Mirror, Mirror on the Wall… Advocacy Frameworks and Reflective Practices
SESSION OVERVIEW
How do you get “unstuck” from the micro work of Student Advocacy when you see the same issues arising over and over again?
This question is often a cause for frustration in University Student Advocacy services, where Advocates often feel frustrated by systemic issues impacting student wellbeing, but feel powerless to address them on a macro-level. That dance is a delicate dance between person-centredness and maintaining relationships for the sake of our students and upholding a legislative mandate to impartiality and the drive for social justice that many advocates feel strongly. This panel will discuss how UNE Life Advocacy and Welfare has used an ecological systems approach to Student Advocacy, which allows for micro, meso and macro advocacy within the university setting.
This session will cover:
- Evidence-based practice, informed by theoretical perspectives to advocacy and professional integrity
- Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory
- Trauma-Informed Practice
- Person-centred practice (vs systems-centred)
- Critical Theory
- Innovation
- Allowing staff to complete their university placements within Advocacy to reinforce evidence-based practice through research and evaluation of services
- Introducing placement students into the broader student experience team who bring the latest industry knowledge in a range of fields including social work, law, psychology, community services, media and communications, and more
- Expanding our services to include mediation, welfare case management, legal services and our ongoing provision of tax help
- Multidisciplinary teams and the value this adds
- Managing a high-performing Advocacy Service
- Creating a culture of innovation, integrity and collegiality
- Leading Student Advocacy Services
PRESENTERS
Tania Court
Tania Court is the Student Experience Manager at UNE Life. Her diverse management portfolio includes Australia’s oldest university radio station (Tune FM), the Clubs and Societies program which currently includes around 60 clubs and socs and Advocacy and Welfare as well as delivering many student programs and events throughout the year under the banner of student experience. Before entering this role in 2022, Tania was the Station Manager at Tune FM for 11 years. Tania has worked across a range of sectors including in high-level executive positions. Her experience managing high-performing teams is evident in the positive change Advocacy and Welfare has experienced over the past three years. She is truly passionate about delivering an outstanding experience for students and the difference that positive co-curricular programs can make in a student’s journey.
Lara Glasson
Lara Glasson is a devoted professional deeply committed to education, law, and advocacy. Whilst undertaking a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws at UNE, Lara joined UNE Life as an intern for TuneFM in 2022, hosting a radio show examining current political and legal affairs, earning her the accolade of Announcer of the Year. She then joined the Advocacy & Welfare team as an Independent Student Advocate for UNE students, bringing her passion for supporting others to the forefront.
Lara balances her professional and academic pursuits alongside her responsibilities as a single mother of two neurodiverse children and strives for societal change so that all children can live their lives free from domestic violence as the Secretary of Domestic Violence Advocacy Australia and the co-chair of the Special Council of Law Student Societies for NSW Young Lawyers.
Laura Murray
Laura holds a Bachelor of Social Work and is currently completing her honours in participatory practice with young people. She has worked across a range of services in the community sector including as a participation officer for the peak body for young people in NSW and on a pilot community development project for Headspace National. Laura has advised the NSW Government on youth policy through the NSW Regional Youth Taskforce. Laura has worked at UNE Life Advocacy and Welfare since 2021 and has recently completed her final social work placement in partnership with Advocacy and Welfare and the UNE Social Work Placement Office, working to address issues and barriers that occur in social work placements.
