the graduate union newsletter
JUNE 2020
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John Churton Collins
Portrait of John Churton Collins. Credit: Wikipedia
“In prosperity our friends know us; and in adversity we know our friends.” “We are no more responsible for the evil thoughts which pass through our minds, than a scarecrow for the birds which fly over the seed-plot he is to guard; the sole responsibility in each case is to prevent them from settling.” – Churton Collins (1848-1908), British literary critic
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Contents Graduate house news
dates ahead 4
Graduate House Reopening
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June International Days
26 Promotion to Senior Research Fellow Dr Chanchal Chandramouli
27 Arts Dean’s Honours List Merium Kazmi
features 10
28 Our Members
Heartfelt thanks immortalised on our Donor Board
Testimonial by James Henshall and Radhika Agarwal
11 Kenya in the time of COVID-19
Zoom ‘Hello’ from Rotary Club of Carlton to Graduate House
14 I’m turning into my mother
other
by Eve Gallagher
by Member, Jen Hutchison
29 The Local SDGs Program
16 Hugh and Debs in ‘iso’
Deakin University
by Hugh Becker
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30 Innovation
Citizen Science to aid bushfire recovery
Housing the homeless the redevelopment of Ozanam House
32 One Thousand and One Nights Serial
The Story of the Fisherman and the Jinni continued
24 Journey out of Darkness
into Health and Wellness by Nicole Alicastro
Postponed Events Due to stringent safety measures put in place to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Graduate House has postponed the following GU-Collegiate events in June.
Monthly Luncheon
Special Morning Breakfast
Italian Conversation Dinner
Women’s Forum
16th June
3rd June - Alfred Poulos
17th June
9th, 23rd June
Bridge NIGHTS
3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th June
We thank you for your cooperation and understanding during this period. 3
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GRADUATE HOUSE REOPENING
Graduate House Reopening 1st June 2020
Two dining spaces are available: a total of 36 guests for each meal with 16 in the rear section and 20 in the middle section of the Dining Room.
We are pleased to reopen the Graduate House Dining Room and Meeting and Function Services in accordance with the Federal and Victorian State Government easings of restrictions and guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). This reopening will occur in stages and is subject to any change required by DHHS. We have capacity limits for every space in Graduate House and adhere strictly to physical distancing and hygiene requirements.
Meetings and Functions Meetings and Functions will also restart on 1st June 2020. Our rooms and break space set-ups ensure that delegates have adequate physical distancing and are positioned at least two metres apart. The following shows the capacity limits for different configurations in our meeting and function spaces.
Dining Room Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will restart on 1st June 2020; each for two hours. We ask that you book and pay ahead. This is to avoid disappointment, as capacity limits will be reached quickly, and to minimise face-to-face transactions with card payments. We no longer accept cash.
Room Configurations (physical distancing, with guests 2 metres apart)
Meal sitting (maximum one hour) and queue times are as follows:
Theatre Style
Breakfast: 7.00am - 9.00am Sitting 1
Queue start: 6.55am Queue start: 7.10am
Sitting 2
Queue start: 7.55am Queue start: 8.10am
Boardroom Style
Lunch: 12.00noon – 2.00pm Sitting 1
Queue start: 11.55am Queue start: 12.10pm
Sitting 2
Queue start: 12.55pm Queue start: 1.10pm
Classroom Style
Dinner: 6.00pm – 8.00pm Sitting 1
Queue start: 5.55pm Queue start: 6.10pm
Sitting 2
Queue start: 6.55pm Queue start: 7.10pm
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U-shape Style 4
GRADUATE HOUSE REOPENING
• Theatre: 11 people — one seated on each of 9 chairs (no tables); two seated at the head table)
Stella Langford Wing Cochrane, Taylor and Hewlett Rooms combined Maximum: 39 people (with three rooms joined)
• Classroom: 23 people — one seated at each of • U-Shape: 9 people — 7 seated around the U-Shape (3+1+3); two seated at the head 21 tables; two seated at the head table table) • Theatre: 31 people — one seated on each of • Boardroom: 8 people seated around a closed 29 chairs (no tables); two seated at the head rectangle of tables (3+1+3+1) table • U-Shape: 22 people — 13 seated on the outer • No tables: 13 people seated or standing side of the U-Shape (3+7+3); 7 seated on the inner side (2+3+2); two seated at the head table
Ian Potter Room and Stillwell Rooms Maximum: 29 people (with two rooms joined)
• Boardroom: 20 people seated around a closed rectangle of tables (3+7+3+7) • No tables: 39 people seated or standing
• Classroom: 20 people — one person seated at each of 18 tables; two seated at the head table
Room combination Cochrane and Taylor or Taylor and Hewlett
• Theatre: 31 people — one person seated on each of 29 chairs (no tables); two seated at the head table
• U-Shape: 19 people — 17 seated around the U-Shape (7+3+7); two seated at the head • Classroom: 17 people — one seated at each of table 15 tables; two seated at the head table Maximum: 27 people (with two rooms joined)
• Boardroom: 20 people seated around a closed rectangle of tables (7+3+7+3)
• Theatre: 21 people — one seated on each of 19 chairs (no tables); two seated at the head table
• No tables: 29 people seated or standing
• U-shape: 12 people — 10 seated around the U-Shape (3+4+3); two seated at the head table
Ian Potter Room Maximum: 14 people (single room)
• Boardroom: 14 people seated around a closed rectangle of tables (3+4+3+4)
• Classroom: 11 people — one person at each of 9 tables; two seated at the head table
• No tables: 27 people seated or standing
• Theatre: 11 people — one person on each of 9 chairs (no tables); two seated at the head table
Cochrane Room, Taylor Room or Hewlett Room
• U-Shape: 8 people — 6 seated around the U-Shape (2+2+2); two seated at the head table
Maximum: 13 people (per single room) • Classroom: 8 people — one seated at each of 6 tables; two seated at the head table 5
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REOPENING GRADUATE HOUSE
• Boardroom: 8 people seated around a closed rectangle of tables • No tables: 14 people seated or standing Stillwell Room Maximum: 16 people (single room) • Classroom: 14 people — one seated at each of 12 tables; two seated at the head table • Theatre: 14 people — one seated on each of 12 chairs (no tables); two seated at the head table
Graduate House is well equipped to hold ‘hybrid’ meetings — with some delegates at Graduate House and others participating remotely (Zoom; Webex) and seen on large screens. We have a range of videoconferencing and audiovisual equipment, large screens, good internet connection and onsite technical assistance. We also provide a remote add-on service to help your delegates set up at home and learn how to use these platforms.
• U-Shape: 10 people — 8 seated around the U-Shape (3+2+3); two seated at the head table • Boardroom: 10 people seated around a closed rectangle of tables (3+2+3+2) • No tables: 16 people seated or standing
We are registered with Melbourne City Council (Class 2) to prepare and serve food and beverages, and so will continue to adhere strictly to all hygiene and safety measures. Our delicious and nutritious food is now pre-plated and covered; and served through screens. Our restrooms and all surfaces are cleaned very regularly and with antiviral disinfectant. Please call our Hospitality Manager on 03 9347 3428 or email rosie.ellul@graduatehouse.com.au to discuss catering, capacity limits and the many health and safety measures that we have firmly in place at Graduate House. We have instructions and online registration forms for meeting and function organisers to forward to their delegates, in order to comply with DHHS requirements to record the first name and telephone number of all who come to Graduate House. We will keep this information securely for 28 days and provide this to DHHS only if so requested and only for contact tracing purposes. Please be assured that we respect and adhere to all privacy laws in this regard. We recommend delegates travel to Graduate House by private, rather than public, transport. The online registration form thus also includes a car park booking and payment form. www.graduatehouse.com.au
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REOPENING GRADUATE HOUSE
We are SAFE and have much experience in offering a true home during these uncertain times. Unlike other residential colleges, we offer variable term residencies. This caters better for the needs of mature graduate residents. Before coming to Graduate House Our aim is to make everyone feel and be safe while at Graduate House. We are thus very grateful to all for adhering to and respecting our health and safety measures. Before coming to Graduate House we ask you to check you do not have any signs or symptoms of an infectious disease. Runny nose
Fever
Sore throat Loss of sense of taste and smell
Chills or sweats
Shortness of breath
Meeting and function delegates may wish to order food, beverages and products that are not included in the catering package selected by the meeting/function organiser. The online form sent to delegates thus includes an order form for coffee from our espresso machine, a celebratory beverage from the bar (to be imbibed only when eating) and for Graduate House face masks (disposable paper; reusable/washable cloth). These pre-ordering and pre-payment options are also to minimise the number of face-to-face transactions at Graduate House. Short term accommodation For those coming here for professional development, seminars, meetings and other events, Graduate House is the ideal place to stay either side of the event.
In particular, please do not come to Graduate House if your temperature is above 37.5 degrees Celsius (°C; 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit [°F]).
We suggest taking advantage of this new-found freedom by staying one (or a few) night(s) before the event and then one (or a few) night(s) after. Yes, you can make it a long weekend! For more details, go to: https://www.graduatehouse.com. au/meet-here/accommodation-fordelegates/.
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COMING DATES
June international days International Children’s Day 1st June
International Children’s Day was proclaimed on 1st June 1925 after the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva. The day was designated to highlight children’s issues, and focuses on the needs of children regardless of their race, sex, religion, socioeconomic status and many other diversity factors.
Mabo Day 3rd June
Mabo Day commemorates the day when the Australian High Court handed a landmark decision to recognise the traditional rights of the Meriam people and ruled Australia was not ‘terra nullius’, the Latin phrase for ‘land belonging to no-one’. The ruling would recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders have a special connection to land and led to the Australian parliament passing the Native Title Act in 1993.
World Environment Day 5th June
World Environment Day was established in 1974 to lift awareness and action on the environment, addressing issues such as marine pollution, excessive land clearing, global warming, sustainable consumption and wildlife crime. Celebrated in more than 143 countries, the theme for 2020 is ‘Time for Nature’ and the focus is on nature’s role in providing the essential infrastructure that supports life on Earth and human development.
th World Oceans Day The United Nations officially recognised World Oceans Day on 8 June 2008. The day is coordinated by The Ocean Project, an international non-government 8th June
organisation (NGO) community foundation. The theme for this year is ‘Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean’ and the Conservation Action Focus continues to be on the protection of 30 per cent of the Earth’s land and ocean by the year 2030 (30x30).
World Blood Donor Day 14th June
World Blood Donor Day was established in 2005 and designated as a special day to thank blood donors, to encourage more people to give blood freely and to raise awareness about the global need for safe blood. The theme for this year is ‘Safe Blood Saves Lives’.
World Refugee Day 20th June
World Refugee Day was established in 2001, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the UN’s 1951 Refugee Convention. The Convention is supported by the 1967 Protocol and by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which is mandated to give international protection to refugees who do not have the protection of their own governments. In recent years, refugee numbers have reached the highest levels of displacement on record.
International Day of Yoga 21st June
The International Day of Yoga was founded by the United Nations in 2014, with the aim of raising awareness worldwide of the benefits of practising yoga. Yoga is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice that started in India. The word ‘yoga’ comes from the Sanskrit word meaning to join or unite, symbolising the merger of body and consciousness.
World Music Day 21st June
World Music Day, also known as Make Music Day, was originally known as Fête de la Musique and was launched in France in 1982. Designed as a free celebration of music around the world, it encourages participants to ‘make their own music’ and is celebrated in more than 1,000 cities in 120 countries across the world.
Asteroid Day 30th June
International Asteroid Day was founded by the United Nations in 2016 in order to “observe each year at the international level the anniversary of the Turguska impact over Siberia, Russian Federation on 30th June 1908 and to raise awareness about the asteroid impact hazard”. According to NASA’s Centre for Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) there are more than 16,000 near earth asteroids.
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COMING DATES
International Children’s Day
Mabo Day
World Oceans Day
June - Frank Stillwell
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FEATURE - COVID 19
Testimonial RESIDENT MEMBER, James Henshall I hope you and everyone at Graduate House are keeping well and safe in this different and difficult time of COVID-19. I am writing somewhat belatedly to convey my acknowledgement and immense appreciation for allowing me to stay at Graduate House over the period November 2019 until late-April this year. In October last year, I returned from Indonesia to Melbourne and, while accommodated by family and friends, such goodwill can only last for a set period of time, after which one must move on.
The precautionary measures taken such as delivery of meals directly to each resident’s room, food handling, general facility use and preventing the entry of non-residents into the building are all commendable efforts of Graduate House.
To this end, the opportunity provided by Graduate House to take up temporary residence was a great help and fillip to my accommodation needs. My period of residence was greatly appreciated in the fine institution that is Graduate House surrounded as it is by local amenities and very convenient proximity to all things Melbourne.
These tasks and risk management practices adopted by Graduate House have been carried out admirably under unique circumstances over, what continues to be, an unknown period of time. All of this facilitated by the staff members and the irregular hours worked – quite often out of normal work hours for all staff members.
Further, in the weeks leading up to my planned Jakarta departure on 16th March, Graduate House was again a great help in meeting my accommodation requirements. This was further aided in the uncertain weeks following the announcement of travel restrictions and subsequent cancellation of my assignment Indonesia in the dark, Darth light of the COVID-19 outbreak.
In summary, many, many thanks for the hospitality and support provided by Graduate House in my own personal unknown zone and time of home support. I also have the added honour and pride of being published in the monthly newsletter.
The way in which Graduate House managed the difficulties and uncertainties of the virus outbreak – and continues to do so – are great tributes to you and the organisation.
Best wishes to you and all the members of staff at Graduate House. Regards, James
Resident member, Radhika Agarwal The staff at Graduate House were definitely very helpful especially during this time and I really appreciate how Basma and Nelson are open to feedback and requests for specific dishes. They are also very warm and welcoming. www.graduatehouse.com.au
Today’s lunch was delicious, especially the palak paneer. It made my day! When I saw the dish on the menu today, I rushed to have lunch here. It was heavenly!! *Feedback pre-lockdown and when the dining room was open. 10
FEATURE - COVID 19
Kenya in the time of COVID-19 by Eve Gallagher
Eve Gallagher is an Australian lawyer living in Kenya. Here she shares her story of moving to Kenya with her family and her work as a volunteer human rights lawyer and podcast creator.
refugee camp? So what can we do other than sit inside and wait and make the most of our time together?! Essentially, I now have three jobs, all unpaid. I spend most of my time caring for our children, including homeschooling them now that all the schools are closed. I volunteer online as a human rights lawyer for a few hours each day, and I also work on my podcast about Kenyan women and the law whenever I can. And thankfully, we’ve managed to find a pretty good rhythm. The kids are happy enough, my partner’s happy enough and I’m happy enough.
Qualifications: Bachelor of Arts (Hons), Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws (LLM) Job title: Housewife/Human Rights Lawyer/ Podcast Creator Work background: Until January, I was a Senior Policy Adviser to the Minister for Training and Skills and Higher Education in Victoria’s Andrews Labor Government. It was my dream job, but hard to juggle with three children.
What did you study in your Bachelor of Arts and why did you continue your studies in your postgraduate studies?
When my partner got offered a job in Kenya, making the move was obviously in the best interests of my family, but I was really sad to leave my job. Like many women, my life since having children has been a roller coaster, marked by the joy of motherhood, the rewards of meaningful employment, and the chaos of trying to do both at once.
I studied politics for my Arts degree. I’m all about building and protecting systems that help people overcome disadvantage. Politics is how you do that; and the law. Studying is my happy place. When I needed to leave another amazing job because I was run down and wanted to have another baby after several miscarriages, I decided to do an LLM at Melbourne University as a mental health strategy. I loved it. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Although my partner has a visa that allows him to work in Kenya, I do not. And as there are restrictions on the types of organisations that are allowed to employ foreigners, getting a work visa is hard. Before we left Melbourne, I made it clear to my partner that I was not quitting my job to move here and become a housewife, and that I expected him to support my efforts to find a new job. But that was before the coronavirus.
Once you finished your postgraduate qualification, what inspired you to work in your chosen area? I had a baby while undertaking my masters so it took me two years to complete instead of one. In that time, Trump and Brexit happened. I was at home studying and caring for my baby, watching people vote on mass for division, and for the ongoing dismantling of the safety nets I had benefitted from and had worked hard to protect. Just as I was finishing my masters, the Andrews Labor Government - with its commitment to gender equality, workers rights and free TAFE won the Victorian election. Then I met Minister
We’ve all been home together for three months now. I feel bored and anxious sometimes – like everyone else – but mostly I feel immensely lucky. We have a house with running water, electricity (most of the time), the Internet and a yard, which is more than many people here have. The coronavirus has only just taken hold in the community and it’s going to be devastating. How do you comply with sanitation and social isolation measures when you live in a slum or a 11
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FEATURE - COVID 19
Tierney, who’s so completely values driven and people-focused, and that sealed the deal.
and so little time. I just do whatever I feel inspired to do at any given point in time.
How did you come to work in the government sector? How many years were you in this role/ area?
Right now, for example, I’m volunteering as a human rights lawyer at the Center for Reproductive Rights in Kenya. As soon as we decided to move here, I knew I wanted to advance women’s rights in any way I could.
I was born to a homeless, teenage single mum in the 1970s. We were given a flat to live in for free, my mum went to university for free, my childcare while she was studying at university was free, I was sick as a child and received most of my medical care for free, and I went to primary school and high school for free. By the time I got to university, it was no longer free, but it was nothing compared to the amount it costs today. If it weren’t for all of these opportunities that were given to me by the State, there’s a high likelihood I’d be dead or in jail. So clearly I believe in big government and the obligation of government to advance equality of opportunity for all people. No-one thinks, “I want to be a homeless drug addict when I grow up.” If you give people opportunities, they will take them.
Did you change roles/upskill/get promoted or change work in any way? I’m always moving jobs. More often than I’d like. For the past ten years, this movement has primarily been driven by the working mother chaos I referred to above. I take on jobs I think are exciting and meaningful, but then I struggle to balance the demands of my job with the demands of motherhood. My partner, on the other hand, has sailed on through his career, only shifting direction every once in a while to take up a promotion. My partner has always worked full time, and he used to travel a lot for work. One day he said, “You know, no-one has ever asked me, ‘But where are your kids?’” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked that question. The person asking it always has a concerned look on their face, seemingly assuming that I’ve left my children in the gutter while going about my business.
Sometimes I try to make the lives of disadvantaged people better from inside government, and sometimes I do it from the outside. I enjoy both. I’ve never really had a career plan. There are so many jobs I’d like to do, www.graduatehouse.com.au
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FEATURE - COVID 19
What do you see as the greatest challenge in your last role? The greatest challenge of working as a ministerial adviser is definitely exercising grace under pressure. The hours are long, the workload is big, the stakes are high and, if you stuff up, there’s a higher than usual likelihood it will play itself out in public. What do you see as the biggest milestone in this role? There are so many initiatives I’m proud to have worked on as a ministerial adviser higher apprenticeships in the social services sector, various programs that transitioned disadvantaged people through training and into construction jobs, free TAFE ... What would you say was the greatest lesson you learned?
The Government has since adopted a policy on menstruation that is designed to reduce the stigma around periods, but advocates frustrated by the slow pace of change are also pushing for law reform.
Perseverance. What is your next goal? Do you have any further aims planned? I have three goals at the moment.
While I would love to go ahead and start recording it, I don’t feel comfortable - as a white woman - publicly interrogating black women in a post-colonial African country about their lives and values. A friend of a friend here in Nairobi has a colleague she thinks might be interested in partnering with me, but life moves slowly in lockdown.
The first is to guide my family as best I can through life in lockdown. The second is to contribute to, and learn from, the excellent work of the Center for Reproductive Rights. The third is to find a Kenyan woman to work with me on my podcast, In Search of Ideologies. I took its name from a High Court decision in which modern Kenyan women were criticised for going “in search of ideologies” that undermine their culture and their commitment to their “important wifely duties”. I want each episode to provide a platform for women to discuss those ideologies (which aren’t contrary to their culture at all, but rather part of its evolution) and the implications of those ideologies for Kenyan law. I already have guests lined up for the episode on periods being a natural part of life. Last year, a young girl was sent home from school after she got her period for the first time. While many girls drop out of school when they get their period, this particular girl had no idea what was happening and felt so ashamed, or perhaps scared, that she killed herself.
Are you a Kenyan woman? and interested in working with Eve Gallagher on her podcast, In Search of Ideologies, please get in touch with us on +61 3 9347 3428 or admingh@graduatehouse.com.au. We will make sure you get connected! 13
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FEATURE
I’m turning into my mother by Member, Jen Hutchison
The clock has reversed forty years, maybe fifty. I remember that child well enough. Life skills? Had none. Curious beyond control, feral child of farmland, dreaming of the city. Now I’ve returned, decades after urban transformation, back to my tree lines. On this magpie, kookaburra, dairy cow and wet, green West Gippsland hill, I’ve been forced by the pandemic to reconfigure. Smiling but scarred from the bumps and grinds of love and loss, parenting and getting ahead, falling behind, moving aside, climbing up, looking down, jumping, cushioned falls and heavy landings. Many days I feel the joy, some I mourn. Lockdown and its parent COVID-19 have gifted us a proper noun, once verb twins – to lock down. A miasma on an unprecedented etymological trajectory to a new blood stained, fibrotic blight on healthy lungs and our greedy history. External voices control my wanderings. I am compliant. The wise elder and the headstrong youngster who was taught to respect authority and pushed against it, now think in alignment. Do or die. Don’t go far. Don’t touch your face, don’t visit your loved ones. Wash your hands. This old house, despite its sloping floors and rattling draughts, was my recuperation. Three sleeps each week. Three days of smelling gum, walking gravel roads under old-growth overhang, watching cows ruminate, feeling my brain follow – cud of the week’s events rechewed, spat or swallowed. Monday afternoon wistful, back to the swarming city. Closing the gate behind me I’d murmur ‘see you Friday’. A mantra of promise.
the tutor as I tighten a holding tie around the tomato plant, dig potatoes, water the pumpkins. Her vanilla tones are gentle in my throat as I talk to them all, the sugar snap seedlings too. She is not a separate entity; she is within.
Now salvation in isolation. I’ve brought my bones home. As if my ears have grown new tips, I hear my mother’s murmur. From the beyond, but I’m not afraid. Her step paces mine. I turn my head to her echo while picking mint and basil, plotting lunch, scanning the fridge for dinner, hanging the washing between the ancient yard trees. She’s www.graduatehouse.com.au
Too long overdue for a haircut my wild curls threaten my view. I tame them with a scrunched band pulled back tight. “Hello Alice,” my beloved grins. 14
FEATURE
plastic fly swat. Hurling a war cry and swearing like a wharfie I parry and swipe, prancing on and on, copying their flight path a pulse behind. “F…… things. P… off!” I get a few, freak more and as a cold snap arrives, I count the seedlings and declare victory. We’re shielded from neighbours by ancient Cypress windbreaks. No witnesses to view my eccentricity. My mother is silent throughout.
“I know,” I say. “Hair pulled back I’m the spit of her. She walks with me in the hallway mirror.” “Worse things could happen,” he says. “She was a fine woman. Aged with grace.” I almost laugh. I know some of my mother’s secrets. “It is what it is, I guess,” I say. “I feel her.” The last shadows of dusk signal lamp time. Together, she and I circle the room, flicking switches.
It’s wine time. Pure her. Why push back on that gift? I cluck over scarlet sunsets and the day’s fossicking in my happy veggie patch. I let my mind doodle through half-baked ideas for what’s next, plans for dinner and as the slow time extends I feel gratitude for my mother’s gifts – tools for nature, nurture and appreciation for solitude. I chuckle, and smile.
No dishwasher here, no fly screens, no ensuite. Finite hot water, the drinking version in tanks out the back, wood to be split, stacked and carted. The fire to be stored through the night or we wake with blue fingers and hoar breath as autumn nights bite the heart out of summer, chomp and spit. These were her tasks, then ours, we brats. Who knew I was storing tricks and tools, habits, an investment in the future? Once a week into town too, now as then, the week ahead a columned list, no second run. Butcher, baker, candlestick maker, all in one mega-store now. She might linger, gossip. Not me. Dash in, dash out, sanitised in both directions.
*** Copyright, J. Hutchison, 13th April 2020 Member, Jen Hutchison is the publisher at Journeys to Words Publishing and the author of Motherling. Please see a review of her Monthly Luncheon presentation in our July 2019 newsletter.
Autumn is let’s-destroy-the-brassicas season for dancing white butterflies. They cavort over my vegetable beds, mating in mid-air chaotic acrobatics. Pin-prick yellow eggs glue onto succulent young leaves of cauliflower and cabbage, voracious green grubs appearing within hours. I turn each leaf over in the morning gloom and again at day’s end. My mother guides my fingers with every squish. I burst another fat invader and fling it aside, knowing I learnt that from her. How else could I do a thing so disgusting poker-faced? My secret weapon is pure me and she stands aside. The sun poking through is the signal for the white-winged destroyers to arrive. Down the back steps I swoop brandishing my yellow 15
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FEATURE
Hugh and Debs in ‘iso’ by Hugh Becker
Dear all, or dinosaurs simply to take out their rubbish bins or by encouraging their kids to populate street-facing windows with galleries of soft toys. And there again, Imprimatur, my current book, entirely coincidentally, concerns a disparate group of travellers quarantined in a Roman hostelry in 1683. We have certainly survived plenty of plagues and pandemics in the past!
This morning we woke to the prospect of an absolutely clear diary. The blank page for Monday 20th April promised – nay insisted! – that we must again spend the entire day at home with no scheduled meetings, social gatherings, cultural or sporting events or wild, hedonistic parties to distract and divert. While my survival instinct struggled to quell the now familiar wave of panic, the pragmatic part of my brain reassured me that I could absorb at least some of this day – defined as the time spent between crawling out of a comfortable, warm bed and eventually creeping back into it – by spreading a soupçon of humour, garnished with a sprinkle of tart thoughts to the world at large – yes, dear reader, that’s you!
Right now Australia, a young nation hooked on slang and fond of diminutives, must count itself, whatever temporary privations and inconveniences its residents may be experiencing, extremely fortunate. Statistical anomalies notwithstanding, the world is sufficiently far into this crisis to be able to draw some crude, initial comparisons. The current Coronavirus-related death tallies indicate 40,000+ for the US, 16,000+ for the UK and 70 for Australia. While the global picture remains too murky to deduce clear reasons for this numerical disparity, the incomprehensibly large quantities of cash being ‘eased’ into some economies means that every country will share a portion of the burden in terms of socioeconomic consequences. But perhaps the following anecdote (for which I am indebted to Larry Bailey – honorary mayor of Port Clyde, Maine), will shed some light on that particular matter:
But before quitting the pillow to perform the initial ablution of this new waking cycle – at one point hand washing had become such an obsessive function that we were washing our hands in preparation for washing them! – we had to review all the jokes and crazy videos that had accumulated overnight on WhatsApp and other lifelines. Though emanating from multiple, generous senders, the bulk of these are generated by Billie Shamash in her Emsworth fun factory. Thank you all. They make a difference and help us to avoid complete mental hibernation. I recall that Daniel Defoe described the indifference of many citizens when facing an imminent wave of the Plague as ‘supine negligence’, and it is sometimes hard to counter the seductive, dulling charms of torpor. Mentioning Defoe’s Plague, Antonia Syme reminded me that the Venetians created the Fiesta del Redentore to celebrate the cessation of the 1576 Plague. Maybe, she suggested, Melbourne should be planning its own modern version? It’s a thought because a carnival theme is much in evidence as people create their own fun whether by dressing up as clowns www.graduatehouse.com.au
The story goes that, last week, a Melbourne couple, whose house had just burnt down, needed to put up in a hotel for a few nights. The husband, already stressed, was painfully aware that his wife would not tolerate any substandard accommodation. Finding one of the few hotels that had remained open, he approached the receptionist, slapped a $100 note on the desk and asked to see the best rooms available. The moment he had gone upstairs the manager grabbed the note and ran around the corner to the butcher. “G’day, Baz,” he smiled, maintaining 16
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Bookshelf of acclaimed authors (read titles from left to right) by artist Phil Shaw, Huddersfield, UK. https://www.instagram.com/philshaw775/. 17
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the correct social distancing etiquette, “This’ll square us for that meat you delivered yesterday.” Armed with the note, Baz sped next door to the bottle shop. “Drop me off three trays of tinnies this arvo, mate,” he requested. The manager of the bottle shop seized a broom and pounded on the ceiling. Ginny, the local ‘goodtime girl’, appeared. “Ere, darlin’,” he smiled, “for services rendered…” Ginny’s eyes lit up. She ran around the block and into the hotel. Placing the note on the reception desk, she said, “That’s for that room I used last night.” Moments after Ginny had left, the harassed husband reappeared. “Nope,” he sighed, “My Sheila won’t care for any of those rooms, I’m afraid.” He picked up the $100 note, put it back in his wallet, and left. So, in those few frenetic minutes, no one had produced anything, no one had earned anything but the whole block was out of debt and everyone felt way more optimistic. And that was a Melburnian microcosm of how a Stimulus Package works!
And then, into the fray comes a single, unlikely and self-effacing character. Cometh the hour, cometh Captain Tom Moore. While many people, including a fair proportion of world leaders and politicians, appear distracted and confused, a simple action, driven by modest ambition, cuts through the dismay and alarm. Palpably devoid of hubris, spin or other corrupting motive, the honest simplicity of his initiative spoke to millions. And millions have responded. Will the actions of this 99-year-old man, very soon to be 100, change anything in the long run? Perhaps they will if we all elect to be similarly positive, to make each day count instead of counting them as they go by towards some ephemeral date on which ‘normality will be restored’. Such a day does not exist because, by then – whenever – a new normality will have taken its place. Given a few weeks’ respite, our biosphere has shown signs of regeneration. Can we, if we all prefer to see stars and night, breathe purer air and value basic good health for all, ignore the opportunity that COVID-19 has provided. Without the virus the pace of global destruction, in which we all participated – for which we are jointly and severally responsible – would have continued unabated. Do we now review whether we have an implicit right to fly and cruise and consume without restraint; whether we have an entitlement to burn fossil fuels to the last cubic metre and flatten the final stands of native trees to make way for more cash crops; whether we should support, by our purchases, the systematic destruction of fragile marine ecosystems? To have asked such questions before the turn of the year would have been to invite a torrent of ‘hair shirt’ and ‘tree-hugger’ invective, but not so much now, so let’s ask and keep on asking.
Mankind has always speculated about the future, and never more so than today. Members of the Professional Predictors Club rarely agree on much – well, you wouldn’t expect them to, would you?! – but there is a broad consensus that ‘things won’t re-emerge the same as they were before’. This must be true, not least because the speed of change was already accelerating pre-COVID-19. The potential sociopolitical consequences of AI fusing with biotech were hard enough to scope without adding the impetus for social control as exemplified by opportunist politicians from Poland, Hungary, Russia, China and Turkey to name but a few. Every authoritarian regime wishes to control social media and track its population. Many people who possess a mobile phone (and more importantly are self-programmed to carry it with them everywhere they go), may be persuaded to waive their privacy rights and be overtly rather than covertly tracked. The immediate deal is simple. Comply and ‘we’ will help to protect you against the virus, but what after the current pandemic has passed? Ultimately this will be a decision for each individual to make but in so doing each should strive to understand the potentially irreversible consequences of such choices. www.graduatehouse.com.au
And what are Debs and I doing to reduce our impact? Nothing special other than not using our car and being careful with utilities – but that is easy, we are in ‘iso’! We are walking a lot, relying on the Internet – which does consume electricity! – and I’m clocking up a daily 7,000 virtual river meters on my trusty rowing machine. Apart from reading and getting exasperated by impossible jigsaw puzzles (the solution to which, I realise, is to deploy a lump 18
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hammer!), I have spent a lot of time in the kitchen, because a flow of tasty food is good for maintaining the morale essential for domestic harmony! Debs, I have to report, continues to cope with lockdown admirably. She is, of course, frustrated not to be in the UK and near Katie and Tom but, thanks to the BBC or ITV programmes such as Escape to the Country, she is rapidly becoming an expert on each county and its hidden property treasures. Mentally, I live with suitcase packed, ignition keys in hand, and local dialect dictionary at the ready! On that note, from this strangely quiet Wonder Down Under, we send everyone our love and best wishes for the next few weeks. We are all curious as to when and in what manner we may recover our freedom to socialise. Will the creative minds responsible for the torrent of imaginative clips and fabulous videos continue to produce them and, if so, will we continue to have the time to exchange ten or more each day, or will we have allowed the rat race treadmill to spin once more? And, in that vein I recommend a captivating cartoon, Happiness. It runs for four minutes (https://bit.ly/358ZaIB). It resonates.
Stay safe and remain positive. Love and hugs all round, Hugh and Debs *** Hugh Becker is an Oxford Geography MA and Fellow of the Tourism Society. Following a varied career in corporate governance and mediation he, with his wife, Debs, has embraced semiretirement in Melbourne.
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Housing the homeless the redevelopment of Ozanam House
Ozanam House reopened mid 2019 after an extensive redevelopment. The new building is a welcome homecoming to many in Melbourne without a roof over their heads.
technology and security features. “There really is no facility like this, with all these services combined. Yes, it is housing 134 people but it is also a Homelessness Resource Centre with services around the health and food platform … the building from what l’ve seen has a strong connection to an integrated model. It’s a whole of life offering,” says MGS Architects, Director Joshua Wheeler. The facility works to provide an integrated health, wellbeing and vocational training service, and thus to help address some of the root causes of homelessness.
Supplying housing with health services is a central goal for Justin Bennett, Senior Worker, Health and Treatment at VincentCare. Working closely with Joshua Wheeler, Director of MGS Architects, he oversaw the redevelopment of Ozanam House during 2018 and 2019 through to the opening in July last year of a world class Accommodation Hub and Homelessness Resource Centre, opposite the Royal Children’s Hospital in North Melbourne.
“When this building was created, we effectively merged two sites – the Ozanam Community Centre with the old Ozanam House. The
Working in the original Ozanam House established in 1953, Justin says the new facility was a long term aspiration for VincentCare, a subsidiary of the St Vincent de Paul Society, Victoria. The building’s redevelopment was funded by VincentCare from its own assets, as well as supporting philanthropic, government and corporate donations from the Victorian government, the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, Gandel Philanthropy, Perpetual and Energy Australia to the sum of of $47 million. The completed project is a significant move from the previous historic ‘institution’ building to an architecturally designed space with a range of innovative technologies and an environmental ‘green’ star-rating. The transformation was not merely a case of redeveloping Ozanam House to a state-of-theart facility. It involved a shift to full housing and wrap-around services, including health and client management facilities for society’s most marginalised. The redeveloped Ozanam House facilities include crisis accommodation, café meals and barista programs, showers, laundries, extensive clinical health rooms, and a range of www.graduatehouse.com.au
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Joshua says they worked carefully to devise a building that felt spacious, quiet and calm - to assist clients with anxiety conditions - and that had communal spaces that are also resilient, solid and of high quality.
Community Centre was transposed to the ground floor so that clients could access this easily from the street. Ozanam House was also completely remodelled to increase the number of crisis beds, open it up to female clients, and clients of any other gender; and there’s multitiered accommodation options now – including crisis, extended stay and independent living units,” says Justin.
The redevelopment of the Ozanam building took about two years to complete, with a small, experieniced leadership group. “It is a very ambitious project. It is robustly built and has some good quality materials and audio qualities,” says Joshua. The building accommodates people with audio sensitivities and thermal comforts, with double glazing and acoustic panelling, and has five-star and greenstar accreditation.
Building Ozanam House Joshua became involved with the redevelopment when his firm was first briefed in 2015. Following an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the previous buildings that housed the two groups, he chose to move from an ‘institutionalised’ model to a structure and system with more modern and inviting spaces, such as café-style eating areas with table service, and design and landscaping for rooms and communal areas. The aim was to make clients feel welcome and comfortable so that they might be encouraged organically to stay longer and thus have greater opportunity and willingness to participate in health, housing and other inclusive programs.
One of the strongest aspects of the building is the health component, providing much needed spaces and upgrades for such health services as general practice, dental, podiatry, optometry, etc. “From a health and treatment perspective, it’s definitely been a game-changer coming here. Because we have segmented off the health and treatment area from the engagement spaces … we have the clinicians treating clients (in private) and it is all very discreet.” Technology is another strong feature in the Ozanam House redevelopment. Connectivity has been improved and clients have access to data, Wi-Fi, portals, charging stations, and video conferencing and audio-visual equipment.
“What is the architecture of homelessness? It is not marble or minimalist, or cheap products (like we don’t care) or institutional styles, and hopefully they [clients] don’t feel like they’re dealing with the government.” 21
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Joshua says the redevelopment did not really see any major changes during its building period but came to see significant support for its delivery – with growing demand from the community – by Melbourne City Council to complete the project.
These facilities are especially important for clients who have no fixed address and who receive government assistance, since most of these services are moving to online models. Justin hopes the building will be a one-stopshop facility for clients wanting to get all needed government supports and services.
Another innovative aspect of the building is the air freshening system. All rooms have circulated heat pump air that flushes the rooms with fresh air. This feature enables the delivery of ‘rough sleeper’ and thus ‘high-turnover’ accommodation. The freshness of the air in the room gives a ‘feeling’ that assists in decreasing the mental stresses and anxiety suffered by this group, countering their hypervigilance and giving them more than a couch for a better night’s sleep, says Justin.
Since the opening of the new building, Ozanam House has seen a large increase in demand from its usual client base – homeless adult males – as well as from different segments of the homeless. “After we opened up, we had a huge influx of populations that never came to Ozanam House before. Obviously, previously, female clients were not allowed – and with this, we see more domestic violence concerns – and we have also seen the LGBTIQ+ community come in.”
Adapting to the future
The new service system has been awarded Rainbow Tick accreditation and includes a Reconciliation Action Plan. Both these initiatives have thus put the building more on the ‘map’ for these communities. Ozanam House was also designed with universal access principles so that those with disability are included and can participate fully in all programs.
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Ozanam House has reached well over a 90 per cent occupancy rate. Serving different parts of the community, Justin says, the needs of the clients are now completely different from those in the past. “By bringing homelessness out to the street, it no longer has the stigma it once had,” says Justin. By creating a building with open plan designs and new layouts, the new space has
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helped to build bridges between the outside community and the people needing its services.
Justin says the building has proven to be a turning point, setting a new standard for housing for people experiencing homelessness.
“We are only now getting to that stage where we can offer the full range of services, and get a visiting GP or psychologist to write ‘care plans’ – so we can really build a multi-disciplinary health platform.” With many clients having very complex chronic and acute, mental and physical health concerns, the new building is better equipped to provide the full range of community health services and appropriate referrals.
“Ozanam House has been destigmatising and has improved the sector by showing that with funding, we can have new models of housing for the homeless. It is do-able, and the ‘wheels aren’t going to fall off’ ”. Find out more about Ozanam House at: https:// vincentcare.org.au/our-services/ozanam-house/
Proud to be a part of such innovation, Joshua says the building shows the unique approach Melburnians have towards the issue. “It is a very Melbourne building. That generosity and melting pot aspect – where residents can sit and watch the traffic go by, across the road from the hospital, and be a gateway into the city – it has its own quirks and personality. It is a very Melbourne thing.”
A reminder: The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums
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Journey out of Darkness into Health and Wellness by Nicole Alicastro My name is Nicole Alicastro and I work as a holistic personal trainer and lifestyle coach. I’m a teacher of the body. Let me share with you how I weaved my work into what it is today and how it continues to evolve, deepen and change. Since I was a little Nicole I was all about true expression of the human form, having my family in fits of laugher with my humorous characters and physical gags, painting alone in my room for hours, and dancing my way around high school hallways. So what does one do when they’re born with this innate curiosity for true expression of the human form? They meander their way into the performing arts of course. So, fresh out of high school I found myself at The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) to learn about musical theatre.
Nicole Alicastro.
similar to what I loved about the VCA, just in a different form. I loved connecting with people (acting), I loved teaching people how to move their bodies (physical awareness), and I also loved leading classes and one-on-one sessions (encouraging self-belief).
In every course I do, I always find something that resonates, which then leads me onto my next exploration. At VCA it was straight acting that taught me about nuanced human emotions, the Alexander Technique that brought me into the world of deep physical awareness, a dance teacher who evoked a kind of sensuality I’ll never forget (her mantra was ‘love yourself sick’), and a singing teacher who filled me with selfbelief and showed me I could sing (his mantra was ‘breath the way you mean to sing’). These were my resonances at VCA.
It was a great first step, but it wasn’t enough. I still didn’t know what ‘being healthy’ meant. I went overseas and let this question bubble inside me. When I came back I found a position as a personal trainer at JETTS. It was there that I started to develop my philosophy of health. Slowly, over four years, I built my first business: NIXA. There was now a new sense of agency. I loved running my own business and I loved the people I worked with. I was passionate about creating an approach that considered both how my clients were moving and also what and how they were eating.
After I finished my study, I did the typical performer-life thing. I had an agent. I was going to auditions, gigs and classes. In the daytime I was working in retail. I remember feeling torn between what I thought I was going to be and what I was becoming. I wanted a more meaningful day job, one that might realise my quest for true expression of the human form. It came to me while I was jogging one afternoon: ‘I want to teach people how to be healthy.’ I felt that living in a healthy body was integral to accessing creativity.
I did a lot of courses around physical training, nutrition and coaching, but it was my time with Mark Ottobre at Enterprise Fitness that really showed me what my body was capable of. It was where I fell in love with learning and teaching strength training. At this same time, Colin Sneesby, a performer and contact improvisation (CI) facilitator, was a big influence on me, introducing me to the CI community (CI is a form of improvised dancing that involves the exploration of one’s body in relationship to others by using the fundamentals of sharing
I completed my Certificate 3 and 4 in Personal Training and started working at Windy Hill Fitness Centre in Essendon as a class instructor for older adults. What I loved about this job was www.graduatehouse.com.au
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weight, touch, and movement awareness), the Ido Portal method, and the ecstatic dance world. Teaching someone how to engage and use their body (and thoughts) to gain strength, is such a powerful journey to take someone on. There is so much poetry in this journey and it’s one of the main physical modalities I teach. The next part of my exploration was inspired by my own darkness. Ever since I was a kid I presented with bouts of pretty intense anxiety and depression. I was on antidepressants, seeing a psychologist and not getting any answers from my doctors.
Nicole Alicastro. Photo by Angelica Rowe
• encouraged to explore my lost creativity; became immersed in the spoken word scene in Melbourne, contemporary dance and singing;
My fierce curiosity for a deeper understanding of what it is to be healthy led me to Dave O’Brien. Dave is a practising personal trainer and functional diagnostic practitioner who has a deep love to help people discover their optimal health, strength and wellness through a holistic approach. He is the co-owner of 5th Element Wellness (5EW).
• became interested in emotional clearing modalities; The Spiral1 and Dancing Eros2, as tools for emotional regulation and growth; and • reconnected with my gift of touch and will hopefully be studying Shiatsu this coming June depending on COVID-19 restrictions.
I let go of NIXA and applied for a job at 5EW. This moved me from a health and fitness mindset to a health and wellness mindset — a big shift! I got the job and the following four years blew me wide open, challenging me both personally and professionally. Here are some of my major take-homes from my four-year journey:
These four years gave me a birds-eye view of health and how integral it is to the true expression of being human. I learnt that it is both simple and complicated, and always multifactorial. My biggest achievement would be successfully coming off antidepressants and cultivating selfawareness and emotional regulation.
• cultivated compassionate communication with my clients to co-create clear and sustainable processes to get them to where they want to go;
I have decided to leave 5EW. I am currently in a phase of reflection and from that reflection I am going to create a new business to explore my ideas.
• learnt lifestyle strategies to improve the health of the gut and digestive systems, which play a major role in our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing;
My wisdom would be, cultivate your inner world, stay curious and move towards what, and who, moves you.
• deepened my understanding of strength training and programming and also refined my ability to communicate movement to my clients through language, demonstration and touch;
*** The Spiral is a journey that utilises clearing to unlock the emotional blocks for each seven levels of the chakra system. Once you do that, you are able to step into a whole new level of empowerment around each level. 1
• related to food with a whole new perspective, one of nourishment and love; • learnt the undulations of my cycle and how to support myself and my female clients through lifestyle and mindset skills;
Dancing Eros is recognised as one of the most powerful and transformational experiences for women’s sexual empowerment. This course focuses on the authentic embodiment of five feminine erotic archetypes.
2
• cultivated a soothing relationship with my internal world through practising mindfulness, and through the relationships and mentorship of my workmates; 25
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GRADUATE HOUSE NEWS
Promotion to Senior Research FelloW Dr Chanchal Chandramouli
It has been a few years since previous-resident Dr Chanchal Chandramouli completed her PhD at The University of Melbourne and left Graduate House, and it is lovely to know we are still fondly remembered by the newly promoted Senior Research Fellow at Singapore Health Services (SingHealth). “Yes, I miss Graduate House food, more so when you have to cook all meals by yourself. Basma’s mutton biriyani and baklavas! Nelson’s breakfast porridge, our good old dragon lady Draga, Jessie’s desserts and Billy’s cocktails! It was always more than just the food, there was so much warmth, love and compassion. Wouldn’t trade that for fine dining even!” Chanchal completed her PhD research at The University of Melbourne, from 2012-2016, focusing on studying the differences between female to male diabetic mice. Her research found that despite similar elevation in blood sugar, female diabetic mice suffer worse complications in the heart, compared to male diabetic mice.
Due to these findings, Chanchal is excited to be involved with a new trial to assist these lean diabetic individuals, in the upcoming multinational Asian Diabetes Outcome Prevention Trial (ADOPT). The aims of ADOPT are to identify high-risk patients with diabetes and to intensify primary prevention therapy to reduce future cardiovascular events, compared to standard care.
Her work in this research led to her joining The National Heart Centre Singapore clinical research team in June 2017. “My role here as a Senior Research Fellow is to conduct independent research focusing on sex differences, cardiometabolic disorders and heart failure. Under the mentorship of Professor Carolyn Lam, I was very fortunate to have opportunities to lead and collaborate with other researchers to produce several high impact publications. Recently, we have discovered a unique lean diabetes pattern among Asian patients with heart failure. These individuals with heart failure have diabetes despite a low body mass index (BMI), which is strikingly different from the conventional obesity-associated diabetes among Caucasians. These landmark findings were recognised for its importance and published in several high impact scientific journals.” www.graduatehouse.com.au
ADOPT will be held in six Asian countries; Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, China, India and United Arab Emirates in roughly 30 centres. “I have also had the exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in ADOPT. I am the youngest member of the Trial Steering Committee and Advisory Board for ADOPT, which predominantly consists of leading cardiologists, endocrinologists, consultants and key opinion leaders. Together, we provide scientific leadership, strategic research directions, priorities and collaborations for the 26
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trial. Specifically, my role in the trial includes designing and writing the protocol, applying for grants and funding, evaluating and selecting trial sites across Asia, and liaising with country heads, co-investigators, project managers, coordinators, vendors and clinical research organisations to execute the trial. If proven effective, results from this trial could potentially change diabetes management guidelines, save years of patients’ lives and millions of healthcare dollars spent.
Personally, ADOPT has been a truly remarkable journey with fantastic learning experiences, and I am driven to ensure the trial is executed successfully. We eagerly look forward for the COVID-19 situation (with DORSCON Orange status) to ease and for Singapore to launch [the program] and begin recruitment later this year,” says Chanchal.
Arts Dean’s Honours List Merium Kazmi Well-known Graduate House former Resident Member and international student, Merium Kazmi has again been recognised for her academic achievements by being included in the 2019 Faculty of Arts Dean’s Honours List for Academic Excellence in Master of Global Media Communication. Merium will have her name engraved on the Honour Wall at Arts West in an awards ceremony to be held later in 2020. Merium has said that this is her absolute favourite building at The University of Melbourne, and is thrilled at the prospect of such a celebration. In the interim, the organisers are mailing the Certificate to her home in Pakistan.
actively promotes this scholarship opportunity in Pakistan and around the world. Applications for the Australia Award Scholarship for 2021 close on 30th June 2020.
Graduate House previously covered Merium’s achievements in the Jan-Feb 2019 Newsletter, when she was an Australia Awards Scholarship recipient. These awards give the opportunity for people from developing countries, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region, to undertake fulltime undergraduate or postgraduate study at Australian universities or TAFEs. Merium now
Graduate House congratulates Merium on her latest achievement and wishes her all the best for the future. Look for a further story about Merium in our next Newsletter. Find out more about Australia Award Scholarship at: https://bit.ly/2Z9l2Tb 27
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GRADUATE HOUSE NEWS
OUR MEMBERS Heartfelt thanks immortalised on our Donor board Graduate House would like to acknowledge and thank all donors for their generous support during the COVID-19 outbreak. We have been greatly impacted by the pandemic, particularly in our student accommodation and our meeting and function services, and have been most fortunate to have received support from both our Graduate House community and the federal government (through JobKeeper and CashFlow Boosts). All donations have been put towards the enabling of continued and safe residencies for graduate students and academics, as well as of adherence and compliance with federal and state government restrictions: new equipment for meal deliveries, menu adaptations for a deliverable format, the meeting of increased food delivery costs, personal protective equipment for staff and increased labour costs. We extend a genuine and heartfelt thank you to all who contributed to our Graduate House community during this difficult time. It truly will be wonderful to see you all again soon.
Thank You Zoom ‘Hello’ from Rotary Club of Carlton to Graduate House The following is a screen shot of hand waves from the 12th May online meeting of the Rotary Club of Carlton members, sent in by Rotary Club member, Betty Kitchener AM, with the message that they wanted to send a cheery hello and best wishes to all staff and students at Graduate House. In response, we say ‘thank you’, ‘we miss you’ and that we are very much looking forward to seeing you all back at Graduate House soon.
www.graduatehouse.com.au
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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The Local SDGs Program Deakin University
Deakin University has developed a web-based, collaborative learning platform for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) projects. Launched in September last year, the enhanced website follows the launch of The Local SDGs Program in January 2019. This University-led initiative has been established by academics in the Deakin School of Life and Environmental Sciences with the aim of helping both local and more widely dispersed communities achieve the United Nations (UN) SDGs. Professor Brett Bryan, Professor of A view of the Local SDG Program website launched in September. Global Change, Environment and Society, and Dr Enayat Moallemi, Research Fellow in HumanNatural Systems Modelling, are leading the local Professor Bryan says that the project intends to SDGs Project. go beyond these two case studies and ultimately develop a framework that can be applicable Collaborators include the Monash Sustainable across rural and regional Australia, and help to Development Institute and The Ian Potter assist the UN’s 2030 agenda of achieving its Foundation. “We are using the website as a collaborative learning platform that enables the global SDGs. communication of recent project developments and outcomes to stakeholders – for example through blogging features and social media,” Dr Moallemi says. “We also want the website to enable further engagement and feedback on our work from a wider group of local communities.”
Visitors to the Local SDGs Projects website can find a range of materials, including details of the two case studies and information about workshops, meetings and seminars, as well as links to publications, resources and background information about the 17 respective SDGs.
The initiatives on the platform have been designed to develop robust pathways towards future-proofing Australian communities, by enabling people and nature to prosper and thrive. The project team is working with two local community case study areas in Victoria: the Forrest/Otways and Goulburn Murray.
The website also features blogs, articles, video content and a live twitter feed. Read about the Local SDG Project and website: https://www. deakin.edu.au/about-deakin/news/ articles/ new-website-a-collaborative-learningplatformfor-sustainable-development-goalsproject or https://www.localsdgs.org/
In the Forrest/Otways region, sustainability pathways for the region are being mapped to increase community capacity to manage climate change, bushfires and tourism. In the GoulburnMurray region, the team and local community are developing sustainability pathways to increase resilience to water variability and to adopt new technologies. 29
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INNOVATION
Innovation Citizen Science to aid bushfire recovery
Australia’s bushfire recovery is being powered by Citizen Science, with more than 20 projects being undertaken with the assistance of citizen scientists of all ages. The CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, is working with key agencies and community groups to support research in bushfire impacted areas through the Citizen Science Bushfire Project Finder, which enables members of the public to contribute to a range of animal and plant sightings, while keeping to safe physical distancing practices.
Spot and ID species in your own backyard to earn points and challenge friends. Credit: QuestaGame
Launching the new website in late April, CSIRO Chief Executive, Dr Larry Marshall, said the website demonstrated the passion and commitment of scientists and citizens alike to solve bushfire challenges.
prepared for the next bushfire season and this is a fantastic program that allows all Australians to get involved while still observing social distancing,” Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, The Hon Karen Andrews, said.
“We are using cutting-edge science like artificial intelligence, satellite imaging, and seasonal and decadal climate modelling to respond to fires and get ahead of the next bushfire season. However, the model is only as good as the data we feed it, and there is no substitute for the power of the people to keep us firmly connected with reality on the ground,” Dr Marshall said.
“Despite the challenges we are facing, the Australian spirit remains strong and it is obvious that our citizens are eager to do their part in the bushfire recovery process.” Information is being gathered in a number of areas, the bushfires having had a devastating effect on the natural environment – with heavy tolls on fauna, flora and the quality of water and air – as well as negative economic, social and psychological impacts in affected communities.
“Australia has some of the greatest biodiversity on the planet, and the Atlas of Living Australia has already proven the power of citizen science – what better way to inform and guide our bushfire recovery.”
Projects on the website include: • The Australian Museum’s Wildlife Spotter which enables users to identify animals in photos taken by camera traps around Australia, and researchers to monitor the effects of bushfires on Australian fauna.
The initiative is a key outcome from the Bushfire Science Roundtable hosted in January by Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, The Hon Karen Andrews, and comes at a time when Australians are eager to actively participate.
• South Australia’s Department for Environment and Water camera traps to monitor the flora and fauna recovery on Kangaroo Island.
“As we grapple with the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s important we continue important work to make sure we’re www.graduatehouse.com.au
• The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s managed eBird – the world’s largest biodiversity30
INNOVATION
The beginnings of regeneration in a bushfire affected region near the town of Bilpin, NSW. Credit: Australian Museum
Science Association. All are invited to get involved online by identifying flora and fauna in camera/video images.
related citizen science project – with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed by users each year through a collaborative enterprise of many partner organisations and regional experts.
The Project Finder also features a geographic filter enabling users to identify available projects in their area. It can be accessed at www.csiro.au/ bushfireprojects.
• collections of information about the intensity of fire impacts, observed fire behaviour, effects on water quality running from fire grounds, and the impacts of the smoke on people’s health.
Read more about CSIRO’s emerging citizen science work at: www.csiro.au/citizenscience or https://www.csiro.au/en/News/Newsreleases/2020/Citizen-science-to-aid-bushfirerecovery
The website was developed as a collaboration between the CSIRO, the Atlas of Living Australia (a National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy capability) and the Australian Citizen 31
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GRADUATE HOUSE SERIAL
The Story of the Fisherman and the Jinni - Continued One Thousand and One Nights Serial
On the following morning, the King entered his council-chamber and sat upon his throne. The Chamberlains and great officers of his court came before him; sage Douban also presented himself. When the King saw him, he rose to him in haste, and seated him by his side. Services of food were then spread before them, and the sage ate with the King, and remained as his guest all day. When the night approached, the King gave him two thousand pieces of gold, dresses of honour and other presents, and mounted him on his own horse. And so the sage returned to his house.
after conversing with him until the approach of night, gave orders that five other robes of honour should be given to him and a thousand pieces of gold. Again, when the next morning came, the King went as usual to his council-chamber and the Ministers and Chamberlains surrounded him. Now there was, among his Vizirs, one of evil star, sordid, avaricious, and of an envious and malicious disposition. When he saw that the King had made sage Douban his friend and bestowed upon him these favours, he envied him this distinction and meditated evil against him. Have you heard the adage which says, ‘There is no one void of envy’, and another which says, ‘Tyranny lurks in the soul; power manifests it and weakness conceals it’. So he approached the King and kissed the ground before him and said, “O King of the age, you are he whose goodness extends to all men and I have an important piece of advice to give you. If I were to conceal it from you, I should be a base-born wretch. But if you order me to impart it, I will do so.” The King, disturbed by the words of the Vizirs, said, “What is your advice?” He answered, “O glorious King, it has been said by the ancients that ‘he who looks not to results,
The King was astonished by his skill, saying, “This man has cured me by an external process without anointing me with ointment. By God, this is consummate science; and it is incumbent on me to bestow favours and honours upon him, and to make him my companion and friend as long as I live.” He passed the night happy and joyful on account of his recovery. When he arose, he went forth again, sat upon his throne and he called for sage Douban, who came and kissed the ground before him. The King rose, seated him by his side, ate with him, and greeted him with compliments. He bestowed upon him again a robe of honour and other presents, and, www.graduatehouse.com.au
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GRADUATE HOUSE SERIAL
But an event happened which obliged him to make a journey. So he went to the market in which birds were sold and bought a parrot, which he placed in his house to act as a spy so that, on his return, she might inform him of what passed during his absence — this parrot was cunning and intelligent and remembered whatever she heard. When he had made his journey and accomplished his business, he The King was troubled by this; his countenance changed and said, “Who is he whom you regard returned, asked the parrot to be brought to him, and asked her about the conduct of his wife. She as my enemy and to whom I have shown kindness?” He replied, “O King, if you have been answered, “Your wife has a lover, who visited her every night during your absence.” When the asleep, awake! I am referring to sage Douban.” The King said, “He is my intimate companion and husband heard this, he fell into a violent rage, the dearest of men in my estimation; he restored went to his wife and gave her a severe beating. me by a thing that I merely held in my hand and The woman imagined that one of the female slaves working in her house had informed cured me of my disease which the physicians him of what had passed between her and her of the land were unable to cure. There is no paramour during his absence. She called them one to be found like to him in the whole world. together and made them swear and they all Why, then, do you utter these words against swore that they had not told their master him? I will, from this day, appoint him a regular anything of the matter; but confessed that they salary and give him every month a thousand had heard the parrot relate to him what had pieces of gold; and if I gave him a share of my passed. Having learnt this, she ordered one of kingdom it were but a small thing to do for him. the slaves to grind with a hand-mill under the I do not think that you have said this from any parrot’s cage, another to sprinkle water from other motive than that of envy. If I did what above, and a third to move a mirror from side you desire, I should repent after it, as the man to side during the next night on which her repented who killed his parrot.” husband was absent. The following morning when the husband returned from his nightly entertainments, he inquired again of the parrot what had passed at night during his absence. The bird answered, “O my master, I could neither see nor hear anything because of the excessive darkness, thunder, lightning, and rain.” fortune will not attend him.’ Now I have seen the King in a way that is not right: he has bestowed favours upon his enemy, and he who desires downfall, he has treated him with kindness and honoured him with the highest honours and admitted him to the closest intimacy. I therefore fear, for the King, the consequence of this conduct.”
Now it was summer; so he said to the parrot, “What strange words are these? It is summer when nothing of what you have described ever happens.” The parrot swore that what she had said was true; and that it had happened. Upon hearing this, he became violently enraged, took out the bird from the cage, and threw her down upon the ground with such violence that killed her. Do you want to know what happens after the parrot is killed? Why King Younan relates this story to his Minister? Is the Minister going to plot against Sage Douban? What happens to the fisherman after all? Stay tuned for the rest of the tale.
The Story of the Husband and the Parrot There was a certain merchant, of an excessively jealous disposition, King Younan thus began, who had a wife endowed with perfect beauty which had prevented him from leaving his home. 33
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