La Trobe Mildura held its second annual Connect and Grow event, in partnership with Mallee Family Violence Executive.
This student industry networking event provides an opportunity for students studying in the social work, psychology, mental health and community services sectors to connect with industry professionals from the local area.
In excess of 120 people gathered at our Mildura campus to hear from Dr Corina Modderman, as she presented the keynote address on her team’s work in Mildura that is helping to bridge the knowledge and service gap for children and young people in out-of-home care.
Dr Modderman is evaluating the project’s impact and providing recommendations to strengthen the project and help other rural communities. The Mildura project, led by the Department of Families, Fairness, and Housing and Mildura Rural City Council, has placed a registered nurse as a ‘health navigator’ in the child protection team to improve initial health screening and support follow-up assessments.
Following Dr Modderman’s keynote, event MC Chris Forbes (Executive General Manager, Education, Training, Research at Mallee Family Care) facilitated a panel discussion with local professionals, including:
Garth Boyd - Social Worker, Complex Psychology
Paul Hogarth - Team Leader Therapeutic Services - Mallee Sexual Assault Unit, Mallee Domestic Violence Service
Nadiene Lynch - Manager Sexual Assault & Family Violence Therapeutic, Mallee Sexual Assault Unit Inc. Mallee Domestic Violence Service
Jemma Johnson - Social Worker/Wellbeing, Irymple South Primary School
La Trobe online students studying psychological science also benefited from the on-campus event and were joined by SuniTAFE Certificate IV and Diploma of Community Services Work students, as well as VET Community Services students from Mildura Senior College.
The 2024 Connect and Grow event incorporated an industry expo for attendees to explore. Two concurrent sessions were on offer for attendees to choose from - Molly Keely, from our Mildura Domestic Student Recruitment team ran a session on TAFE pathways to university, and Dr Sean MacDermott from the John Richards Centre for Rural Ageing, ran a session on research partnerships titled 'What’s in it for everyone?'
Lisa Talbot, who is studying a Diploma of Community Services at SuniTAFE, said it was a fantastic opportunity to connect with industry experts. "The community service sector is so broad, and as a student entering that, it can be quite overwhelming,” she said. “So it has been really great to actually see the faces that are linked to certain programs that the local industry offer, be able to speak to them directly, and hear the insights and journeys of some of those industry experts.”
