washington D.C. Alistair’s early career was in the international coal and grain industries, and later in the small or medium enterprise (SME) finance sector.

His public affairs firm, Affairs of State, provides a matrix of professional tools to multinational businesses, professional and industry associations, government agencies, non government organisations and community causes in Australia and abroad. He publishes policy digests, Letter From Melbourne, monthly for 22 years, and Letter From Canberra. He chairs a disability employment service, including its British operations.

OUR TASTINGS ARE PROUDLY BROUGHT TO YOU BY Scrumptious, classic pastries from North Fitzroy.

The finest olive oils in Australia, sourced locally from The Grampians.

and other wineries to be confirmed soon ...

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The Graduate Union Presents

College Tables Ecosystem and Forest Sciences College Tables are informal collegial lunch-time discussions on a grand challenge issue in a graduate school field.

Friday, May 20th, 2016 Professor Stefan Arndt, Director of Burnley Campus and Deputy Head of The School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne.

Join us for lunch and discussion on “Mitigating climate change – are our natural ecosystems the answer?”

12 noon for 12:30pm

at Graduate House

Usual Dining Room prices apply

Friday, May 20th

Book online at www.graduatehouse.com.au, by phone 9347 3428, through email to admingh@graduatehouse.com.au or at the venue, 220 Leicester Street, Carlton.

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Professor Stefan Arndt

Professor Stefan Arndt completed his PhD in Plant Ecophysiology at the University of Vienna in 2000 and has been working at the School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences of The University of Melbourne since 2002.

The major focus of his research is on the interface between plants and their environment. He is particularly interested in understanding the physiological responses of plants to their abiotic and biotic environment and the role of plants in the functioning of ecosystems.

He had extensive research experience in plant ecophysiology and biogeochemistry, with research relating to processes operating at leaf, whole plant and ecosystem scales. His work has recently focused on the process-based investigation of carbon balance, nutrient cycling and fluxes of greenhouse gases in forest ecosystems and the adaptation of trees to environmental stresses. His contribution to this field has been to use physiological and ecological measures to increase our understanding of ecosystem function, with improved process understanding and model development as a goal.

ABN: 55610 664 963

IAR No. A0023234B

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The Graduate Union Presents:

The Annual General Meeting Dinner Thursday, 26th May, 2016, 7:30pm

With Guest Speaker

Leigh Clifford AO

My Graduate Pathway – from graduation to Chairman of Qantas Book by

Wednesday, 25th May 2016 Telephone Website Email Venue

(03) 9347 3428 www.graduatehouse.com.au admingh@graduatehouse.com.au 220 Leicester St, Carlton, 3053

Prices Resident Members non-resident Members non-members concession

$10 $30 $40 $35

Menu Salmon with Mango Salsa Lemon Tart

ABN 5561066496

IAR No. A0023234B

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Leigh Clifford AO My Graduate Pathway – from graduation to Chairman of Qantas Richard Leigh Clifford AO has been the Chairman of Qantas Airways Limited since 2007, steering The Qantas Group through the financial crisis and a comprehensive restructure. He is also Chairman of Bechtel Australia, and of the International Council on Mining and Metals.

Mr Clifford serves as a Director of the National Gallery of Victoria Foundation and of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. He resides in Melbourne.

Following secondary schooling in Brisbane, Mr Clifford graduated from The University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) degree and a Master of Engineering Science degree. His career with the Rio Tinto Group, starting as a mining engineer and retiring as chief executive (from 2000 to 2007), spanned 37 years in Australia and overseas.

ABN 5561066496

IAR No. A0023234B

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FEATURES

Notes from a diplomat A day in the life

In conversation with Haris Dafaranos, ex Greek Ambassador to Australia

Photo: Thibaut Démare, Érechthéion - Athens - Greece / FlickrCC

“A diplomat is by definition a generalist. He or she has to know a lot about many dimensions of life,” says His Excellency Mr Haris Dafaranos, Ambassador of Greece to Australia. “I would say that Law, Economics, History, Diplomatic History, International Relations, Literature and Philosophy are subjects one should master, together with foreign languages. A good critical mind is also necessary, with the ability of synthesis and analysis as well,” he adds. Good judgement, he explains, is also part of this equation, but it comes with time and experience. Add to this being a good listener and multiply it by being an everyday avid reader and you have some of the essential qualities of a qualified diplomat.

Born in Athens, Greece, Ambassador Dafaranos had a certain penchant for languages, studying French, English and Italian in high school. He continued his interest in languages, studying English Literature and Law at university, where he realised that he wanted to follow a professional

career which would give him experiences from a global perspective. So in 1980 he joined the Hellenic Diplomatic Service which has seen him serve in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Israel, India, West Africa, South Africa and Australia. “It was from a young age that I felt that I did not want to spend my life living in Attica only. I wanted to see the world.”

A diplomat is a professional who aims not towards partisanship, but a somehow objective distance from his object. Diplomats have a major mission: to work for peace and to cultivate mutual respect and build trust among states and their respective societies, as well as paying attention to the observance of human rights and civil liberties.

Peace and human dignity are therefore the two most important values for diplomats. “This is a heritage which we must relay to the younger generations.

Peace must be accompanied with justice, and humanism presupposes tolerance. In today’s world we must have these four primary values,” Mr

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Dafaranos said. “Without them, global society will not be able to progress further. Knowledge and spirituality are important for the cultivated man and woman of this century.” This is his missive to the younger generations. In other words, perhaps with great power comes great responsibility, but at any stage in life, the responsibility of adopting a humanist approach to problems of our societies in our daily lives is paramount in ensuring peaceful coexistence and progress. His own conclusion from experience is not to be in a hurry in passing judgement on an event, or on an expression of the society covered and analysed by an accredited diplomat.

The typical day of an Ambassador is, not surprisingly, a full schedule, explains Mr Dafaranos. From morning till the late hours of the day, there is continuous activity at various levels in the office as well as in parliament, when in session interacting with Ministers as well as with media, academia and other missions. As Ambassador of Greece, Mr. Dafaranos has faced during his tenure the problem of the Greek debt crisis as part of the Eurozone Crisis.

part of a Hellenic tradition since the ancient times in the form of Xenia - hospitality – towards the needy, irrespective of their origin, race or religion.”

From an Australian perspective, there are things that we as a nation, with good governance and as an advanced society, can do. Ambassador Dafaranos points out two, of which both pertain to nurturing philhellene sentiments: firstly by increasing the number of work and holiday visas to Greek youth applicants, and secondly by increasing the number of special skills visas towards Greek nationals.

Lord George Gordon Byron was a fervent supporter of Greece during the Ottoman occupation and the War of Independence in 1821, a man who was deeply ensconced with the culture of Greece, with philhellenism.

The mountains look on Marathon— And Marathon looks on the sea; And musing there an hour alone, I dream’d that Greece might still be free;

(15)

“The first lesson drawn from the Greek Economic Crisis, is the need for good governance; not to overspend, and not to overborrow,” he says. “There comes a critical moment when economic growth cannot be on borrowed money. There is a second lesson as well: too much austerity can destroy the economy with dire repercussions for the society at large.”

Greece is one of the 28 members of the European Union and represents a small percentage (2%) of the EU annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (around $USD 237.6 billion) but the debt problem faced by the country had an impact in late 2009 on the future of the course of the Eurozone, because of the risk of contagion at that time. The Greek side aims at a reasonable debt relief or an extension of maturities, explains Mr Dafaranos, so as to alleviate the sizeable financial burden resulting from loans it was obliged to obtain through European solidarity and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to avoid default. It is sadly estimated that to every Greek citizen corresponds a debt share of 38 thousand Euros. This is a country that has lost 25 per cent of her GDP, consequently seeing 1,500,000 jobs lost, half of pensions cut and half of superannuation benefits curtailed as well – just in the last six years of strict fiscal consolidation and structural reforms.

Covering the eastern flank of Europe in the Aegean Sea, Greece plays a significant role as a bridging country between Europe, the Middle East and North Africa; a gateway which received recently a great influx of refugees escaping from the Syrian Crisis. This has been a recurring trend for Greece and Europe this year, certainly putting a strain on national and European resources, but what it demonstrates, explains Mr Dafaranos, “is the strong sense of humanism of the Greek people – a

Ambassador Haris Dafaranos

So wrote Lord Byron in The Isles of Greece, a testament to his wish to see an independent Greece, to see a return to humanism, and this is the spirit which Ambassador Dafaranos wishes to be remembered by as he leaves his post this year. “My legacy is humility with humanism; respect for the have nots and particularly for the needy, and foremost respect for human dignity,” says Ambassador Dafaranos. “We diplomats are facilitators. Consequently we must connect ourselves with the society we represent and the society we are accredited to. Our efforts are focused on enhancing communication and cooperation as well as promoting synergies and understanding between states as well as between societies; and culture plays a pivotal role. The Hellenic Spirit since Antiquity is an expression of humanism, tolerance and democratic values.”

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FEATURES

Discovering Melbourne We are very proud to have such a disparate and varied membership. Graduate Union Members are all over Australia and the world. This month we present to you the latest Melbourne gems that should be explored, whether you are temporarily passing though the world’s most livable city, or you reside here.

Pope Joan

75-79 Nicholson Street, Brunswick East

Cooking with the best seasonal and local produce, the team at Pope Joan have partnered with producers and farmers who look towards organic and biodynamic practices. Check their onsite veggie patches to get an idea of your coming meal!

Friends of The Earth

312 Smith Street, Collingwood

This Smith Street gem is as focused on sustainability as any co-op. Running on volunteers, and entirely not-for-profit, the space is divided into a vegan/organic cafe at the front, which serves seasonal local produce and, at the back, an organic shop.

Remember to bring your own jars and bags for items, though you may choose to purchase these from the co-op.

Book Market

Federation Square Atrium

Come and find classic Penguins, sentimental paperbacks, and one-of-a-kind tales at the Federation Square Book Market. Most books are second-hand, so a fraction of the usual retail price. Try your hand at haggling and score some Hemingway for next to nothing! Every Saturday from 11.00AM to 5.00PM.

Abbotsford Convent

1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford

An ex-monastic site that is now owned by the Abbotsford Convent Foundation, Abbotsford Convent is a multi-arts facility. With free events, like exhibitions and classes, as well as an on-site bakery, and the beloved Lentil As Anything, the convent is a great place to visit any day.

If you have any recommendations for places or events of interest for our Members and Residents, email publications@graduatehouse.com.au www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B

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PROFESSOR PROFILES

Professor Profiles Associate Professor Hans Meij on healthcare, ageing and Africa.

Photos: Associate Professor Hans Meij

When Associate Professor Hans Meij would go to Africa, he would shave his head. Years later when he visited Africa again for a short visit, he left his hair untouched. A local woman who had seen him before expressed her curiosity.

“Dr Hans,” she asked, “do you have grey hair?”

He replied yes.

“You are so stupid! Why do you shave off your hair?”

Dr Meij explained that cropping the hair on his head ensured that the scorching African sun wouldn’t affect him as adversely as it could. “Now you lose respect since grey hair signifies ageing, and to be aged is respect,” she said. Like any researcher, he stopped to ponder the concept and realised that the moral of the story was two-fold: age is esteem and deserves respect, but in some cultures age is a sign of

the outdated. “That’s when I learned to look at ageing in a completely different way – ageing is merit, as something earned, and something to be proud of,” he said.

Dr Hans Meij is the Director of the Melbourne Academic Centre for Health in Parkville, Melbourne. He works as a broker for corporations between the university and the teaching hospitals around the universities for improved healthcare, research and for translation of basic research into clinical care.

He hails from Amsterdam, Holland, went to school in a very rich suburb (“I shouldn’t have been there, but I was there”) and then attended the Royal School of Nursing. He had set his sights on medicine, but the Dutch course selection process at the time saw students being selected by draw (high school students submit their grades, and their names are then drawn), and Professor Meij wasn’t selected. He ventured to then

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complete his nursing qualifications, went to University and finished his masters in medical anthropology (a combination of medicine and anthropology). Completing his MBA in Hospital Management, and after a long hospital management service, he saw it was time to commence research, and left Holland for Ghana and Burkina Faso.

For four years he looked at DNA selection in younger and older people, discovering that in Africa there is a clear relationship between the number of offspring and longevity. The more offspring conceived, the chances of a longer life are significantly diminished, explained Meij. This is comparable to mice and elephants. Where elephants usually have around two offspring (which takes about 22

months to deliver) in their lifetime, they are extremely strong, and will almost never die from infectious diseases. Mice, on the other hand produce many offspring, around 1720, and from those, a maximum of one will survive. They never make it to the end of their potential lifespan, which in a laboratory could be five or six years. In the wild, explained Meij, they never found a mouse over two years old.

So even though they have much more capacity to live, they will never make it in the wild, whereas elephants make it easily up to the end of their potential lifespan. Both have their make up and reproduction strategies in line with the environment they live in.

Another important factor for survival is the environment that we are born in and live in.

Take for example some immigrant groups in the UK, some of which contain a high number of individuals with cardiac problems including high blood pressure, obesity and other cardiovascular problems. Their immune system and genetic makeup were meant to be functional in their homeland where they would still be in equilibrium with their environment. In the remote villages in Burkina Faso and Ghana, Africa, Dr Meij and his team didn’t find one person with cardiac problems nor did he encounter obese inhabitants. They were still in equilibrium with their environment. You can predict that if you relocate this African tribe to Australia or Holland, health problems which were previously non-existent could become a harsh reality. The base factor for mitigating these effects is for the genome to adapt, usually by selection, to the new environment but that takes thousands of years.

This is why advances in gathering our own biomedical data are imperative to monitoring our own health, and working with our doctors.

Devices that collect personal biomedical data, such as FitBits and iPhones, are ubiquitous and allow patients to very easily collect their own healthcare data. This gives them the power to work with their doctors. “The connectivity that we have is so big, that everyone can literally be their own doctor, and this will only increase in the coming years. We should understand that we should provide the cover around it, instead of controlling it, because we can’t.” He elaborates: As a patient leaves the doctor’s office, he is free to do whatever he wants. But with the data that is available at the tap of a screen or from the internet, he can control his health much more then ever before, although he needs the knowledge to act properly, and that is what healthcare workers should provide. “We need awareness. That’s what will really change.

Electronic medical records can change all that.”

It was spending time in Africa, conversing

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with the locals, and exercising his knowledge as a medical anthropologist and researcher that Associate Professor Meij was able to construct a meaningful ethnography that really informed his perspective on healthcare. “Going to Africa, I was just interested in the older people living there and how they survived without any healthcare or vaccination – they were really out there on their own. That made me aware of the pride of ageing,” he said. “People always think that ageing is a problem, but ageing is the result of a strong genetic make-up or, in most cases in our era, the result of proper healthcare. Why is there healthcare? Because we want people to become older. That’s healthcare!

So the aim of healthcare, the only goal we have, is ageing,” he asserted.

that Meij passes on to medical students because without getting to know patients and understanding their point of view, healthcare professionals rob themselves of a fundamental skill integral to being a successful healthcare practitioner. He wants you to forget all the things you know about structural healthcare, and start being a little more idealistic. “Think about what my mother or my neighbour needs as soon as they become a patient. Just start by thinking what you need and if you don’t know, ask someone. We don’t listen enough to patients.

We speak to them, we tell them what to do, but

He is a self-proclaimed advocate for ageing, disheartened at the way that it is problematised in our society. If we want to continue with an investment in medical care, he explained, we need to look towards the ageing population and change the way that we handle it: how do we maintain healthy living, and how do we change healthcare to provide? Why are we doing the things that we are doing and how do we know if it’s right? “We put people in bed for 21 hours a day, yet we know that’s not good for patients, but we still do it,” says Meij.

During his years of nursing he became sensitive to the humanistic approaches to healthcare that are sometimes subverted by bureaucratic pressures.

The best outcomes in healthcare, he explained, are when really taking into account the needs of the person – not just the medical needs per se, but equally important is seeing the patient as a person. “If you treat someone without taking into account their needs, it’s not good for them. When you put the needs of the patient in the centre of your work, you have the best output, the best patient care, and you have the most joy in work.”

we don’t listen to what should be done,” he said.

Most of what he has learned comes from spending time with his patients and working with them. “My whole idea about humanity, or about individuality, healthcare and people, comes from listening to the stories of people.

It’s wonderful. If you take the time everyday to try and listen, even for five minutes, to someone that you don’t know and just let them tell you what they think is important, you get Communication is key. This is the advice another feeling of the world.” www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B

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REVIEWS

April Monthly Luncheon Wednesday, 6th April 2016

Joanna Fletcher, CEO Women's Legal Service Victoria Family violence: new approach or same same but different?

“No one loved Luke more than Greg [his father]. No one loved Luke more than me. We both loved him. I want to tell everybody that family violence happens to everybody no matter how nice your house is, no matter how intelligent you are.”

Rosie Batty, 2014

For the first time in her time working in this area, explained Joanna Fletcher, CEO of the Women’s Legal Service of Victoria, both major parties are talking about domestic violence, and making really concrete commitments to address it. The heartbreaking case

of Luke Batty, the 12 year old boy who was brutally murdered by his father reignited a conversation within the public arena. “Initially, I was pretty skeptical about Labour’s commitment to establish a Royal Commission into family violence. It was our view that you don’t need to spend $36 million dollars (she later says with the $36 million that we thought it was going to cost to run the Commission, she could run the Women’s Legal Service for 15 years) to find out about the problems or even to identify the solutions – they were well known and were talked about across the community sector, across governments, police and in courts for many, many years,” she explained.

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It was already known that one in four women would experience family violence in their lifetime, that over one woman a week is killed in a family violence context, that family violence is the leading cause of homelessness for women, and that it is present in nearly all child protection cases. Moreover it was already well known, said Fletcher, that family violence and sexual assault together cost the Australian government over 21.7 billion dollars a year and that it was the leading cause of preventable death and disability in women under 45.

fine that we currently have bipartisanship, but we can already start to see some of the politics start to play out because Daniel Andrews has at least floated the possibility of needing to introduce some kind of levy to fund these substantial reforms,” said Fletcher. The opposition, has, of course done its job via Matthew Guy who was in disagreement with Andrews’ statement. “Even though we’ve got bipartisan support for the recommendations, already we’ve got politicking about how they will be achieved,” said Fletcher.

“That’s our skepticism. We felt that we knew what the issues were, and even to a significant extent, what needed to be done,” said Fletcher. “It was just an absence of political will.”

In the Victorian context, the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 gives a wide definition of violence. It includes sexual and physical abuse, and also economic, emotional and psychological abuse. The vast majority of family violence, explains Fletcher, is men using violence against women and children: around 70-80 percent of the family violence issue. The drivers around that sort of violence are issues like gender inequality, and strong beliefs in rigid gender roles, explained Fletcher. “This is an endeavour of decades of generations not years, so that family violence agency is going to be crucial to holding either party accountable when they’re in government,” said Fletcher.

Yet a Royal Commission into Family Violence was established in 2015. The Governor, His Excellency the Hon. Alex Chernov AC QC, appointed former Justice Marcia Neave AO as Commissioner and Patricia Faulkner AO and Tony Nicholson as Deputy Commissioners. 30th March, 2016, the Commission tabled its report with over 2,000 pages, seven volumes, and at nearly five kilos. The Commission made 227 recommendations and contrary to initial predictions, came in under budget at $13 million – perhaps a symbolic gesture hinting at government to spend what is left on immediate service provision, said Fletcher. And so arose the question that Fletcher was posing for her talk: are we really seeing a new approach to family violence, or is it same same but different?

Fletcher sees there to be only a few really new boundary-pushing ideas for Victoria. “What has been really notable about the report is that the Commission made a point of saying that Victoria has a strong foundation on which to build its future response to family violence. This it what it has attempted to do – to build a future based on what’s been happening quietly over the last 10 years. And we now have an important blueprint to build a response over the next 10 years as well as the political will to use that blueprint,” she said.

“I think that much more than the current political will, it’s really important that the Commission has recommended establishing an independent statutory family violence agency. These things are terribly important to making things a reality,” she said. That agency will be tasked with holding government to account, including ensuring that those recommendations are implemented, and to consider the time expected to complete them. The most important thing about the family violence agency is its capacity for these reforms to survive changes of government, emphasised Fletcher. “It’s

The Commission has recommended an extensive information-sharing regime supported by legislation, making sure that privacy considerations don’t go too far to put others in danger by not sharing pertinent information, she explained. It also includes important recommendations about housing, including changes to what happens to women who have to leave when in a crisis situation.

This system, explained Fletcher, was established in the 70s and dictates that women are forced to leave their home with their children and relocate to a communal space. Often the children are prohibited from going to school, should the perpetrator find them. Another issue, points out Fletcher, is a lack of “safe at home” approaches that would allow women and children to stay at home, while the perpetrator is removed. “Currently we have the ridiculous situation where a woman would be in high-security refuge, the children are disconnected from school, they’re often in different parts of the state, and the perpetrator is in the four bedroom home in Camberwell having a great time.”

The report also discusses the importance of developing universal services to respond to family violence including hospitals and schools and providing appropriate training when necessary.

As explained by Fletcher, it also mentions primary prevention, which is the challenge of trying to stop violence before it occurs and changing community attitudes towards women and to violence. The

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report talks about enhancing responses to diverse communities, with particular focus on women with disabilities, and women of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, who are overrepresented in family violence statistics, Fletcher said. “Women with disabilities are around 40 percent more likely to be victims of violence than those without.

Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women are 6.5 times more likely to be victims, and 35 times more likely to be hospitalised.” The report also talks about collaboration and connections between services, including through 17 regional support and safety hubs.

More consistent and responsive justice system and a new approach to funding Funding was an important point that Fletcher elaborated upon. Simply put: there is not enough money to meet demand. The recommendations of the Commission address both what the costs are and how funding should be rolled out. In terms of cost, the Commission has been quite direct in asserting that a substantial investment from government in terms of implementing these recommendations is ultimately inevitable. A redirection of funds may be necessary. The Commission has also called for a robust way for forecasting what the demand will be. “In that space ... with the primary prevention work – changing community attitudes – we know that in time that will lead to a drop off in the actual incidents of violence. But we also know that when we put out messages of prevention, messages that this community does not tolerate family violence, it actually increases reporting,” said Fletcher. She explained that promotion of prevention increases demand because women know that they will be responded to. This means that we should expect the number of reports to increase before reducing.

The Commission has importantly noted an immediate investment in family violence services to meet demand and to implement these reforms.

Running a legal service, Fletcher expressed her dismay at the Commission’s recommendation regarding funding to legal services, which was engaging the Commonwealth. “There is a very real basis for that, in that the Commonwealth has withdrawn from legal assistance funding very significantly in the last 5-10 years, so I imagine the state government is unwilling to pick up that slack,” she said. This ultimately undersells the importance of legal assistance during times of crisis, so that women can keep themselves safe, but also in the recovery time so that women can make the appropriate arrangements to keep their children safe, as well as financial settlements that enable them and their children to move on from the violence, Fletcher explained.

Creating a more responsive justice system It is well known now what victims say about what is important to them in terms of what makes them feel like they have received a just response, explained Fletcher. “They say they want active participation, they say they want decision making in their own hands. They want to be heard, they want to be validated, to be understood and believed, not shamed,” said Fletcher. “They want the offender to be held accountable for him to actually acknowledge the harm that’s happened and hopefully change his behaviour, and for the community and the court system to hold him accountable.” Healing is what they seek. Restoration. Healing for women and their children. These findings, explained Fletcher, come from the report “Will somebody listen to me?” by the Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre. The findings are consistent with the Royal Commission, prompting confidential roundtables that focused on alternative forms of justice to ensure that victims were being heard. Only a small number of women told the Loddon Campaspe Legal Centre that they wanted the offender imprisoned. “The message that we consistently hear from women is that they just want the violence to stop. Prison may be a hiatus from the violence, but it doesn’t stop it,” she said. In Victoria, the statistics show that there is a cumulative offending rate after nine years (for all offences) of 45 percent. For a perpetrator who has been imprisoned, the rate shoots up to 75 percent.

The mainstream legal response to family violence is hit and miss in terms of providing justice. Fletcher proceeded to contrast the elements of justice that the victims spoke of and the reality in the courts.

For someone who is attending court for the first time, it is likely that: • She will have to wait between 2-4 hours.

• There is no childcare available.

• They may be exposed to intimidation tactics from the perpetrator in the courtroom – Fletcher admits to having been a witness to this on multiple occasions.

• Total time spent with a lawyer may be less than 20 minutes and the total time spent in front of the magistrate less than 10.

• Services will differ depending on which magistrates court is attended.

• If the perpetrator doesn’t agree to the intervention order, it is a possibility that the victim will have to return to court, potentially up to a maximum of four times, and the perpetrator is very likely to deny his charges. Should the victim have her intervention order, it is up to her to monitor the perpetrator’s compliance, and

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report any breaches to the police to attend court as a witness if the perpetrator is charged with breaching, and to apply for another intervention order when the initial order expires.

• Children may be removed from home due to the violence, consequently the perpetrator may seek to establish contact with the children in the Family Law Court, should the victim’s case also be relegated there.

There are a number of things that the Royal Commission recommends to address these issues.

Firstly, the expansion of the family violence court division. For over ten years there have been two family violence court divisions. “We know that they work. Those courts have specialist magistrates, court staff, prosecutors, support services, access to lawyers, and the ability to direct perpetrators to attend behavior change programs,” said Fletcher.

These courts also have the power to listen to related matters, meaning that the clients do not need to attend multiple courts. The problem here is, as Fletcher explained, that the services differ according to the area. It’s a symptom of “postcode justice.” For example, the services mentioned above are available around Heidelberg or Ballarat. There is only a subset of these services available around Melbourne, Frankston or Sunshine and anywhere else, explained, Fletcher. Understandably then, the Commission’s recommendation is to have twelve full family violence courts, one in each court region. Additionally, within five years, it is recommended that all family violence matters be heard in specialist family violence courts.

But why is specialisation so important? Ten years ago Fletcher wrote a submission to the Family Law Reform Commission outlining that the key determinant of what outcome a woman would get boiled down to which magistrate heard her case. She read an extract from a specialist magistrate and a non-specialist, respectively to illustrate her point: “To use a child like that, to punish you though, is what we would call a red flag in our assessment because this isn’t about love for the child, this is about doing something to hurt you.”

“He’s been rough with you in the past, he says he’s sorry, I think that means he’s not going to do it again.

He’s going to try to keep his temper, he’s only human, and he’s a bloke. You’ve got to be tolerant of that you see, blokes need tolerance.”

These fragments are straight from the court transcripts.

Secondly, in terms of improving the justice system response, quite a brave approach to addressing this

problem of demand in the courts, is to transfer some of the jurisdiction somewhere else, explained Fletcher.

“For fines and other infringements, why couldn’t they be dealt with somewhere else,” questioned Fletcher?

This could potentially mean that more resources could then be directed towards family violence.

Finally, a recommendation has been made for restorative justice approaches. Restorative justice processes, explained Fletcher, refer to processes that seek to repair the harm that’s caused by crime. They have a greater emphasis on the experience of victims rather than just on punishing the perpetrator.

Generally, restorative justice is just on processes facilitating some form of communication between the victim and the perpetrator, in which the victim can describe the harm caused and negotiate for restorative actions – which could be much broader than a court could offer. There is some evidence from the United States, explained Fletcher, that for specific intimate-partner violence, restorative justice did actually decrease violence. This is not necessarily the case in Australia, where we have little evidence to support the case for restorative justice to be used in family violence cases in Australia. Further research has been recommended. The Women’s Legal Service of Victoria recommended in their submission that a draft framework for restorative justice be recommended and piloted, recognising that this would work in certain cases, and it would be essential that there are safeguards, specifically that the process is victim driven and facilitated by skilled and qualified facilitators with expertise in family violence.

“I’m really hopeful. I believe that there is genuine political will to see real change happen. I agree with the Commission’s assessment that the Victorian community wants this issue addressed openly and tangibly …” said Fletcher. The report, she asserted, is a milestone on a 40 year journey to address family violence from the start of the refuge movement in the 70s through to the introduction of intervention orders in the 80s, to significant improved police, courts and services in the last decade. “We now have a clear blue-print on evidence based policy making for family violence, a blue-print that has the potential to be locked in for the many years that will be needed to create long-lasting change, and to avert life-changing injuries, and save lives.”

Update: April 13th, the Victorian government pledged half a billion dollars to reduce family violence in Victoria over the next two years.

Thank you Joanna for a moving and reflective talk.

As an organisation we seek to do what we can to address these issues.

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RESIDENT AND MEMBER NEWS

Adrian Scottow, Sitting on a bench / FlickrCC

In the early years of retirement, at the encouragement of a friend, I visited a local nursing home and encountered some remarkable people. Mary was one of them.

Grounded

by Mac Nicoll, Member, The Graduate Union

What a character! She brings to mind an image of a disabled sparrow, alert, jerky, busy with its eyes, missing nothing but frustrated to be grounded, unable to participate in the swooping and soaring of its companions.

often followed by the rolling of her eyes in disapproval. Her angular chin symbolises a determined and courageous personality which has been both shaped and tested by these extraordinary years of horizontal life.

She has the best room in the nursing home. From her bed, Mary can see every car and every person entering the property. Despite her occasional plea that she doesn’t know what’s going on, not much happens that Mary does not notice or hear about.

She has a most expressive mouth, having learned how to purse her lips to show disapproval or to feign anger.

Her ears are prominent, the more so because she wears hearing aids which enable her to cope relatively well in conversation. However, Mary’s speech is indistinct, a symptom of the throat disorder which is part of her debilitating condition.

Mary has been on her back for over 30 years and for the last twelve months she has had to receive all her food through a tube fed directly into her stomach, and she copes with surprising grace. Her throat condition also inhibits her speech and at times she suffers distressing fits of coughing.

Her grey hair has been set during the week, and it sits up splendidly, crowning a sharp, lined face, aquiline nose and large, sparkling, hazel eyes, which are seldom still. Any noise in the corridor has her eyes darting towards the door to locate the source of the sound and this is

Her fingers are those of a classical pianist, long and expressive. They are not able to grasp objects easily, so it is a painful experience watching her trying to turn a page in her book or grasp a handkerchief on the bed.

Mary’s sense of humour is sharp, self-deprecating and eccentric. At our first meeting we were discussing a forthcoming visit from a c haplain, and she confided, tongue in cheek, that she was about to ask him if she could change from being a Catholic to being a Muslim.

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On arrival every week, I am greeted by a cheeky grin, feigned surprise and a mock deferential comment.

I am invited to sit on the end of the bed, pull up the bedside table and soon I am engaged in lively conversation which ranges easily from AFL football to George Bush, from theology to local happenings in the nursing home.

“How was the ballet last week,” I ask, recalling that a number of the residents had been taken in their wheelchairs to the State Theatre for a performance by ballet students. “I appreciated the way they were so athletic, but the music was like a funeral. I‘d rather have gone to the football and cheered for my beloved Kangaroos.”

We tackle a crossword together and we are interrupted several times by nursing staff. Mary is all eyes. She is generous to those who are thoughtful and capable, but to the slack or uncaring there can be a fierce grimace as soon as their back is turned.

Noticing my raised eyebrow [Mary doesn’t miss many non-verbal responses] she explains why she is intolerant. I can see why, having for so long been dependent, she has such a keen sense of when she is not getting a person’s full attention. I am persuaded, and we continue with the crossword.

There is a surprising lack of self-pity. While she is able to talk about the deprivations of those long bed-ridden years, and the effect it has had on her family, Mary has found a degree of acceptance, both of herself and her situation, which frees her to be interested in others, to engage in their lives and to keep alive to the world outside.

We finish the crossword. It is time to leave. I turn at the door and I receive a cheery wave from Mary, an earthy, wise and witty woman.

Grounded indeed.

How Sustainable is Graduate House?

Benjamin Cooke, lecturer for the RMIT Environmental Management Systems course aims to give students an overview of what it is to assess environmental impact in a development proposal context.

with the Graduate House community by talking with management to ascertain the purpose of certain usage, and forming a questionnaire to send to Residents to get a better understanding of their expectations of sustainable environmental practices.

The second semester of the course challenges students to put their knowledge to practice by auditing a selected organisation. This requires them to look towards developing environmental management systems that organisations could establish to ultimately increase sustainability in various ways.

Her initial findings demonstrated that Graduate House has already adopted quite a number of environmentally friendly measures. LED lightbulbs are used in Resident rooms and public areas, and most of the facility is fitted with motion sensors. This ensures that lights automatically are switched off if no one is around.

Resident Fatema Samina Yasmin, a student of this course, selected Graduate House to conduct her audit.

One of the biggest challenges with retrofitting old buildings explained Benjamin, is what the payoff of implementing certain things versus the actual energy and materials that go into it, would be.

Another extremely cost effective venture has been the implementation of power sockets operated by keys.

This allows a room’s air conditioner to operate only when the room key is inserted into the power socket.

“In actually doing the task, I was conscious of communicating to students that some big scale recommendations that you might be thinking about are medium to long-term objectives,” said Ben. “I wanted them in particular to be really attentive to the smaller things that they noticed as part of their everyday lives or experiences at their place.”

Yasmin determined five aspects to look into, including electricity, water, food sourcing and disposal, indoor air quality, and waste management. She then engaged

Solar panels on the roof of the Stella Langford Wing

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A similar system operates in the Stella Langford Wing, where an apartment’s energy connection is reliant on the insertion of a key card. Once the card is removed from the slot, all electrical equipment is switched off within five minutes.

Many other timer automation systems exist for heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

Regarding indoor air quality Yasmin found that each residential room has an air conditioner and operable windows which of course lets fresh air in. Smoking is prohibited anywhere on the facility, and the carpets are regularly cleaned to ensure elimination of any dust and mites.

The use of low-VOC (volatile organic compound) paint, compared to oil or acrylic ensures the air is somewhat cleaner. But indoor air quality in resident rooms could also be improved by introducing bins with lids. The odours that can be emitted from discarded foods and certain packaging is unsanitary when in a small enclosed space.

and Facilities Committee, Graduate House is looking towards how it can be even more environmentally sustainable. Yasmin’s research is also now informing the future work that Masters students from The Department of Infrastructure and Engineering will be doing in conjunction with Graduate House.

“We are taking very seriously the results from Yasmin’s audit and they fit in well with our committment to address the 17 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals,” said Dr Bennett.

“It was excellent,” said Dr Cooke of Yasmin’s report.

“What really stood out was a lot of detail and effort into understanding what the challenges were.”

While these are some of the issues that came out from the audit of Graduate House, what are some

Graduate House could implement a few more sustainable waste management systems in addition to the general recycling system at the college.

When residents leave, the report found that they also leave behind a range of items including clothes and electrical items. Dr Bennett who was interviewed by Yasmin suggested that she is thinking of upcycling the old clothing and introducing bins exclusively for the disposal of electrical equipment, such as old printers and phones.

One recommendation from Yasmin’s report was to also trial solar powered hot water in the William Berry Wing where there are fewer bathrooms, and then also in the Main Wing. This could give a good indication as to whether it would be feasible (environmentally as well as financially) for permanent implementation.

Sourcing organic food was another recommendation.

As organic food is costly, noted Yasmin, focusing on providing organic food on a day like Earth Day, could be a suitable compromise. The kitchen and the bar could provide organic items and food from local and regional farmers who are using sustainable cultivation methods.

With the audit having now been presented to management, and processed through the Buildings

things that we can do at a community level and in our personal lives to address sustainability? Ben suggests that there is quite a bit that we can do - like monitoring water and energy usage is something that we can all learn to be conscious of, and implementing urban gardens.

“Another suggestion was urban agriculture and looking at how we can be able to supply growing cities with food that doesn’t come from too far away, so we can engage people with the practice of growing their own food,” said Ben. He also suggested that our hot cities are only going to get warmer due to our reliance on airconditioning and other such amenities. Creating a closer association between people, nature, and urban spaces, and determining how we can use green space more effectively and promote additional green spaces could contribute to a reduction of UHI (Urban Heat Island). Formal thanks have been extended to Yasmin and Dr Cooke from the Association.

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Dr David Wilson is now a Chartered Member of CILT Graduate Union Member Dr David Wilson was recently appointed as a Chartered Member of The Chartered Institite of Logisitcs and Transport.

Having been on the committee for the Chartered Institute of Transport for some time, it came to the committee’s attention that Dr Wilson was not yet a chartered member and so it was thence resolved.

“It does mean a lot because the Chartered Institute of Transport is an old world body. Princess Anne was a previous Chairperson, and in 1926 it was granted a Royal Charter.”

importance of site contamination in a manufacturing facility. But I forgot about those costs.”

He also cites his work with Graduate House as a highlight. Most recently, Dr Wilson and his Masters students have commenced the “Making Graduate House Sustainable” project where students are investigating the state of sustainability at Graduate House.

“Working with Graduate House and the whole idea of sustainability, and using Graduate House as a living laboratory of applications is very exciting.”

Established in the United Kingdom in 1919, CILT has been operating in Australia (as CILTA) since 1935 providing development programs, events and opportunities as well as leadership in research, policy and professional development.

“I’ve always wanted to help out in transport because transport has been very good to me academically and professionally. It’s a fantastic discipline, so I just want to give back,” said Dr Wilson.

Dr Wilson’s career path within logistics and transport has been varied.

One career highlight, notes Dr Wilson, was during his time as Director of the Ministry of Transport where he helped introduce the zonal multi-modal ticket system in 1982. Prior to this system there were separate tickets and prices for trams, trains and buses in Melbourne.

He has also been a Logistics manager at Willow Ware where he was responsible for a warehouse and transport system to deliver their products. “I was involved with the big retailers trying to get them to upgrade their logistics and supply chain systems,” he said.

When working at Willow Ware he encouraged the team to relocate from North Melbourne to Tullamarine – anywhere on the outskirts where the land was much less expensive.

“I must say that I forgot about the clean-up of the contamination from the waste,” said Dr Wilson.

“If I was an engineer instead of a geographer, and if I had done sustainable infrastructure engineering back then, I would have realised those things about the

He is also proud of his family. “I’m very proud of the fact that I’ve got four kids that are all doing really well, and they don’t need me! So that’s just wonderful.”

Dr Wilson has a Bachelor of Arts (Geography) (Hons) from The University of Western Australia, a Master of Science from Northwestern University and a PhD in Geography also from Northwestern. Dr Wilson has also spent a lot of time in engineering departments (“despite being a geographer!”) designing and delivering transport and traffic engineering courses.

From there he worked at the Chicago Area Transport Study as a transport planner, and also in Los Angeles, in the Southern California Rapid Transit District on buses and bus modelling.

Having worked all over the United States, in the private sector and of course, a lot of academia, he is currently a tutor at the Department of Infrastructure Engineering at The University of Melbourne, and we are so very honoured to see him in at Graduate House with the many students he supervises.

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Resident Research: Yuliia Velichenko

Words, Yuliia Velichenko, PhD Student in Organic Chemistry The World Health Report 2013 identified hypertension (high blood pressure) as the number one risk factor for heart disease and stroke, the leading causes of death worldwide. Currently, hypertension affects around 32% of the adult population in Australia, accounting for more than 4.2 million citizens. This number is predicted to escalate by 2025. More than two thirds of treated hypertensive patients in Australia failed to achieve their target blood pressure despite the simultaneous use of several antihypertensive drugs; and almost 50% of patients discontinue new prescriptions within 6 months of therapy due to the development of hypertension-related complications such as atherosclerosis (fatty material on the inner walls of arteries.)

Recently, a team of researchers from the University of California found that high blood pressure induces production of toxic molecules in the body called free radicals. These highly reactive chemicals can damage cardiovascular tissues when produced at excessive levels. This can lead to “leaky� blood vessels and formation of fatty build-up in the artery walls known as atherosclerotic plaques. Importantly, hypertension-induced atherosclerosis was proven to be one of the major contributors to the observed resistance to antihypertensive medications. Therefore, identification of novel dual-acting therapeutics that could protect blood vessels beyond blood pressurelowering is of great importance.

My current research in Professor Carl Schiesser’s group in the School of Chemistry at The University of Melbourne aims to address this problem and result in generation of novel dual-acting antihypertensives.

This group has previously formulated a new type of carbohydrates (selenosugars) based on selenium and simple sugars such as glucose, and investigated their therapeutic potential. The initial findings have shown these compounds can prevent and even significantly reverse existing atherosclerosis by re-establishing blood flow in the occluded arteries. The principle of their action is based on neutralisation of harmful free radicals in the body, thus, protecting blood vessels. Biological studies on wild and diabetic mice revealed another interesting property of selenosugars.

The compounds enhanced rate and extent of wound healing when applied to skin wounds. This discovery has important implications for the hypertensive

condition and hypertension-associated disorders, since irreversible damaging of blood vessels is a key step in disease progression and resistance to current antihypertensive therapy. Therefore, seleniumcontaining carbohydrates themselves were filed under an international patent and led us to the idea of chemical coupling of selenosugar with sartan, the most powerful antihypertensive drug, in order to obtain an entirely new class of medication. The next generation antihypertensive is predicted to protect cardiovascular tissues and treat atherosclerosis in addition to retaining efficacy in lowering blood pressure. My current laboratory experiments addressing this gap involve preparing an array of selenosugar-containing sartans using different types of selenosugars. Once a range of the active compounds is prepared, testing of potential drugs for their suitability in clinical use will be performed.

We expect that this strategy will maximise our ability to find the most efficient treatment for high blood pressure with the added benefit of cardiovascular protective effects. The study holds great potential for the development of an improved therapy for hypertension and cardiovascular disorders that may arise from it. It may simplify the regimen of therapy by reducing the number of pills patients need to take and increase efficiency of the treatment.

This next-generation therapeutic-project is strongly aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and has high importance to the global community. It addresses both the third and the seventeenth goals since my work seeks to protect public health, saving millions of lives and to promote global partnership for sustainable development. The study I am currently engaged in is part of an ongoing international collaboration between Australia, Denmark, Italy and Brazil supported by The University of Melbourne.

As such, my PhD will involve internships in these countries as well as participation in international meetings and conferences.

I would like to acknowledge The University of Melbourne, for providing Melbourne Fee Remission and the Melbourne International Research scholarship to cover my long stay in Australia, and Graduate House for providing a cheerful and supportive community to live in. My current research would not be possible without the help of my supervisor Professor Carl Schiesser who has allowed me to work on this fascinating and important project and is teaching me how to become an independent successful researcher.

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Action: The Road to Divestment Words, Aoife Nicklason On 15th March, 2016, after three years of campaigning through formal pathways with The University of Melbourne, student group Fossil Free Melbourne University (FFMU) gave their University one month to make a public commitment to divesting from the top 200 coal, oil and gas companies. If the University did not meet this deadline, 73 Unimelb students have pledged "My university must choose our future over the fossil fuel industry. I pledge to take bold action if my university does not commit to divest by 15th April 2016."

The divestment movement, a movement that implores institutions to get rid of stocks, bonds or investment funds that are unethical or morally ambiguous, has been a catalyst for social change for decades. The most notable and successful campaigns include those targeting industries that, respectively, profited from violence in Darfur, tobacco advertising and South African Apartheid. The call for divestment from fossil fuels gained traction in 2007 in the founding of 350.org, a grassroots climate change movement that posed divestment as a solution to an impending climate crisis. In 2015, further urgency was added to discussion surrounding climate change when the UN released their 17 sustainable development goals for 2030. For almost all of these goals to be realised - especially those regarding affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water and life on land - more than 80% of fossil fuels must stay in the ground.

The UN body in charge of global climate change negotiations publicly gave support to the Fossil Free divestment campaign. “We support divestment as it sends a signal to companies, especially coal companies, that the age of ‘burn what you like, when you like’ cannot continue,” said Nick Nuttall, the spokesman for the UN framework convention on climate change.

For students at The University of Melbourne, the journey towards divestment is ongoing. After three years of campaigning, a 1,600 strong student referendum with 97% of respondents saying ‘yes’ to divestment, just under 4,000 petition signatures in support, numerous meetings and rallies and a forum regarding sustainability in which the most commonly asked question was regarding divestment, the University still has not committed to divest from fossil fuels. FFMU, along with groups at six other Australian universities, are frustrated at having to play by their University’s timelines when it comes to an issue as time sensitive as climate change. They have been left with little choice but to create their own timeline for divestment. The name of this new action is called ‘Flood the Campus’.

“Flood the Campus will see many Australian universities join together in coordinated action to amplify our pressure on universities and secure a commitment to divestment ... We are telling our University that they are now working within our timeline. As a community, if we do not see a timely commitment to divestment we will take bold action until we do,” says FFMU spokesperson, Anastasia Gramatakos.

In the coming weeks, climate activists at The University of Melbourne - as well as at Monash, Australian National University, The University of Queensland, Sydney University, University of New South Wales and Queensland University of Technology - will be entering a phase of escalation in their activism. Their aims are to continue exposing the role that the fossil fuel industry is playing in blocking action on climate change while supporting and inspiring people to participate in nonviolent direct action and community organising.

They aim to do so while working respectfully with traditional owners and other organisations.

To follow the coming weeks of bold action from FFMU, like their Facebook page ‘Fossil Free MU’ or follow them on Twitter @FossilFreeMU.

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Innovation

Our new fiver

Image: Ian @ ThePaperboy.com, Parliament House Canberra HDR / FlickrCC

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has now released images of the new $5 note to be issued from 1st September, 2016.

Key aspects of the original design (colour, size and people portrayed) will remain the same, but the new note will come with enhanced features.

One is a tactile feature to help the vision impaired community to assist distinguishing between different denominations of banknotes.

Queen Elizabeth II will remain on the note, perhaps to the dismay of former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, Olympian Cathy Freeman and the widow of Fred Hollows, Gabi, who earlier this year gathered at the Sydney Opera House to launch their “Get Fred on the Fiver” campaign.

The current series of banknotes will continue to be used after the new banknotes are issued.

New security features will also be implemented.

In a statement released on the 12th April, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said that the new security features will help to keep notes secure from counterfeiting. Each note will contain a distinctive top to bottom window.

A public awareness campaign over the coming months will demonstrate how the new security features work, as well as sharing information on the new design.

The campaign’s objective is to ensure that members of the public are able to identify the new security features on the fiver.

“The designs are the culmination of a process of extensive consultation with subject matter experts and the cash-handling industry,” said Mr Stevens.

source: Reserve Bank of Australia

Qualitative research with focus groups was also conducted.

Each banknote depicts a different species of Australian Wattle and native bird with a number of elements.

The $5 note will depict the Prickly Moses wattle and the Eastern Spinebill. www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B

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Extracurricular

I long, therefore I am

Image: Magnus Bråth, Oceans / FlickrCC

In the Spanish army of Flanders fighting the Dutch in the 17th Century, and the Thirty Years War, a handful of soldiers were discharged for el mal de corazon (heart pain). Mentally broken, these soldiers suffered from a condition with symptoms akin to post traumatic stress disorder: dejection, continuing melancholy, anxiety, loss of sleep, bouts of weeping and, in extreme cases, irregular heartbeat and anorexia. These symptoms were attributed to ‘demons’ inhabiting the middle of the brain. Those suffering from the ailment were treated with opium, purging and leeches – nostalgia was seen as a curable disease.

Further into the 17 century, however, a young Swiss student Johannes Hofer collated these medical symptoms and identified a new medical syndrome ‘nostalgia,’ writing about it in his 1688 medical dissertation. This ‘nostalgia’, Hofer purported, was the sad mood originating from the desire for return to one’s native land. th

The word nostalgia emanates from the Greek nostos (νοστóς) meaning home and algos (αλγóς) meaning longing. A glance for instance towards Homer and we see Odysseus setting sail for his native land of Ithaca to re-unite with his faithful wife Penelope, “ … I long for my home and to see the day of returning.”

Hofer’s thesis was largely supported by case studies, one of which was of a young student from Berne who falls ill in Basel and becomes feverish and panicked. Severe symptoms ensued, and his death was expected. Ordered by the treating doctor to administer a clyster, the apothecary recognised the man’s condition, diagnosed it as homesickness, and insisted that the only cure would be a return to his native city. The student’s condition then improved day by day and he eventually recovered fully on his journey, and arrived a healthy man in Berne.

The outcomes varied on a case by case basis, while returning home cured some of their ailments, for others, this method was not as effective: doctors of the 18th and 19th centuries failed to find a locus in the patients.

Today we look upon nostalgia having a nod to the romantic: a longing to rekindle what seem to be faraway realities, be it a desire to return to home, or meet with lost friends. Recent studies have found that nostalgia has a restorative quality – an existential healing power.

Nostalgia plays an important function for coping with existential threat. In a study by Wildschut et al 2004, participants were asked to describe the moments when they felt nostalgic. Frequently, the participants noted that nostalgia was triggered when they wanted to feel better. Participants who began with a negative mood were more nostalgic, having thought of happiness, comfort and existential security of an earlier time. “The psychological significance of nostalgia may reside in its capacity to counteract distress and restore psychological equanimity,” wrote the authors.

Routeldge et al 2006 tested undergraduates who had been reminded of their mortality. The most nostalgic participants felt, the more meaningful they perceived their life to be, and the more it assuaged existential threat.

It was Albert Camus who once said “those who weep for the happy periods which they encounter in history acknowledge what they want; not the alleviation but the silencing of misery.” And yet while some may regard nostalgia as a means with which we delude ourselves, nostalgia plays a far more vital role to assuage existential threat. For the lonely, misguided and unloved, nostalgia will be there — sharing both memories from the past, and the possibilities that the future may hold. It is the glimmer of hope for the hopeless, the comforting arm for the broken.

www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B

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Academic and Professional Development Meetings The following groups from The University of Melbourne have convened meetings, workshops and seminars at Graduate House in March 2016 Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN) - Board Meeting 2nd March 13 attendees

Campus Services Staff Environment Advocates Meeting 1st March 25 attendees

Department of Finance Lunch Meeting 18th March 5 attendees

Department of Infrastructure Engineering Staff Meeting and CDMPS International Advisory Committee 1st, 15th March 59 attendees

Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Problem Solving 3rdMarch 17 attendees

Melbourne School of Engineering Finance and Planning 3rdMarch 10 attendees

Research, Innovation and Commercialisation Corporate Support Workshop, Network of Schools 9th, 10th, 11th, 31st March 193 attendees

School of Health Sciences - The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research 31st March 100 attendees

UoM Commercial Ltd Graduate Certificate in Clinical Teaching 9th March 23 attendees

The patronage of organisation Members in charitable, not-for-profit, government and professional development sectors is acknowledged, as is that of our many Members who organise functions.

Thank you for your patronage.

Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER) 7th March 76 attendees

Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations (AFMLTA) 19th March 14 attendees

Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) 17th March 60 attendees

Australian Professional Thermography Association (AUSPTA) - AGM 19th March 30 attendees

Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) 3rd March 20 attendees

Australian Asian Association (AAA) 7th, 21st March 16 attendees

Australian Film Base (AFB) 1 Month Film Course 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th March 15 attendees each day

Australian School of Applied Management (ASAM) 1st, 3rd, 4th, 16th, 17th, 21st, 22nd March 151 attendees each day

www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B

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Academic and Professional Development Meetings

Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance

Carlton Rotary - Heritage Cluster, Lunch and Board meetings 3rd, 8th, 15th, 16th, 22nd March 124 attendees

Carlton-Parkville Probus Club Inc 8th March 70 attendees

College of Health Psychology (CHP) Victoria 24th March 56 attendees

Haematology Society of Australia and New Zealand (HSANZ) Nurses Vic 8th March 75 attendees

IMD Alumni Lunch 21st March 20 attendees

John Cain Foundation Lunch 2nd March 60 attendees

Lesley Bawden International Women’s Day Dinner 7th March 40 attendees

1964 MBBS Reunion

MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) - 1964 Reunion Committee 1st March 11 attendees

Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance 24th March 23 attendees

Michael Quinn Ex-PAV Group

Michael Quin - Ex PAV Group 23rd March 10 attendees

Modern Greek Teachers Association of Victoria (MGTAV) 8th March 10 attendees

Modern Language Teachers’ Association of Victoria (MLTAV) 21st March 50 attendees

Order of St. John Evening Meeting 1st March 8 attendees

Organisation Development Australia (ODA) 23rd March 20 attendees

Parentshop Pty Ltd 7th, 8th March 24 attendees

Peer Support Australia 8th March 24 attendees

Primary Industries Climate Challenges Centre (PICCC) 10th March 7 attendees

Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia (SCLAA) 10th March 15 attendees

Social Education Victoria (SEV) Committee Meeting 9th, 18th March 152 attendees

The Graduate Union Collegiate Events and Governance Meetings 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 8th, 9th, 11th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 23rd, 30th, 31st March 417 attendees

Turkish Teachers Association of Victoria (TTAV) 11th, 24th March 20 attendees

Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) 8th March 20 attendees

Vocational Pathways Ripponlea Institute (VPRI) - Workshop 21st March 18 attendees

www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B

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Puzzles Mind benders for our Members

Sudoku Sudoku is an 81 square grid comprising of nine square blocks, each with nine cells.

To complete this puzzle, all blank cells must be filled with a number between and including 1 and 9.

Each number can only appear once in each nine celled block, row and column.

Last edition’s results

Kakuro Use the numbers 1 to 9 to fill the empty cells so that the sum of each horizontal block equals the clue on its left, and the sum of each vertical block equals the clue on top.

Each number can only be used once per row/column.

Last edition’s results

Please note that there might be more answer combinations possible.

www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B

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Cryptic Crossword

Across 7. Include real arrangement of work by Debussy (5,2,4) 8. King taking part in animated war dance (6) 9. Distant sort of meteor (6) 10. Giant production taking a hundred in the drama profession (6) 12. Vehicle seen by people in opera (6) 13. Titled Turk featured in magazine (3) 14. Delicate colour of father’s little telephone (6) 16. Pole getting spiteful or hare-brained (6) 18. Mad king is engaged in winter sports (6) 20. Engrossed as a camper? (6) 22. Hotel worker putting halibut’s tail in sort of herring pot (5,6)

Down 1. Ace detectives may be bitter (4) 2. A hunting expedition, as far as I can make out (6) 3. Extravagant pair with gold braid (8) 4. Woman’s right to a title in Germany (4) 5. Time to get a calculator? (6) 6. Table set out to display safety device (4,4) 11. Metallic sound made by monarch of some Scots? (8) 12. New car is not impregnable (4-4) 15. Sharp stab of pain - one of a pair, for example, coming back (6) 17. Sharp form of statue (6) 19. An old barbarian acquired heroin (4) 21. Standard portion or medium selection (4)

Last edition’s results Across: 1. Handicap 6. Arm 9. Stole 10. Olympus 11. Exhaled 13. Italy 14. Merino 15. Jigsaw 19. Cowls 21. Montana 22. Balliol 23. Midge 24. Tie 25. Sidecars

Down: 2. Another 3. Dye 4. Crowds 5. Physician 6. Alpha 7. Messy 8. Esteem 12. Landslips 16. Slander 17. Weasel 18. Ambled 19. Cubit

www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B

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STORIES AT GRADUATE HOUSE

GU Flu Day 2016

A free flu vaccination was offered at Graduate House to combat the start of this year’s flu season. In conjunction with Influenza Specialist Group (ISG) and Bupa, the three-strain and four-strain vaccine was used to immunise 334 guests.

Members, including Resident Members, and nonmembers were some of the many who attended, most wanting to protect themselves and others from the potentially serious disease.

“We thought the best way to attract a lot of attention is to do a public vaccination event and give our flu vaccines for free,” she said.

Other attendees were of the same opinion, emphasising the importance of protecting not only yourself, but also more pertinently, that if you don’t get sick, you won’t spread the virus.

“Herd immunity is very important. The more people are better vaccinated – doesn’t matter what kind of vaccine – the better for the population, for those who have auto-immune disorders, and other problems,” said Jessica Merrick, an attendee.

Student Wei Hong Toh agrees. “It’s a good vaccine to help you be protected against influenza. I’ve been coming every year just to get protected,” he said.

“If you are new here you want to be ready for the new environment you’re living in, and get your body ready for that. Winter’s coming,” said Mr Muzay Ahmed, Resident of Graduate House.

Susanne Sperber, Kim Sampson and Professor Kwong Lee Dow

Kim Sampson, CEO of ISG says the importance of the free shot campaign is two-fold.

“It’s raising awareness about influenza and the fact that it’s now the influenza vaccination time; and also this provides a community benefit by allowing free vaccination for people who are interested in protecting themselves and all those around them,” he said.

Susanne Sperber, Communications Specialist at ISG, said that it is really important to alert the general public to the fact that influenza can be quite a dangerous disease.

Resident Riyan Stephan said he sees the value of the vaccine as a valuable preventative measure, and is grateful that Graduate House made this day possible.

The free vaccination event is in its fifth year running, and has grown from year to year, Susanna said.

On the day, there were 287 TIV (trivalent, three strain) vaccinations given, and 47 QIV (quadrivalent, four strain).

This year’s vaccine covered four strains, compared to last year’s three, to include Influenza B strain. This strain accounted for 51% of the influenza notifications in 2015.

www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B

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Formulation of flu vaccinations is determined each year by the Australian Influenza Vaccine Committee based on recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

In 2015, there were 89,519 lab-confirmed notifications of influenza, according to an Influenza Surveillance Report. This was a 22,601 increase from 2014 which had 62,918 cases.

Sperber said that, apart from the flu shot, there are still a few other preventative measures that people can take. “The most important thing is hand-washing - and it’s really important that you do correct handwashing,” she said.

“It’s like for 30 seconds, somebody told me once, you need to hum to yourself ‘happy birthday’ three times while you’re doing it.”

“The other thing is we ask people that if they feel sick, and feel a bad cold or a flu coming on, then that they stay at home rather than going out and infecting more people.”

Hygeine, however, still remains the most important thing to consider. A flu virus can stay active on any surface for up to eight hours.

Taking into consideration people around you is imperative to ensuring healthy spaces. It’s important to remember that other people may touch an infected surface, so a simple act like covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze has the potential to save someone from contracting the virus.

“Offices or nurseries or schools are perfect breeding grounds for influenza, and this is why people should be vaccinated,” said Susanne.

Our ‘house’ and our ‘union’ thank ISG, Bupa and all who attended the vaccination day.

Professor Kwong Lee Dow receivng his flu shot

Below we have a Q+A with Kim Sampson answering some FAQs about Influenza shots.

What are some misconceptions that people have about flu vaccines?

Perhaps the most common myth is that influenza is not a serious disease. Many confuse “the flu” with a bad cold, but the 2 illnesses are caused by entirely different viruses. The second most common myth is that you can get influenza from being vaccinated, which of course you cannot. The vaccine that we use in Australia is inactivated, meaning it has been killed and broken up, so that it is only fragments of the virus that are used when making the vaccine.

Can you think of some of the most common questions that you receive (in regards to the shot) and how you answer them?

Will it hurt? The answer is no, but there maybe some soreness or stiffness later. If the person has a fear of needles it is hard to convince them otherwise!

I had a flu shot last year, why do I need another now?

There are many different strains of the influenza virus, and different ones circulate in any given year.

The virus also continually mutates, so each year a new vaccine has to be produced.

Will the flu shot protect me from bird flu? No, it will not. Avian flu (bird flu) is a very different kind of flu virus to the ones that typically circulate each year. Human acquired avian flu is extremely rare in Australia in any case.

What should people expect after they receive the shot?

The flu shot does not hurt, but some people do experience soreness or redness at the injection site sometime later. It should be noted that when receiving a vaccine of any kind, it is a requirement to wait 15 minutes before leaving the premises so that you may be observed for any reactions. Severe reactions however are very rare.

Natasha Thomas encouraging others to get a shot

www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B

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The Graduate House Project Students from The Department of Infrastructure and Engineering from The University of Melbourne will be undertaking a research project at Graduate House.

The group of Masters students will be looking at alternative construction techniques, particularly through the use of hempcrete, as current construction techniques have a negative impact on the environment and are also energy consuming.

More specifically, explained group member Hexiang Gao, existing construction techniques account for one third of primary energy usage in the world.

Researchers have shown that hempcrete is a more sustainable building material than traditional building materials.

Graduate House, and two sub-groups will look at sustainability. Increasing the fire resistance of hemp limecrete, increasing its strength and optimising the acoustic property of the hempcrete wall are some of the objectives of the project overall.

To make the hempcrete wall more environmentally friendly, a reduction of lime usage in the limecrete formula is also planned.

The hempcrete wall panel will not be used on load bearing walls, explained Hexiang. Experiments from previous studies concluded that the compressive strength property of the hempcrete had reached the structural requirement specified on Australian standards.

“The students will take on a responsibility which is rare in projects: a live client,” said Victoria Petrevska, project liaison.

“In Graduate House, the students have a team dedicated to bettering their institution and the world.

This positivity will inspire the students to greatness not only in the project, but their careers ahead of them.”

The greatest element of this project is its collaborative nature, she explained, due in great part to the character of Graduate House and its desire to be a beacon of sustainability.

A group meeting of the engineering students

“As a natural fibres material, hempcrete largely reduces the amount of carbon emission. As a result, the hempcrete is now being seen and treated as the future building material,” said Hexiang.

Within this group of engineering students, three subgroups will look at incorporating hemp products into

“I look forward to seeing the students take on that passion for sustainability and be afforded the opportunity to experience a real-world application of ongoing sustainability,” she said.

“The biggest benefit to Graduate House will be young minds which are not tainted with the complexities of sustainability. With a pure approach, the students should be able to derive recommendations which target the goals of the college.”

Introducing your engineers Meet the team behind the project. We asked them a few questions to get a better understanding of their involvement with the project:

• Why did you select this project?

• What do you hope to get out of this project?

• How do you see your studies, work and research as being able to address the Sustainable Development Goals? www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B

Page 38

Junaid Ahmed Awan

Kyle Buntz, Tom Boulton, Winston Tong

I selected this project because it is close to our scope of study (structural engineering) as it involves research on concrete and the use of environmentally sustainable material (hemp). It is used as a replacement to cement which, in production, releases a huge amount of harmful gases (such as CO2). As the hemp limecrete is lightweight, Graduate House is interested in using it in their building.

Kyle: I was very interested in sustainability throughout my course and felt this would be a great way to apply the skills I have learnt over the last four years in a real world application.

My aim is to increase the strength of the hemp limecrete so that it could be accepted by the construction industry.

Hemp absorbs huge amounts of CO2 during its growth and also during its use in concrete. This boosts the environmental sustainability and lessens the carbon footprint. The use of cement will decrease and this will further enhance the environmental sustainability as cement involves huge emissions of harmful gases.

Muhammad Moman Shahzad This project is related to concrete. Being a structural engineer, I have a good grasp over this topic. This project involves the use of environmentally sustainable material, hemp. Hemp limecrete can be used instead of cement, making it more sustainable. As the hemp limecrete is lightweight compared to the conventional concrete, Graduate House is interested in using it in their building.

Tom: Sustainability has always been a interest of mine and one of the main reasons I decided to study a masters of civil engineering at Melbourne University.

Winston: I live there so I have a vested interest in improving the building.

Kyle: To provide work that is useful to the members of Graduate House and could be used to assist in its future improvements and development. Hopefully I could have some small impact on providing a world leading building in terms of its sustainability.

Tom: Have a better understanding of what is required in a real world situation and develop my skills for future applications.

Winston: A better understanding of what’s involved in research to see how it could be useful for my future career goals.

Winston, Tom and Kyle: We analysed the sustainability goals as a whole and looked at how they strive to improve all aspects of life around the world.

We first thought of how any business may be able to look at these goals and align their own business priorities or decision making processes to inadvertently achieve these by making small simple changes.

Of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals we have established that the most relevant is that of Sustainable cities and communities and we are thus looking to reduce the impact of the environment that the existing building and infrastructure have.

My major focus is on increasing the fire resistance of hemp limecrete so that it becomes more popular in the construction market. Special focus is given to areas on high alert for bushfires.

The production of cement emits a huge amount of greenhouse gases such as CO2, which increases the climatic changes in the region. Replacing the cement with the hemp will help in reducing the gas emissions in the environment and in making the environment more clean for our future generations. www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B

We aim to do this by trying to establish a plan that will allow Graduate House to be one of the first residential Colleges to be entirely ‘offthe-grid’.

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A Winter Palace This year’s Ball Committee is making steady progress on planning the grand event to be held July 22nd.

Residents Julia Melanson, Hui Ping Yaw and Florence Moreau are the committee members, along with staff Diana Bachman and Eliah Castiello, who assist with marketing, design and general planning.

If you have a tip for sponsorship, please contact admingh@graduatehouse.com.au.

For more information about our Platinum, Gold, Silver and Tailored Packages go the website page (under the Contact Us tab): w w w.g r aduatehous e.com.au/contact-us/ sponsorship-opportunities/

The theme for this year’s ball is ‘a winter palace’ think delicate icicles, patterned snowflakes, and a little bit of Dostoevsky, or Russian oligarchs slowly savouring their borscht in sub-zero temperatures.

The colours for the ball are royal blue, maroon, and whites.

As per last year, the committee is seeking sponsors and would appreciate any tips or connections anyone can offer. They seek not only financial support, but sponsorship through items such as wine and food.

Stay tuned for more updates in the coming months.

Back at Graduate House Wing of terraces while he was on a brief exchange from Japan to The University of Melbourne in 1984 to study music, his main instrument being the trumpet.

He said he was a part of The University of Melbourne band, and later was in the Moomba Festival band procession. All the while with his trusty trumpet.

A lot of things have changed around the immediate precinct of Graduate House, he said. Most notably, the change of University Square which in 1984 was an empty field.

A lot can happen in 32 years. For Mr Masahiko Nagamo who called Graduate House home in 1984, a visit back to his home away from away saw a great deal of changes.

Mr Nagamao had initially come to Graduate House to stay with a friend in the William Berry

He truly cherishes the time he spent in Melbourne, and now in 2016, he has returned to reacquaint himself with the University and Melbourne, and to introduce his toy Koala to the city and college as well.

Mr Nagamo hails from Japan, and currently resides in Tokyo. We hope to see you soon Mr Nagamo!

www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B

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Social Education Victoria VCE Teachers’ Conference 2016 Words, Augusta Zeen Social Education Victoria (SEV) is a small notfor-profit professional teaching association which provides professional development in the areas of the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) Sociology, VCE Australian and Global Politics, Civics and Citizenship, and other areas of social education. SEV also creates resources, consults on curriculum, provides support and advice and publishes textbooks in these subject areas.

SEV runs a professional learning program which consists of new teacher events, subject specific teacher events including pedagogical skills and learning, academic student lectures in Global Politics, an International Relations Summit for Year 11s, end of year student revision lectures and an annual VCE Teachers’ Conference, to name just a few.

This year we held our annual VCE Teachers’ Conference at Graduate House in Carlton.

The SEV Conference is a little like running three conferences in one as we provide streams for each of the subjects we cover in the VCE area including discrete streams for Units 1 and 2 and Units 3 and 4 for each of Sociology, Australian and Global Politics. There are a few areas of crossover interest but mostly they are separate streams.

We provide sessions in a broad range of styles from formal lectures to hands-on workshops. From those that are very much embedded in the curriculum, often facilitated by practicing teachers to sessions presented by practicing professionals and tertiary academics. We like to think that teachers will be able to take away tasks and ideas to use directly in their classroom as well as continuing to expand their personal and professional body of knowledge.

These conferences are great networking opportunities for teachers as many of them are the sole teachers of those subjects in their schools. They come from as far away as Mildura and Swan Hill to as close as Parkville. Delegates have opportunities to share tasks that have been successful in their classrooms, provide new teachers with much needed ideas and support,

to hear from Chief Assessors in their subjects and to build their networks for future problem solving.

This year’s event occurred amid a freak storm, after an incongruously hot night that led to a busy and disrupted start to the day – some train lines having been closed due to trees on tracks and teachers contacting insurance companies to check on storm damage claims. But we persevered through it all to have successful keynote speeches discussing the changing landscape of terrorism from al Qaeda to ISIS for the Politics cohort; and the ways in which the organisation Lodden Campaspe Multicultural Services supports local ethnic communities in and around the Bendigo area, for the Sociology cohort.

After a delicious and filling morning tea we headed into the main program with each group having four sessions in their specific area such as comparing political leadership roles and powers between Australia and the United States; a particularly topical session due to the turnover of Australian Prime Ministers and the current US Presidential primaries. In a Social Movements session one teacher discussed how Sea Shepherd Australia and the Marriage Equality movement are trying to create social change and which types of social movement they are – alternative, redemptive, reformative or revolutionary.

The Global Politics cohort had an extended session looking at ways to improve the study design (curriculum) as it goes through a major review after being in place for five years. What is working in classrooms? How can it be made a better, stronger and sustaining subject into the future? What do the global citizens of tomorrow (the students) need to know and what is the best way to teach it?

At the end of the day teachers provided feedback on the event and were engaged, positive, full of food and good ideas, and already looking towards the Global Politics student lectures coming up in May. Thanks to the SEV team, the presenters and delegates for their contributions without which the event would not have been possible and to the Graduate House team for being flexible and supportive during the lead up and running of the day.

Augusta Zeeng is the Professional Learning Programs and Project Manager at Social Education Victoria.

She is interested in changing the world for the better using and critiquing the media and politics. Augusta tweets on four different accounts, some for work and some personal that can lead to brain overload when a global crisis hits or there is a new hashtag on the loose. www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B

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GET YOUR BUSINESS OFF TO A FLOURISHING START WITH POSITIVE BUSINESS Planning on starting your own business? Find your vision and purpose by using researched-based ‘positive psychology’ with passionate industry leading coaches teaching practical strategies proven to: • • • • • • •

Increase your social & emotional wellbeing Focus on your strengths and develop them more effectively Improve on your skillsets to become a better, happier contributor to your team Help you create value in any given situation with a desirable leadership attitude The freedom to find meaning in your business and offer value to others The motivation and desire to make a positive impact on those around you To empower others so they can create and express who they are

Every Monday we offering a free consultation for Melbourne University students. This is an absolute bargain and excellent opportunity to start achieving your business goals. These are just a FEW of the ways that positive psychology has proven to manifest a desirable head for business that will put you ahead of your competitors and give you an extraordinary start. email: info@positivebusinesses.com.au

website: www.positivebusinesses.com.au

This message is brought to you by Member Francesco Caso, GradDipPsych (Melb), JD (Nap), MAPP (Melb).

Dining Room Feedback Wonderful staff. A roast dinner is always welcome if one lives alone!

- Elizabeth Carvosso

Thank you for helping me celebrate my February birthday at a shared lunch with the Women’s Forum.

The chicken was excellent!

- Margaret Mayers The Wednesday roasts are usually quite delightful with beautifully roasted vegetables and a variety of great roasted meats. The desserts are delightful too!

- Darren Room What a delightful Wednesday roast! The meat was thin and tender, the mint sauce was so tasty and the vegetables complementary to the meal.

- Mac Nicoll

I love the way Basma does cabbage, both white and red. The lamb shanks were tasty and tender.

Thank you!

- Marg Nicoll We were very impressed today - despite the large crowd, it was not too noisy. Excellent!

- John Johnson The lucky feedback-giver for February is Elizabeth Carvosso who won a bottle of Emeri De Botoli Chardonnay Pinot Noir

Your feedback is important Submit a Dining Room Feedback Form to be in the monthly draw and in the running for the year-end prize of a $500 Coles Myers Gift Voucher www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B

Page 42

Phone: 03 9347 3428 Email: admingh@graduatehouse.com.au Website: www.graduatehouse.com.au

The Graduate Union 220 Leicester Street Carlton VIC, Australia, 3053

D onat i on Form 2016

The GraduaTe union of The universiTy of Melbourne inc.

Donation Form From its establishment in 1911, Members have lived, learned and met together to continue the experience of ‘the meeting of the minds’ beyond university as they entered the workforce, had families, became leaders, volunteered across the world and retired.

These Members built the organisation through great generosity in the form of donations of funds and buildings, bequests and sponsorship, together with volunteer and pro bono work. We seek always to honour this legacy and to foster a culture of active and contributing membership.

Please give to our unique association of graduates.

Your gift is tax deductible and acknowledged in The Melbourne Graduate (please specify if you wish to remain anonymous).

Donor Information TiTle: naMe: daTe of birTh: naMe of orGanisaTion, Group or universiTy deparTMenT/ school: (for orGanisaTion MeMbers only)

Contact Information business: afTer hours: Mobile: eMail: address: (nuMber, sTreeT naMe or posT office box, suburb, sTaTe, posTcode and counTry) My donaTion will be $aud: aT frequency:

once-off

weekly

MonThly

annually

i auThorise The GraduaTe union To send Me a reMinder To send in a cheque or puT Money inTo The Gu accounT

Please complete this section, and the sections overleaf, and send to The Graduate Union 220 Leicester Street, Carlton, Victoria Australia, 3053.

www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B

Page 43

Phone: 03 9347 3428 Email: admingh@graduatehouse.com.au Website: www.graduatehouse.com.au

The Graduate Union 220 Leicester Street Carlton VIC, Australia, 3053

D onat i on For m 2 0 16

The GraduaTe union of The universiTy of Melbourne inc.

Method of Payment

Please tick choice of payment and write the amount you wish to donate

To donate, please cut along this line and send the completed form to 220 Leicester Street, Carlton, VIC 3023

cheque aMounT $ payable To The GraduaTe union of The universiTy of Melbourne incorporaTed

bank Transfer aMounT $

accounT naMe: The GraduaTe union of The universiTy of Melbourne incorporaTed bank: naTional ausTralia bank bsb: 083 170 accounT nuMber: 515612137 swifT code: (for inTernaTional Transfers) naTaau3303M descripTion of Transfer: your surnaMe or Group/ orGanisaTion and The word ‘donaTion’ crediT card aMounT $

card nuMber: expiry daTe: cardholder naMe:

/

/

/

siGnaTure:

Direct My Donation to:

Please indicate your preferred donation target

The fund of highest priority and need at the time of my donation Buildings Resident Members Capital Fund I am Interested in Gifting to Name: a space wiThin The GraduaTe union (buildinG, floor, rooM or oTher space) a scholarship or an award To a residenT MeMber a recoGniTion of excellence award for a residenT or non-residenT MeMber a career or reTireMenT developMenT proGraM for an in-career or a reTired MeMber

My Bequest (will) i would like To provide for The GraduaTe union in My will

(please Telephone The GraduaTe union on 03 9347 3428 in This circuMsTance)

ABN: 556 10 664 963

IAR No. A0023234B

www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN: 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B

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