
Celebrating the Jubilee Year for Pilgrims of Hope
News 19 MarchA message from the Executive Dean of Health Sciences Professor Suzanne Chambers.
07 June 2023
Share
Equity is about just and fair inclusion and creating an environment in which everyone can participate on the same basis and reach their full academic potential.
The Access and Disability Service is striving to ensure that students with disability, medical/mental health conditions, neurodiversity and significant carer responsibilities can participate fully in the ACU experience.
By working with students, academics and the university, we are empowering students to take on every opportunity through the provision of appropriate reasonable adjustments. It is with these provisions that one of our students, Brielle Riza, was able to engage in the SOCS210 Study Experience in Fiji.
Brielle has kindly shared her amazing experience with us all:
My name is Brielle Riza, I am hard of hearing. I have hearing aids and use Auslan when needed. I have worked with young people in Mackillop Family Services for the last six years, which led me to a passion to study youth work. I was studying for a Bachelor of Youth Work at Australian Catholic University. I decided to go on this study trip related to my youth work course as we would be working with young Fijian people and learning about the cultural differences between Australia and Fiji.
It was my first time overseas but wasn’t my first study trip, as I did a study trip in Western Australia for three weeks working with Aboriginal people in 2014. I had never been to Fiji, and it was my first time staying with a host family.
The highlight in Fiji was the village. I stayed in the Nabalasere village for four days. It was a fantastic experience to share their day-to-day life, kava, experience the cultural differences as they welcomed outsiders into their village, and connect with families in different houses. Staying with the host family was very interesting. We connected straight away and communication wasn’t hard as they can speak English. However, the accent could be challenging because I am hard of hearing. I did sometimes have to communicate without having my interpreters around. The families were terrific and would try their best to communicate with me when I didn’t understand. I managed to overcome it and showed them what I could do.
I received a beautiful message from one of the members of Think Pacific from the women in the village who told them how they felt after meeting me. They said that usually when they see a deaf person, they first see limitations and barriers, but they saw me just “going out and climbing the mountains” and being independent.
I learnt that Fiji is a developing country and more things need to improve for young people. These include breaking the barriers and getting more support for people with disabilities, which I will apply in my studies. The biggest culture shock was the village and how welcoming people were. There were special guests who could only come through one door and were not allowed to sit near the village chief. Drinking kava is part of their culture. Kava is yum!
I came home to Australia with the skills to be more aware of developing countries and make kava from scratch. I already had skills working with young people, but was also aware that there are a lot of things that developing countries need to learn such as mental health, advocacy and gender equality. I would love to work in developing countries, and I am hopefully moving to London so I can travel around developing countries to volunteer to make changes. Fiji really changed my mindset.
I am very grateful for the experience which was made accessible by ACU’s Access and Disability Service providing Auslan interpreters to accompany me to Fiji.
A message from the Executive Dean of Health Sciences Professor Suzanne Chambers.
Want to experience all the excitement and atmosphere of the Jubilee Year in Rome? Register for the 2025 Staff Pilgrimage.
CEI and HELTA are pleased to invite you to join your Campus Community of Learning Advancement (CCoLA). CCoLA is a professional learning community focused on collaborative workplace learning.
Same day access to most newspapers from Australia and overseas. This comprehensive collection of full-text newspapers (text and image versions) encompasses more than 7,000 global news sources from 200...
ACU Co-Lab, in partnership with StartSomeGood, is launching its comprehensive Social Enterprise Series 2025, an eight-week program designed to equip aspiring changemakers with essential skills for est...
Staff are invited to request an additional survey item in the Student Evaluation of Learning and Teaching (SELT) survey for units that are offered in ACU Online Term 1 (202516) and Professional Term 2...
A message from the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education Professor Tania Broadley: I would like to thank everyone across ACU who has welcomed me so warmly over the past few months.
Will you be leading or participating in an ACU recruitment process this year? Enrol in our new mandatory training module today to better understand ACU’s hiring practices.
The Higher Education Learning and Teaching Academy is hosting an online showcase featuring the most popular papers from our 2024 Showcase of Teaching and Learning event. Join us on Wednesday 26 March ...
In honour of Neurodiversity Celebration Week (17 - 23 March) the Access and Disability Service is proud to announce the launch of low sensory retreats across our campuses.
ACU will pilot disabling the Turnitin Artificial Intelligence (AI) Indicator tool. Read about the decision and how to provide sufficient evidence in cases of suspected academic misconduct.
The Library's AI Hub provides resources to build your confidence in using AI in an effective, ethical and responsible way.
A message from the Chief Operating Officer, Patrick Woods: As I approach my fourth month at ACU, I want to take a moment to express my gratitude for the warm welcome I’ve received.
Harmony Week (17 - 23 March) is an annual celebration that recognises Australia’s diversity and brings together people from all different backgrounds.
All staff need to be aware of the University's responsibilities under the Educational Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act 2000 and the accompanying National Code.
Congratulations to Associate Professor Jessica Russ-Smith who has been honoured with the 2024 Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning – the Neville Bonner Award for Indigenous Educa...
Beginning Thursday, 6 March these 15-minute power sessions will get you thinking about a range of contemporary topics and tools in higher education.
Join the Work-Integrated Learning Australia (WILA) conversation to explore how financial literacy impacts wellbeing and participation in unpaid WIL. Discover how placement design and delivery can maxi...
We offer a range of support programs and activities to ensure all students can make the most of their time at ACU. The student referral guide to support services outlines all our available student ser...
Changes to the process for casual staff to apply for conversion to ongoing employment took effect on Wednesday 26 February 2025, as a result of legislative changes.
Visit Service Central to access Corporate Services.