Some of Our Parts

2023 MSA Volunteering: Applications Now Open!

There are 60 + Volunteer Programs & Activities to choose from!

Volunteer opportunities can assist you with professional and leadership development while having fun, meeting new people and having time away from your studies.

Become A Volunteer!

Virtual and on-campus, and short-term and long-term volunteering are available.

• Become a 2023 MSA Volunteer: Apply Here
• For more information visit MSA Volunteering

Call For Survey Participants – Accessible Floor Plans Study

Further to the promotion of Monash University’s Accessible Floor Plans Study, researchers are keen to know more about access to complex public spaces from a user experience perspective.

They have developed a survey with relevant questions, including:

• Do you enjoy going to shopping centres and theatres?
• Do you visit train stations, airports and libraries a lot?
• Are you colour blind/have low vision/dyslexia or are you a wheelchair user?

They would like to hear about your experience in visiting these complex public spaces and your support material such as floor plans to pre-plan your trip, and are asking for 15-20 mins of your valuable time, to be spent on answering this anonymous online survey

For more information, or to request participation in this study, please contact:

• Dr. Anuradha Madugalla (anu.madugalla@monash.edu)
• Research Fellow, HumaniSE Lab, Faculty of IT, Monash University

Launch: Accessible ICT procurement in Higher Education

ADCET and the NDCO Program in partnership with an expert advisory panel and Intopia have developed an implementation guide which will provide universities with practical guidance about procuring ICT products and services with accessibility as an essential criterion.

The guide will be incorporated by the Council of Australasian University Directors of Information Technology (CAUDIT) as a part of the suite of strategic procurement guidance they provide to universities.

How To Adopt Relevant Standards

The resource focuses on demonstrating how to adopt relevant standards – AS EN 301 549 and WCAG 2.1 in procurement policies, procedures, and practice, with a view to building a more accessible future by design in Higher Education.

This shift toward buying ICT products and services that all staff and students can use is an extremely positive step universities can take to reduce the number of barriers encountered by people with disability and create welcoming and accessible education and work experiences, by design.

• You can attend the launch on 21 Oct 2022 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Guidelines for the Identification, Diagnosis, and Treatment of People with ADHD

Recently ABC News Online reported on new guidelines for the identification, diagnosis and treatment of people with ADHD.

For the first time, patients and medical professionals have comprehensive, evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD in Australia.

“For a family who has concerns over one of their family members, it really provides them with an authoritative, best-practice document, so they can be confident with the treatments offered,” said Monash University Professor Mark Bellgrove, president of the Australian ADHD Professionals Association (AADPA).

“It will equip them to ask the right questions of the clinicians and others involved in the care of their family members.”

It’s estimated that as many as one million Australians have ADHD.

• You can read the full article here.

New Information Resources Available on the Disability Standards for Education

The Department of Education (Department) has worked with Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) and young people with disability and their parents and caregivers to co-design a new range of resources about their rights under the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Standards).

• You can find the resources on the Department’s website here

What are the resources?

There are four new resources:

• Explaining the Disability Standards for Education – this resource outlines what the Standards are and what they are designed to do.
• Milestones and Transitions – this resource is to help students and their parents and caregivers make their way through their education journey.
• Advocating with and for your child: Primary School – this resource is for parents and caregivers of primary school students.
• Disability Standards for Education in Practice: Action Plan – this resource is for students who are in high school or tertiary education.

Each resource is available in Easy Read format and Auslan and translated into Arabic, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Farsi, Hindi, Khmer, Korean and Vietnamese.

How The Resources were Developed

The content of the new resources was created by students with disability and their parents and caregivers, with help from CYDA.

Development was informed by consultation with a range of disability organisations and with input from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability and people with disability from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Update on Caulfield Campus Building K Project

Buildings and Property Division have begun construction on the Caulfield, Building K1 Co-Curricular project.

Building K, Level 1 at Caulfield Campus will be a construction site, and there will be no access to the lift on level 1, during this project.

The lift will be available to go to other floors.

Signage will be displayed advising building occupants.

• Please use the external lift outside Building A, and cross to building K.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

• If you need assistance to locate the lift, please contact security on 9902 7777.

Stepping Into Internships – for Students and Graduates with Disability

About the Stepping Into Program

The Stepping Into program offers practical paid work experience for successful students and recent graduates with disability who may face significant obstacles in gaining employment.

Obstacles include such things as academic transcripts that don’t reflect the interns’ real potential or having limited opportunity to participate in part time work while studying.

The participating employers are pioneers within their field and are taking a leadership role in providing opportunities to interns with disability to access internship opportunities.

Australian Network on Disability (AND) have been bringing employers and interns together like this since 2005, and their record stands for itself: AND-supported interns are more likely to be employed after they leave university than students without a disability.

Eligibility

To be eligible for this program, applicants must be:

• A person with a disability, mental health condition or chronic illness
• In their final or second-last year of their degree, or have graduated from their studies in the last 36 months.
• An Australian citizen, permanent resident, or international student who holds full working rights in Australia.
• Able to commit to the entire program.
• Able to provide evidence of involvement with university disability services or a note from a medical professional that indicates the presence of a disability, mental health condition or chronic illness.

*Please note: Due to the incredible growth of this program, AND have recently extended their eligibility criteria to include recent graduates.

Key Dates

• Intern Applications Open: 1st September 2022 (Thursday)
• Intern Applications Close: 2nd October 2022 (Sunday)
• Internships begin from mid November

Information Sessions

AND runs information sessions and recruitment skill workshops throughout September and October, for potential applicants and those supporting eligible students and graduates.

• For more details on the Information Session dates and to register, students and graduates can visit the website: https://www.and.org.au/ students-jobseekers/start-an-internship/

Stepping Into is a nation-wide paid internship program that provides university students and recent graduates with disability hands-on work experience in their chosen field of study.

With over 150 paid internships available across a range of disciplines – from Accounting to Law, Engineering to Research, Public Policy to Sciences – there’s a role to suit you.

• Applications close 2nd October 2022.
• Contact AND at 02 8270 9200 or applications@and.org.au

Impulsivity and Attention in Adults with ADHD

Monash Researchers are seeking people diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) who are aged over 18 and don’t have any previous history of psychosis, organic brain disorder, epilepsy or serious head injury, to participate in a study investigating impulsivity, attention and local sleep.

Participants in this study will be asked to complete:

1. An online questionnaire
2. An interview with a clinician
3. An online impulsivity game, and
4. A computer task at Monash University

– whilst connected to EEG equipment to measure brain activity.

• Participation will take up to 5 hours, and participants will be reimbursed up to $100 (in the form of a Coles Group Gift Card) for their time.

Location

Monash University Clayton Campus

• To express interest in participating or for further information please email: Elaine.Pinggal@monash.edu

*This project has been reviewed and approved by the Monash University Human Ethics Research Committee – Project Number 17839 and 29393

Understanding ADHD – You’re Invited!

Next Month is Deaf Awareness Month!

*From #AiMedia

September is an important month in the d/Deaf community.

Not only is Deaf Awareness Month celebrated, but also International Week of Deaf People from 19-25 September and World Deaf Day on 27 September.

These are occasions to celebrate the d/Deaf community, educate about deafness, and advocate for accessibility in everyday life.

Tips for Being Deaf-Aware: Part 1

Understand the spectrum of deafness, learn more about Deaf culture, and get Ai Media’s top deaf communication tips.

Read more

Tips for Being Deaf-Aware: Part 2

In Ai Media’s second article on being deaf aware, they explore how to communicate when an interpreter is present, learning signs, words to use (and not use), and more.

Read more