Community engagement allows universities the opportunity to play an important role of social responsibility in the local and broader vicinity they operate within.
Our main objective is to lead and facilitate the development of best practice university-community engagement in Australia. This is done through creating inclusive forums for discussion and development of engagement, promoting practice, fostering awareness, building capacity and developing resources. Through the work of our Board, committees and working groups, EA provides an array of professional development activities as well as networking opportunities to develop engagement knowledge, skills and capacity and build interactive networks, partnerships and other relationships within and between universities, business, industry, government and community-based organisations.
Championing unique role universities have in society addressing contemporary challenges through teaching, research and partnerships.
Some 35 of Australia and New Zealand’s most exceptional university community-building and economic-advancement initiatives have been shortlisted in the Engagement Australia 2024 Excellence Awards.
This new groundbreaking book on ACCESS brought to you by Engagement Australia pivots between this foundation period and urgent contemporary issues facing higher education in the 2020s and a connection is made through the idea of ‘threads through time’ between then and now and between Great Britain and Australia which had both similar and shared yet different concerns as democratic societies facing challenges.
The Centre For A Better Canberra (FAB CBR), based at the University of Canberra (UC), is a think tank and public engagement body with the objective of advocating for the interests of the Canberra community and bridging the gap between the University’s resources and the functional needs of Canberrans.
Engagement Australia’s latest forum, “Enhancing Equity Outcomes through Structured Community Engagement,” brought together thought leaders, university executives, and practitioners in higher education to explore the vital role of community engagement in advancing student equity outcomes across Australia. Hosted at the Australian Catholic University, the forum highlighted best practices, discussed challenges, and paved the way for future-focused strategies aimed at deepening partnerships between universities and their communities.
With much fanfare, we saw a commitment to massively expand participation in higher education in the coming years, with equity groups, including those from remote and regional areas being critical to the success of this ambition.
As the university for all of Sydney, the University of Sydney invests in opportunities to enrich the learning and futures of young people. With youth creative writing centres in Redfern and Parramatta, Story Factory is a not-for-profit organisation that supports young people from under-resourced communities to strengthen their literacy and find their voice through creative writing and storytelling.
INNOVATIVE
SUPPORTIVE
STRATEGIC
COLLABORATIVE
“The hallmark of engagement is the development of partnerships that ensure a mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge between the University and the community.” Holland and Ramalay (2008:33).
