Student support initiatives

Presenters

You are not alone: The safe and respected at La Trobe Campaign

Kellie Muir, La Trobe University

La Trobe University developed and delivered a social marketing campaign, Safe and Respected at La Trobe, to address high rates of sexual harm and low help-seeking behaviour among students, as identified in the 2021 National Student Safety Survey (Heywood et.al., 2022). The campaign formed part of the university’s comprehensive Sexual Harm Prevention and Response Action Plan and aimed to increase student awareness of what constitutes sexual harm, and how to seek support or report incidents.

Co-designed with students and implemented in collaboration with a social marketing consultant, the campaign took a bold, text-only approach to avoid stereotyping and maximise relevance across diverse student populations. It was delivered across six campuses and used La Trobe University’s internal communication channels.

The campaign was evaluated using a range of methods including student focus groups, communications metrics and relevant student service data.  Despite some challenges, the campaign successfully achieved its objectives and contributed to increased visibility for prevention of violence work.

This paper reflects on lessons learned and highlights the potential for cross-institutional collaboration to scale similar initiatives. This is a timely approach as universities prepare to meet new obligations under the forthcoming National Higher Education Code on gender-based violence.

Designed with students, for students: A university-wide guide to placement wellbeing & support

Professor Fiona Bird (presenting author), Megan Campbell, Kristin Baumann and Stephanie Pavlovski, La Trobe University

This presentation showcases a new university-wide pre-placement resource for students Your Guide to Workplace Rights, Wellbeing & Support which was introduced in 2025. This resource was created in response to feedback from students that pre-placement information about support services was patchy, resulting in students feeling unsupported and unclear about navigating common challenges on placement.  The new resource provides clear and consistent information to students undertaking placement about their workplace rights and responsibilities and the health, wellbeing and safety supports available, encouraging students to self-manage minor concerns rather than requesting support from supervising academics, and engage in early help seeking.

The resource was soft launched to students in late March and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.  Students described the layout of the Guide as clear, engaging, and easy to use, the language and tone of the Guide as simple, clear and friendly. Students also confirmed that the Guide helped them to increase their understanding of support services available. A small number of staff also reviewed the student guide and again the feedback was very positive. Feedback from students and staff informed revisions to the second iteration of the resource and the user testing/continuous improvement phase of the project is continuing. The revised resource was shared broadly across the university for all students to complete as part of their pre-placement preparation in semester 2.

Supporting students to prepare for placement with consistent information about workplace rights, wellbeing and support available is a challenge when the responsibility for providing that information is devolved to disciplinary academic teams and individual subject coordinators. Lessons learned from the process of creating, implementing and evaluating an informative and engaging university-wide student support resource will be discussed and may be of benefit to others seeking to improve the consistency and quality of support information for students.

Student Welfare Action Group (SWAG): A whole-of-university safety net for complex student risk

Melinda Green, Charles Sturt University

The Student Welfare Action Group (SWAG) is a weekly multi-disciplinary forum that convenes Security & Resilience (Coordinator), Safe & Respectful Communities (Secondary Coordinator), Health, Safety & Wellbeing, Accessibility & Inclusion, Conduct & Support, and Incident Management, with subject-matter experts (Residence Life, Student Life, University Ombudsman, First Nations Student Services, Work Integrated Learning) as required. Without delegated powers, SWAG facilitates consensus and actions through members’ existing authorities, escalating via business-as-usual lines where residual risk is high or approaches differ. All cases are recorded in an incident risk management system (IRMS) to ensure continuity, auditability and trend analysis, while linkages to critical-incident protocols enable rapid, trauma-informed responses with clear accountabilities.

SWAG reduces fragmentation and delay, improves continuity of care, and offers a replicable model for other institutions. Delegates will see the governance mechanics, meeting rhythm, documentation standards and escalation criteria that make the model work, plus a minimalist starter toolkit (terms of reference, agenda template, core IRMS data fields). The initiative aligns with student mental health and wellbeing, engagement and belonging, and student outcomes by creating a consistent pathway from identification to action and review.

Emma Clyne and Tasha Storey (presenting authors), Andrew Synnot, Nikki Bleja, Kylie Fitzpatrick, Michelle Jepsen, Claire Edwards, Simon Goh, Lisa Kavanagh, The Disability Resource Centre, Deakin University 

University life is often a time of change, excitement, anxiety and stress. For students with Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), these challenges can be heightened due to executive functioning demands and increased sensory, social, and cognitive overwhelm. These factors impact wellbeing and engagement. Research suggests that for neurodivergent students, comfort and emotional stability are prerequisites for learning (Coyle, O’Hare & Ramey, 2025).   Between 2019–2024, registrations of neurodivergent students at Deakin University’s Disability Resource Centre (DRC) increased 4.72-fold, alongside rising demand for counselling services through Deakin Counselling and Psychology Support (CAPS). In response, Deakin developed targeted initiatives to foster inclusion, improve sense of connection and support at university, and to increase comfort in the academic environment for autistic and ADHD students.   The DRC and CAPS jointly introduced five programs:

  1. NAVIGATE Program – peer mentor support for autistic students transitioning to university.
  2. NAVIGATE Drop-in Sessions – opportunities to ask mentors university-related questions.
  3. ADHD Support Group – connecting students with shared lived experience.
  4. ADHD Study Groups – providing body doubling for accountability.
  5. Low Sensory Orientation Tours – tailored university tours to reduce sensory load.

These initiatives have been successful in reducing isolation, building coping strategies, and reducing stigma. Students have reported stronger social connections, with demand for programs often exceeding capacity. To ensure student voices guide future development, some programs are now being reviewed through a ‘Students as Partners’ model.   Supporting autistic and ADHD students through accessible, tailored programs not only enhances their student experience but also improves academic outcomes within a socially safe environment.

Full program

Abstracts